People: Leonard Curtis; Harrison Clark Rickerbys; and more
Conrad Beighton has been appointed head of the Midlands region for Leonard Curtis which includes offices in Birmingham, Wolverhampton and Worcester.
The move is part of a new management structure that has been put in place to accelerate and promote a focus on growth.
Leonard Curtis is a privately-owned professional services provider of corporate restructuring and insolvency in the UK employing more than 250 people across 21 offices including Birmingham, London, Manchester, Leeds as well as the Channel Islands.
Beighton will be joined by three other regionally-based colleagues looking after restructuring and insolvency across four UK territories and two divisional heads looking after funding and legal services.
Other regional heads include – Alex Cadwallader – Head of South & Offshore (London, Hampshire, Dorset, Bristol, Cardiff, Taunton, Kings Langley and Guernsey), Sean Williams – Head of Yorkshire & North East (Leeds, Gateshead, Barlborough) and Andrew Poxon – Head of North & Scotland (Bury, Manchester, Preston, Chester, Liverpool, and Glasgow).
Gary Cain – head of funding – and Paula Smith – head of Leonard Curtis Legal – pick up the divisional responsibilities. John Bluer will remain head of personal insolvency services at Leonard Curtis.
Beighton said: “I am delighted to head up the Midlands region for the Leonard Curtis Group. We have a strong regional presence covering the West Midlands, Black Country and Worcestershire, underpinned by a very experienced support team. There will be opportunities for key hires across the main service lines of the business as we grow over the next few years and continue to assist businesses and individuals in challenging economic times.”
CEO Dan Booth said: “I am delighted to be working with such an experienced leadership team and looking forward to seeing what we can all achieve. We are confident we can significantly scale this business and now we have clarity – by region and division – on how we will achieve it. Our plans for growth and development will be delivered by applying our key principles of confidence, commitment, and consistency.”
:::
Two lawyers are celebrating their promotion to partner alongside nine others following the latest round of promotions at Harrison Clark Rickerbys.
Stephanie Dennis, in the firm’s Agriculture and Rural Affairs team, and Theresa Grech in the Corporate team, have been promoted to partner.
Lynne Adams (Employment and Immigration) and Michael Campbell (Real Estate), in the firm’s new Central England office and Hannah Oseland (Banking and Finance) in the Birmingham office have also been promoted to legal director.
Also celebrating this month are Daniel De Saulles (Commercial) in the firm’s Worcester office, Lisette Macdonald (Private Client) Birmingham office and Paul Watkins (Education and Charities) in the Cheltenham office – having been promoted to senior associate.
They join three new associates – Sarah Harbord (Agriculture and Rural Affairs) in the Hereford Office, Ellis Jessica Walby (Employment and Immigration) in Cheltenham and Cathryn Harper-Tedstone (Family) in Worcester.
Managing partner Rod Thomas said: “These promotions, which span teams and offices across the firm, are thoroughly deserved. Our people genuinely care about their clients and I’m delighted that we are able to recognise their commitment by making these promotions.”
:::
An international business leader and nationally acclaimed Chamber of Commerce chief executive have been appointed to two key roles at a Midlands college group.
Anna Daroy has been appointed to chair the Corporation Board and Louise Bennett has been appointed as president for college group WCG – which includes six colleges across Warwickshire and Worcestershire.
The board chair ensures the board effectively discharges its duties and that the board works with the senior leadership team to execute strategy, while the president is unique to WCG and is focused on working with the CEO and Chair to build external relationships with stakeholders.
Daroy will be following in the footsteps of Peter Manford, whose term of office ended after 14 years’ service to the college group. Manford was chair during challenging times including the last two years of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Daroy started her career with EY, before joining IBM and then becoming vice president of Mercer Consulting. She was most recently interim CEO/director general of the Institute of Directors and interim COO of the Government of Jersey.
Bennett was awarded an OBE for her services to enterprise and led Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce as its chief executive for nearly 20 years – a role which has seen her work closely with WCG.
She had previously spent four years with Greater Birmingham Chamber of Commerce, following a varied career which saw her hold senior management roles in an acute hospital, retail and running her own business. She is a Deputy Lieutenant of the West Midlands and is the immediate past High Sheriff of the County of the West Midlands 2021.
She has recently been appointed as chair for the British Chambers of Commerce Local Skills Improvement Plans Group, in response to the Skills Act 2022.
Angela Joyce, CEO of WCG, said: “We would like to thank Peter for his incredible service to the college group as Chair for the last five years and Vice-chair for nine years before that.
“He has been a trusted advisor to myself and the senior leadership team during that time and played an integral role in getting the college group to where it is today.
“The president role is a great addition to our governance structures and Louise brings a wealth of knowledge from her business links, especially of current national skills policy. We are very fortunate that Louise is joining us after her longstanding and successful career at the Chamber of Commerce.
“I look forward to working with Anna, Louise and the Corporation Board as we implement the ambitions set out in the Corporate Plan.”
