People: Aston University; Wright Hassall; Beswicks Legal

Aston University has welcomed Professor Aleks Subic as its new vice-chancellor and chief executive.

He has joined Aston University from RMIT in Australia where he was deputy vice-chancellor of the College of Science, Engineering and Health and vice president for Digital Innovation.

Prior to that, he was deputy vice-chancellor (Research and Enterprise) at Swinburne University of Technology.

Professor Subic is a recognised global leader in technology and innovation in higher education, leading on Industry 4.0 strategy and digital transformations across the university sector and with industry and governments both in Australia and internationally.

He has received a number of awards for his work, including the Australian Business Innovation Award and the Victorian Manufacturing Hall of Fame Award.

He said: “I am arriving at a pivotal time in the university’s history, to build on the strong foundations established by its leaders and staff, past and present, and to develop and lead our new bold strategy. Our next stage of development will be ambitious, aiming to achieve our full potential within a rapidly changing world.

“I can see huge potential for creating a globally relevant university, a leader in science, technology and enterprise – by transcending academic disciplines, applying the knowledge we create and driving innovation, to improve the lives and livelihoods of those with whom we work.

“Building on our collective expertise, experience and professional networks, I look forward to supporting our students, industries and communities in Birmingham and the West Midlands region, as well as our strategic partners nationally and internationally.”

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A law firm has reshaped its commercial real estate division and announced the appointment of a new head and partner.

Kylie Cooper has been promoted to partner and head of commercial real estate at Leamington-based Wright Hassall, with previous incumbent Andrew Jones moving to a new role as part of the firm’s senior leadership team.

Cooper will be directly involved in the day-to-day running of the commercial real estate team while Jones will lead strategic overview of the wider real estate practice, offering a more holistic approach linking the expertise of teams in development, banking and finance, construction, and planning under one umbrella.

Jones, partner at Wright Hassall, said: “I’d like to congratulate Kylie on her promotion to partner and appointment as head of commercial real estate.

“She has already demonstrated many of the skills required for the role including client relationship management, developing members of the commercial real estate team and implementation of new technology to help with day-to-day processing of work.

“The reshaping of our commercial real estate team will help to increase the focus on delivering value for both our existing and new clients by providing a more joined-up approach to our service offering.”

Cooper, who has been with Wright Hassall since 2019, added: “This is a really exciting time within our commercial real estate team and I am thrilled to be given this opportunity.

“Despite the doom and gloom you hear in the national media, there’s still plenty of activity in the market, particularly in the industrial and warehousing sectors.

“Our job is to help deliver on those projects and these changes will keep us at the forefront of supporting business growth, particularly for SMEs.”

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Kyle Gilbert, one of Beswicks Legal’s trainee solicitors, has completed his training contract and qualified into the firm’s corporate law team.

He began his career at Beswicks in July 2019 as a paralegal in the corporate law department before being awarded a training contract.

He had previously studied law through the Open University before going on to complete the Legal Practice Course at Staffordshire University.

Gilbert said: “I am over the moon to qualify as a solicitor with Beswicks in their renowned corporate team. Beswicks has developed and invested in my skills since I started in 2019 and the experience I have gained is invaluable. To qualify into corporate law is the ‘icing on the cake’ on what has been an amazing journey to qualification, and a significant milestone in my career. I am looking forward to assisting our corporate clients and am very excited for what the future holds.”

Nick Phillips, Beswicks’ managing partner, added: “Many congratulations to Kyle on qualifying. Kyle combines technical knowledge with a strong understanding of the commercial world and a calm and thorough approach to his work, making him a fantastic addition to our corporate law team.

“There’s no doubt in my mind that Kyle has an extremely bright career ahead of him. We are delighted that he has successfully completed his training and is staying with us in our corporate team.”