People: The latest West Midlands hires

Prime Accountants Group has promoted one of its most experienced account managers to a directorship role.

The firm, which has offices in Solihull, Birmingham and Coventry, has appointed Paul Guise as associate director after six years with the firm.

Guise joined the firm in July 2015 as an accounts manager, becoming a senior audit and accounts manager in July 2017 before his promotion to associate director last month.

He said: “My role involves advising and helping owner-managed businesses on all aspects of their finances.

“It’s all about taking the burden away from the owner or director, allowing them more time to run their business more profitably and providing access to better financial information to allow them to do so.

“Prime is a very flexible, supportive environment and has enabled me to work my way up through the ranks. I’m delighted with my new role and the faith the company has shown in me.”

Kevin Johns, managing director of Prime, said: “The working culture is a huge part of our offering here and Paul’s latest promotion is further proof of that.

“He’s been with us for nearly six years and his hard work has been rewarded. His promotion is richly deserved and we wish him every success in his new role.”

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Southside District BID has named its new chair as Southside business owner and Pride Festival director Lawrence Barton, who will oversee the BID’s third term, which was secured following a record voter turnout and a 94% approval rate.

With multiple businesses residing in the district, including the iconic Nightingale club, Barton has been an key part of Southside BID, working with the wider team as a board director for the last decade.

He will take over the role from James Wong, who has held the role of chair since 2018. Wong will continue to support Southside BID as a board director.

Barton said: “I’m incredibly proud to step up to the role of chair for Southside BID, the next few months are certainly going to be challenging as the district starts to reopen, following nearly a year of closure.

“My key focus is to continue in the BID’s lobbying efforts, shining a light on our businesses which have been devastated by the pandemic and ensuring that we are delivering the vital support they need to recover.”

Southside district manager, Julia Robinson said: “Lawrence has played such an important role in the BID over the last decade, he was the natural choice to become our chair. We have exciting plans for the area that we will implement over our third term, with the Hippodrome Square redevelopment set to start soon, plus the arrival of the Commonwealth Games next year, which will really help to drive awareness around this vibrant part of the city. We feel that Lawrence is perfectly placed to help us accomplish all of our ambitions and more.

“The BID would also like to thank James for all of his incredible work as our chair, his lobbying efforts and dedication to the district led to us securing our third term with a record approval rating and voter turnout, securing 20% more votes than our previous ballot, which is an incredible achievement.”

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Growth marketing agency ClickThrough Marketing has appointed Nikki Gatenby to the board of directors, while Lindsay Macintyre takes the role of head of new business.

Gatenby is joining the Staffordshire agency as a non-executive director.

Phil Robinson, ClickThrough’s CEO, said: “We’re aiming to transform the agency and take things to the next level as digital marketing throws up new challenges. We want to work with ambitious brands and help them grow within their markets, and we’re putting in place the leadership team to enable that to happen. As such significant players in the industry, we’re lucky to have both Nikki and Lindsay’s experience to help achieve this.”