People: Former rugby star joins law firm; Senior appointment at executive search firm; and more

A lawyer who spent ten years as a professional rugby player has been recruited to Thursfields Solicitors’ expanding wills and estates team in Worcester.

Cerith Rees was a fly-half for various clubs in Wales, France and England, and his career highlights included representing Wales v French Barbarians in 2000 and playing for the Barbarians in 2011.

After his rugby union career, he became a paralegal at New Law Solicitors in Cardiff in 2012, and then worked at Bridger & Co in Llandovery from 2013, where he trained as a solicitor and became a director.

Rees, who has specialised in wills, estate administration and lasting powers of attorney, has joined Thursfields as a solicitor.

He said: “I’ve just moved to the Worcestershire area and was impressed at the outstanding reputation that Thursfields has in this region.

“I wanted to move to a modern, progressive law firm that strived to put the customer first, and I feel confident that I’ve joined a very bright and positive team here in Worcester.

“Since playing rugby, I’ve enjoyed building a very different career in law and hope to continue making progress here at Thursfields.”

Thursfields’ director Shane Miller said: “We’re pleased to welcome Cerith to our Wills & Estates team here in Worcester.

“It’s always interesting to recruit people from different backgrounds, and I know several of our staff and clients will be intrigued to learn from Cerith what it was like to be a professional rugby star.
“But away from the playing field, we focus on legal and people skills here at Thursfields, and Cerith has impressed us with his application and focus.

“We’re confident he will make a great team member here in Worcester and I personally look forward to watching how his career continues to grow with us.”

Rees has joined Thursfields at the same time as Ruth Baker, who was recruited as associate director of its Wills & Estates team in Worcester after spending seven years at Willans Solicitors in Cheltenham.

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Holmes Noble, the executive search, interim and talent solutions firm, has appointed Caroline James Nock, group HR director of Hill & Smith Holdings as a non-executive director.

Her remit is to contribute to the board in assisting the executive team in growing the company across its key sectors of industrial, supply chain management, support services, energy and infrastructure and property.

James Nock began her working life in an education/industry partnership in London (Local Employer Network) undertaking research into the labour market for a range of government initiatives.

She began her career in HR with British Aerospace, in the commercial aircraft design and manufacturing operations located in the south east and north west.  She joined British Rail during the privatization process, where she became the first personnel director for Chiltern Railways.  After three years in Accenture’s business process management business, she joined a joint venture between TDG plc, Cap Gemini and 4PL named Scio before taking on the role of HR director of the TDG Contract Logistics Division.

Caroline has spent the last 10 years working in global social businesses in education (Oxford University Press) and reproductive health (Marie Stopes International), as HR director and VP/HRD respectively.

Rakesh Sharma, chair at Holmes Noble, said: “I am delighted that Caroline has joined us to sit on the Board at Holmes Noble. Caroline brings a wealth of experience in senior leadership roles and will help steer the growth and expansion of the company, advancement into new markets and increasing our international footprint.”

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Accord Housing Association has appointed Claire Nuttall as its director of strategy and partnerships.

The newly created position will see Nuttall take on responsibility for developing relationships and partnerships with existing and new stakeholders, as well as support senior management across a number of projects.

She joins Accord from The ExtraCare Charitable Trust and has eight years’ experience of working within the housing sector, with her background predominantly in finance.

She said: “I am looking forward to my future with Accord; helping the organisation build partnerships and grow to maximise its potential.”

Nuttall will be based at the organisation’s West Bromwich office.

Chris Handy, chief executive at Accord, said: “We are pleased to welcome Claire to Accord to help lead the organisation to new heights and grow partnerships, and I am looking forward to working with her to help achieve this.”

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