People: Mills & Reeve; Ashman Bank; and more

Law firm Mills & Reeve has appointed six trainees in its Birmingham office.

The new trainees will gain experience across various departments including health and care, technology and sport before eventually choosing a speciality to move forward with.

Mills & Reeve has appointed 25 new trainees in 2022 with other appointments in the firm’s Manchester, Cambridge and Norwich offices – with all trainees undergoing the same training.

The process includes pairing the trainee with an existing partner who will act as a mentor during the two years, offering confidential support and career development advice. The trainees will receive on-the-job learning provided by the Professional Skills Course, a programme of in-house lectures and one-to-one training.

Four graduates from University of Birmingham including Jessica Freman, Carla Harris, Katie Jones and Ella Moss bring experience as paralegals from various Midlands-based firms to their new roles.

Francesca Parry-Barker, who also previously worked for Mills & Reeve as a paralegal in the Employment, Immigration & Pensions team before gaining further experience at an Australian firm and Law graduate Neamh Towers joins the programme after gaining experience as a corporate paralegal and as a banking paralegal.

Jayne Hussey, partner and head of office for Birmingham at Mills & Reeve, said: “Our trainee programme is a great experience that gives a well rounded entry into the legal industry. The programme offers experiences in a number of sectors where our trainees can immerse themselves and really find a gauge on what avenues they would like to pursue.

“We have exciting newcomers joining the team via the programme all of whom are approaching the role with a breadth of knowledge and individual experience that each prepares them for what a career at Mills & Reeve can be. We look forward to seeing them thrive in their new roles.”

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Ashman, the new entrant bank, has appointed Simon Proctor as head of credit risk.

Proctor will be responsible for the oversight of the bank’s lending portfolio – developing and embedding the credit risk strategy, policies and procedures that will ensure the business can scale most effectively post-launch. He will also input into the process for approving and renewing intermediaries on Ashman’s panel and will be directly responsible for detailed assessments of any complex customers and commercial lending propositions.

Proctor, who will be based in the bank’s Birmingham head office, joins from Al Rayan Bank, where he held the same role as head of credit risk with oversight of the bank’s risk management framework. He has more than 25 years’ experience in financial services, having worked in senior positions at some of the biggest brands in the UK including Barclays, GE Money, Deutsche Bank, Aldermore Bank, and Paragon Bank.

Proctor said: “I am delighted to be joining Ashman at a time when the need for a new approach is so clear in the UK. Having worked at both large, established banks as well as ‘challengers’ in the market over the last two decades, I have seen first-hand what is required to ensure the customer gets what they need – certainty, quick decisions and processes designed to help, not hinder, their own growth. I am excited to join a bank with this ethos at its core and look forward to embedding that culture in the years ahead.”

Lisa Fergus, chief risk officer, at Ashman Bank, said: “Simon is a critical hire for Ashman, bringing incredible experience to the team that will ensure we can realise our growth ambitions in a way that prioritises the customer’s experience while still maintaining a responsible lending approach. We are building one of the most impressive teams of any new entrant bank I can remember, and I am delighted to welcome Simon to Ashman as a key member of that team.”

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PETALITE, the electric vehicle (EV) rapid charging technology company based in the West Midlands has welcomed Steven Gardener to the team as head of operations.

Having worked in high growth and turnaround situations, his career experience includes senior operational roles within JCB, Land Rover and BMW and most recently electric vehicle charging company EVBox.

“I am really excited to Join Petalite at this critical stage in the company’s development as we now seek to exploit our unique SDC technology to grow the company and become the leading provider of EV charging systems to the UK and beyond,” said Gardener.

Gardener has spent over half of his career working internationally for corporates and private equity firms, including the past 10 years at TPG Global as Senior Advisor Operations as well as, more recently, senior roles in the Netherlands and Sweden for other private equity backed enterprises.

He will be responsible to scale up Petalite’s production operations to meet the expected demand for Petalite’s chargers.