People: BCRS Business Loans; FindItIn; Johnson Fellows

BCRS Business Loans has announced the appointment of Emma Leigh as finance director.

Leigh has run her own accountancy practice supporting SMEs and served as group financial controller at Barclaycard, bringing a wealth of financial experience to the role.

More recently, she served as group financial controller at water treatment firm Culligan Group where she provided integration and leadership support through a key business transition.

In her role as finance director, Leigh will support BCRS to provide funding to help businesses reach their full potential.

She said: “I am very excited to be joining the BCRS team. Working with a team focused on supporting and developing SMEs sits well with my values. The reason for me setting up and running my accountancy practice was to provide support and leadership to small businesses that needed help to navigate through the world of
finance. It feels right to be joining an organisation that shares the same goal.”

BCRS Business Loans chief executive Stephen Deakin said: “We are delighted to welcome Emma to the BCRS team. Her experience working for one of the big high street lenders together with her passion for supporting SMEs makes her a game-changing addition to the team.”

FindItIn, the network developing local supply chains for key projects around the country has expanded its team.

Anna Love joins the team as events and sales coordinator following key contract wins as far afield as Plymouth and Staffordshire.

Anna Love

Love has a background in business administration and prides herself on her exceptional organisational skills and creative flair.

Her arrival comes as the FindItIn team gears up to deliver The Big Buyers Lounge at UK Construction Week Birmingham – the UK’s largest trade show for the built environment – where delegates can arrange one-to-one appointments with buyers from some of the biggest names in the construction industry, including BAM, Morgan Sindall, Careys and Galliford Try.

Paul Long, director at FindItIn, said: “It is a fantastic time to welcome Anna to the team. Demand for our ‘business matchmaking’ events has accelerated over the last 12 months as more companies across a range of sectors recognise the commercial and social value of developing local supply chains.

“Anna will be focused on developing our events offering, ensuring we have a calendar of events taking place across the entire FindItIn Network.”

Love said: “I’m excited to be joining the FindItIn team and looking forward to getting to know businesses across the FindItIn Network, helping them engage with one another and highlighting opportunities within local supply chains.”

Property consultancy Johnson Fellows has strengthened its property management team with the appointment of Dan Blakeman.

Blakeman, who has over 18 years of experience as a property professional, has joined the Birmingham-based business as head of facilities management.

Dan Blakeman

Ian Starbuck, partner and head of property management at Birmingham-based Johnson Fellows, said: “Our facilities management team was only established 10 years ago but since then it has expanded to become a key service for our clients right across the country. It is also an integral and very important part of the wider property management department.

“We are excited by Dan’s arrival. The facilities management function is now well established, but we believe that Dan is the right person to drive it to the next level.  As head of facilities management, Dan will be dealing with planned and reactive maintenance and compliance for major clients including Wing Yip and Tesco.”

Blakeman has joined Johnson Fellows from MK2 Real Estate where he was facilities manager.

His previous roles include property manager at FirstPort Property Services and PPM service delivery manager at Bellrock Property and Facilities Management in Leicester.