People on the move: U+I; FPE Global; Detectronic; Wilson Cooke; Slater and Gordon; RSM

U+I, the mixed-use property regeneration developer, has appointed James Heather as its development director responsible for delivering the company’s transformational vision for the Mayfield area of Manchester city centre.

U+I was formally appointed as development partner to The Mayfield Partnership, which comprises Manchester City Council, London and Continental Railways (LCR) and Transport for Greater Manchester, in December 2016.

Heather, who worked with property developer Argent for 17 years and played a prominent role in the delivery of its Brindleyplace mixed-use development in Birmingham, has more recently been instrumental in the delivery of One St Peter’s Square in Manchester city centre.

In the spring of 2015, having left Argent, Heather established his own consultancy – Rotherwood Property Development – retaining his involvement in One St Peter’s Square, recently concluding the significant lettings to Addleshaw Goddard and Drake and Morgan in addition to the lettings to KPMG, DLA Piper,  and restaurant specialist, San Carlo Group.

Heather said of his appointment: “This is a genuinely exciting time to be joining U+I and to be involved in the delivery of an project like Mayfield.
 
“There will be an authenticity and a distinctive essence to what we do here with an inclusive approach that engages residents, local businesses and visitors.
 
“The more you scratch away at the site’s history, the more enthralling it becomes. Our vision is to use this history to shape its future into a bustling and vibrant area which plays a major part in enhancing Manchester. It is going to be an exciting journey.”

Richard Upton, deputy chief executive of U+I, said: “James brings considerable development expertise and a close and deep understanding of Manchester to our team. We are delighted to have him on board as we create a new, distinctive and vibrant city centre destination and a lasting legacy for the city.”

The Mayfield Partnership’s plan for the regeneration of Mayfield is to deliver an iconic, £850m mixed-use community in the heart of the city. The 24-acre site, once home to the Mayfield railway station, has been derelict for over a decade and the regeneration will breathe new life into what was once a thriving city district.

Mayfield will potentially provide 1,300 homes, 807,000sq ft of office space, a 350-bedroom hotel, retail and leisure facilities and a new city park, creating over 7,500 office, retail, leisure and construction jobs.

It will reshape and extend the city towards Manchester Piccadilly, building on the benefits of the Northern Hub, Network Rail’s programme of targeted upgrades to improve rail connectivity in the north of England, and act as a catalyst for the regeneration of the wider Piccadilly area.

The proposals will seek to enhance many of the site’s historic features and include developing and improving the River Medlock which flows through the site. The intention is to maintain the historic buildings that still stand and making the most of the railway heritage of the area.

Heather will take up his post with U+I, which is currently based on Jordan Street, Manchester, on March 1.

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Cheadle, Greater Manchester-based specialist Engineering Firm FPE Global is targeting further international growth following the appointment of Sylvain LeMézec as export sales manager.

LeMézec joins from his role as global sales director at Matcon. He has worked for bulk handling companies for more than 25 years, providing lean solutions for customers around the world.  

During his time at Matcon, LeMézec was the key account manager for Nestle and has expertise in a number of market sectors including food and beverage, infant nutrition, pharmaceutical, plastics and chemicals.
 
Last month, FPE announced its acquisition of JW Process Equipment to expand its product portfolio into mixing technologies.

The Manchester-headquartered company is backed by private equity firm NorthEdge Capital and is on track to reach sales of £16m in 2017.

David Cooper, CEO at FPE l, said: “Sylvain brings with him a tremendous amount of process application and business development experience in materials handling, where he has in-depth knowledge of multiple industry sectors. Sylvain’s appointment will significantly strengthen our overall capability in providing value added solutions to our customers – particularly as we look to drive the export business through 2017 and beyond.”

LeMézec added: “I’m really looking forward to joining the team at FPE. The business continues to grow at a rapid pace both in the UK and overseas. FPE will provide an ideal environment by which I can apply my expertise to increase company performance across a range of FPE’s target sectors.”

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Lancashire-based flood and pollution prevention specialist Detectronic has appointed Maria Klöss to support business development in Germany.

Klöss, who hails from Hamburg, has a Masters in Environmental Management, a Bachelor’s degree in Agricultural Sciences, both from Kiel University, and a keen interest in hydrology particularly from an agricultural perspective.
 
Dave Walker, commercial director at Colne company Detectronic, said: “Maria has a wealth of knowledge and first-hand experience across a variety of different sectors all of which fit with our long-term plans.

“She’s hit the ground running since she started and we’re very much looking forward to her input and insight as part of our overall business development here in the UK and beyond.”

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Bury-based integrated marketing agency Wilson Cooke has created two new positions to co-ordinate key service deliveries following the expansion of its portfolio.

Client services manager Michelle Bancroft, formerly of Milk Design and McCann Manchester, will help develop innovative and responsive client solutions.

Garry Byrne, previously managing director of Powered by Reason, will lead on delivery of strategies and projects as new head of digital.

Along with Digital Producer Céline Bourillot, content lead Matt Haigh and digital account executive Carl Beeston, they join Wilson Cooke at an exciting time.

With recent client wins including Dudson’s, After Adoption, TOR and the Northern School of Contemporary Dance, the Greater Manchester business has had a flying start to the year.

Managing director Mark Law said: “As an independent, fully-integrated marketing agency with over 20 years’ experience, we’ve learnt how important it is not to stand still.

“These appointments are just the first phase of what we anticipate will be a big year for Wilson Cooke, both in terms of our agency development and the added value we can offer our partners.”

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Law firm Slater and Gordon is expanding its wills, trusts, tax and probate team in its Chester office in response to demand for more specialist services in the area.

Michael Stockton, who joins from HHB Law, brings with him experience in all aspects of this area of law including the preparation of wills, trusts, powers of attorney and the administration of estates.
 
Siân Riley, who joins from various large firms including Irwin Mitchell and Weightmans, deals with a wide variety of private client work, including the drafting of wills, lasting powers of attorney, inheritance tax planning and probate and estate administration.
 
Both Stockton and Riley are both working towards becoming members of STEP – the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners.

Phil Appleby, team leader for wills, trusts, tax and probate at Slater and Gordon’s Chester and Wrexham offices, said: “Surging house prices have greatly increased the value of people’s assets and, as a consequence, their potential tax liabilities.

“This, combined with the growing number of second marriages and cohabitation, means financial and estate planning is far more complicated now than it used to be.

“Clients are increasingly turning to our specialist legal advice on issues, such as tax and care home fee planning.”

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Audit, tax and consulting firm RSM has strengthened its national forensic practice by appointing a new forensic director, based in its Manchester office.

Ann Pomfret joins the company from BDO where she was a director in the forensic team acting on commercial disputes, shareholder and transactional cases.
 
She is a chartered accountant and Fellow of the ICAEW. Ann has a wealth of experience advising clients with dispute issues gained working in practice; within a Big 4 bank; and at the Serious Fraud Office in New Zealand.

In her new role, Pomfret will provide forensic and risk advisory support to a growing number of law firms and corporate clients, and work closely with Rob Parry who heads up the forensic team in the North to grow the practice and its offering.

Based in the North West, Pomfret will play an important role in the national team.

The move further strengthens the UK practice following the recent appointment of Akhlaq Ahmed who joined the London team as a partner to lead RSM’s accounting investigations business.
 
Rob Parry, the head of RSM’s forensic practice in the North, said: “It’s great to welcome Ann to the team. She’s a prominent forensic specialist in the market. Her appointment, along with Akhlaq, further strengthens our UK offering and reinforces our ongoing investment and growth plans for the wider forensic practice.”