People: Changes at the top for Begbies Traynor; Law firm welcomes family specialist; and more

Insolvency practitioner Michaela Daly is stepping up to lead the Begbies Traynor operation in Staffordshire alongside partner Diane Dunion.

Since the acquisition of Dunion and Co in March 2019, Begbies Traynor has gone from strength to strength in Staffordshire and is now a six-strong specialist team with dedicated offices at Lymedale Business Park.

Daly brings more than two decades of experience to her new role as director, during which time she was involved in high-profile administrations for Port Vale Football Club and Wedgwood Museums Trust.

She said: “I was so pleased to return to Begbies Traynor in 2019 and focus on building the practice with Diane. As a team we are committed to delivering our services with professionalism and approachability. We understand the challenges that businesses are facing at a time of distress and want them to feel comfortable to seek support at the earliest possible point to ensure they have as many options open to them. Too often businesses wait and struggle with issues such as poor cash flow, when there are ways in which we can help them to get back on track.”

Dunion added: “Michaela is a highly skilled and personable practitioner, known for her ability to put clients at ease and trust in her expertise. In this leadership role, I know our practice will continue to go from strength to strength.”

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Solicitor Gemma Scourfield has joined family law specialists Woolley & Co, Solicitors to further bolster the experience at the firm.

Her move to Woolley & Co, which has 23 partner-level family law experts based across England and Wales working from home offices and supported by a headquarters in Wellesbourne, Warwickshire, will see her continuing to help families across the region.

She has particular expertise in detailed financial cases, and those involving children, and believes managing expectations and supporting clients through a difficult process are key.

Scourfield said the introduction of no-fault divorce from next April will help many families get through legal separation with less animosity.

“We are also now seeing more family lawyers coming into the 21st century using technology more fully, courts have done away with paper bundles and embracing electronic communications which has been very slow in coming to this sector,” she added.

“This is a business model which Woolley & Co pioneered in the 1990s but has taken a long time to catch on. Things are now moving in the right direction. Putting the family, the children, first is the number one priority and it is good to see that family law practice is now firmly heading in the right direction.”

Andrew Woolley, managing partner at Woolley & Co, Solicitors, said: “We are delighted to welcome Gemma on board. She brings with her a vast amount of experience to further bolster the team we have at the firm.”

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Andy Williams, founding partner of national building consultancy Powell Williams, is set to retire after 31 years, following another successful trading year for the firm.

The practice, which has offices in Birmingham, London, Chester and Leeds, has exceeded revenue targets and increased profitability, despite the challenges of Covid, Brexit and the recession.

The successful culmination of a five-year growth plan has seen new clients brought into the business, additional services offered, and recruitment across all offices, increasing headcount.
Williams believes this plan provides a solid foundation upon which to build further.

“The team has exceeded every target the partners set this year, despite all of the difficulties wrought by the effects of the pandemic and EU withdrawal.

“Over the last year we have welcomed a significant number of new instructions from funds, developers, landlords and occupiers, with 12% of our client base being new clients.

“We’ve also attracted three talented new members to the team in recent months with Tom Little, another highly experienced building surveyor, joining this week from Trident.

“I am extremely proud of what has been achieved through such trying times by a thoroughly dedicated and collective effort, and of everything we’ve built together over the last three decades since the firm was founded in 1990.”

Clients include Abrdn, Aviva Investors, the BP Pension Fund, Cube Real Estate, Places for People, Siemens, Travis Perkins, USS and XPO Logistics.

 

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