People: Azets hits century milestone with four corporate finance recruits; Disputes lawyer hire for legal firm; and more

Four recruits into Azets’ corporate finance team have taken the firm’s Birmingham office to a total of 100 new hires.

Lauryn Mayson joins as a one of several new graduates across the Midlands, with Zoe Hacking, Pawan Kandel and Sudip Khatri all joining as executives.

Azets, the UK’s largest regional accountancy firm and business advisor to SMEs, which has 14 offices across the Midlands, Shropshire, and Welsh Borders, is targeting quadruple growth in the region within the next five years.

Mark Selby, national head of corporate finance at Azets, said: “I welcome Lauryn, Zoe, Pawan and Sudip to the team and look forward to supporting them on their journey at Azets. Each of them has demonstrated enthusiasm and aptitude, both of which will be critical to advising our clients through the next 18-24 months.

“Azets’ Corporate Finance team – both in the Midlands and nationally – is experiencing its busiest ever period. We expect this to be maintained as many clients continue to trade strongly following their recovery from the impact of Covid, and banks and private equity providers keenly seek attractive lending and investment opportunities.”

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A Warwickshire law firm has welcomed a new head of dispute resolution.

Jag Sandher has joined Blythe Liggins in Leamington after relocating from Berkshire, where he was the head of litigation for a regional firm and brings with him a wealth of experience, including successes in the High Court.

He said: “I’m delighted to join the expert team at Blythe Liggins and excited by my new role as the Head of Dispute Resolution. Blythe Liggins have an excellent client base and I look forward to assisting them to resolve their disputes, whether through the Courts or by alternative dispute resolution.

“The work is very varied, which means my case load can differ from one day to the next, and that’s one of the attractions and challenges of the role. I am also incredibly fortunate that I have inherited a very experienced team of litigators with a wealth of knowledge.”

Previous cases include the successful resolution of a £4m construction dispute centred on the purchase of a part-built development in South London.

He said: “My client was in the process of purchasing the site but a dispute broke out in respect of a misrepresentation by the vendor about the way in which the foundations of the building had been constructed.”

“There was also a dispute in respect of a collateral contract where the vendor was required to continue works on site whilst the due diligence and legal work continued.

“Ultimately, the claim was settled following our disclosure of circa 3,000 pages of documents and drawings. It was an excellent result and one which pitted me against a large city firm.”

David Lester, senior partner at Blythe Liggins, said: “We’re all delighted to welcome Jag. He joins us with a hugely impressive CV and our clients will be able to benefit from his many years of experience and expertise in dispute resolution.”

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Paragon Development Finance has recruited Ray Wong as relationship director to help increase support of its SME developer customers.

He joins Paragon from Shawbrook Bank, where he spent two and a half years and was most recently a relationship director. He has also held banking and property roles at The Ingenious Group, Secure Trust Bank, NatWest and Santander over the past 14 years.

Robert Orr, Paragon Development Finance managing director, said: “Ray has enjoyed a strong period at Shawbrook so we are pleased to have recruited somebody with his experience and sector expertise. He will complement our existing Relationship Director team and I’m confident will be a great success.”

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Imail Comms, the hybrid mail business resulting from a recent MBO, has announced the appointment of two new directors to its board.

Guy Buswell, UK Mail’s former CEO joins the board as executive chairman and Stephen Agar, who until recently was managing director of Royal Mail’s Letters business, becomes a non-executive director.

Coventry-based Imail Comms was recently backed in its MBO from DHL Parcel UK by the private equity team of Mercia Asset Management.

Jill Williams, deputy fund principal, said: “Hybrid mail is undergoing rapid growth as it substitutes for stamped and franked mail processed in traditional mail rooms, with Imail Comms a leading player in the market. We are delighted to support Andy, Guy, Stephen and the team in the next phase of growth, and we look forward to further business development over the coming months.”

Andy Barber, chief executive, said: “I am delighted to be working with two postal industry “heavyweights” who have a firm grasp on the current and future mail market. I am confident that both Guy’s and Stephen’s backgrounds will underpin our plans to expand our well-established and new Hybrid and Digital Mail services across the commercial and public sector. Their pedigree in postal services reinforces our ambition to become the undisputed leader in Hybrid Mail services and I am delighted to welcome them both to the board.”