People: New team head one of 11 promotions at law firm; Barques bolsters leadership team director hire; and more

Law firm Lodders has made a clutch of senior promotions, including a new head of its new property dispute resolution team, two partners, and a legal director.

Land and property dispute expert Vicky Khandker is promoted to head of the new property dispute resolution team within the firm’s Dispute Resolution practice, and Tom Ellis and Andrew Wylde are both promoted to partner.

The firm has made five promotions in its Real Estate team, with Donna Bates promoted to legal director, Anna Turnell and Lee Thompson to senior associate, and Zoe Dyer and Priscila MacLeod to associate.

Leanne Lawrence is promoted to senior associate and Nicole Romera to associate within the fast-growing corporate and commercial team, and in the private client team, which is one of the largest in the region, Sharon Crosby is promoted to senior associate.

Managing partner Paul Mourton said: “This raft of promotions is in line with Lodders’ sustained growth strategy and builds on our reputation for quality and excellence in our legal skills and client service. The firm remains committed to developing and promoting best in breed legal experts across the firm to enable our sector-leading teams to continue to flourish.

“Those selected for promotion are accomplished, dedicated, and skilled specialists in their field, and they will each continue to make a valuable contribution to their teams, the firm and our clients,” he adds. “Lodders is known for its ambition, vision, legal talent and agility, and, together with our culture and drive, this enables the firm to continue to be one of the leading and fastest-growing law firms in the region.”

Lodders has offices in Stratford upon Avon, Henley in Arden, Cheltenham, and Birmingham.

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A creative communications agency has strengthened its senior leadership team with the appointment of a new relationship director.

Anthony Bisseker has joined Barques with responsibility for developing the agency’s extensive portfolio of clients and supporting its continued growth.

He has more than 25 years experience across multiple sectors at a senior level, including client side and agency roles in strategic management and business development with the likes of CBSO, Trinity Mirror and Marketing Birmingham.

More recently he was head of operations for a global supplier to the manufacturing sector, with offices in Europe, Asia and North America.

Based on Ludgate Hill in Birmingham’s Jewellery Quarter, Barques has delivered creative, digital and communications services to start-ups, SMEs, national and multinational businesses for more than 30 years.

Its clients span sectors including commercial property and construction, leisure and tourism, manufacturing, education, and food and beverage, and includes brands such as Birmingham City Council, Birmingham Botanical Gardens, The Great Run Company, Stoford, King Edward VI Foundation Birmingham and Verdion.

Bisseker said: “I’m hugely excited to join such a well established Midlands agency with a fabulous reputation. Barques is a dynamic and growing team of creative communications professionals, who are delivering the very best service to an enviable portfolio of high calibre clients. I’m looking forward to the challenge of building on that success through a bold and powerful new brand proposition that will help us develop long-term and sustainable client relationships.”

Jilly Cosgrove, managing director of Barques, said: “I am really pleased that Anthony has chosen to embark on the next stage of his career with Barques. We have known each other in a professional capacity for several years and share the same honest and positive approach to client relationships and new business.

“It’s an exciting time for our agency as we look to the future and I’m confident that we have the best people in place to take Barques forward for another 30 years to come.”

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Real estate consultancy Hollis has made two new hires and three promotions at its Birmingham office.

The new hires will focus on ESG and help Midlands commercial landlords and occupiers embed ESG factors across their property portfolios.

Catherine Harker joins the Birmingham office as a senior ESG consultant and Charu Gupta joins as associate; both will work as part of Hollis’ European-wide ESG team.

Harker has been brought on to expand the firm’s BREEAM offering and will specialise in environmental assessments of new builds, fit-outs and refurbishments. Gupta is a qualified engineer and specialises in building performance evaluations, low-carbon design, dynamic simulation modelling and post occupancy evaluations.

Richard Sharpe has been promoted to senior associate, and Peter Nichols and Tom James have been promoted to senior chartered building surveyor; all three began their careers with Hollis as graduates.

Sharpe joined Hollis in 2014 and qualified as a chartered surveyor in 2016. After gaining experience at another real estate company, Sharpe returned to Hollis in 2019 and now specialises in tenant alterations, dilapidations and project management.

James joined Hollis as a chartered surveyor in 2019, specialising in neighbourly matters including the Party Wall Act 1996, condition schedules, access, crane and scaffolding licences. He also has experience in rights to light and daylight/sunlight analysis. Nichols joined Hollis in 2017 and qualified as a chartered surveyor in 2020. He specialises in dilapidations, building surveys, development monitoring, projects and tenant alterations.