{"id":2109365,"date":"2026-03-10T15:17:59","date_gmt":"2026-03-10T15:17:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thebusinessdesk.com\/westmidlands\/?p=2109365"},"modified":"2026-03-10T15:17:59","modified_gmt":"2026-03-10T15:17:59","slug":"people-hroc-aspinallverdi-stephen-alexander","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thebusinessdesk.com\/westmidlands\/news\/2109365-people-hroc-aspinallverdi-stephen-alexander","title":{"rendered":"People: HROC; AspinallVerdi; Stephen Alexander"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Birmingham-based integrated communications agency, HROC, has strengthened its senior team with two major appointments as the agency accelerates its next phase of growth.<\/p>\n<p>Longstanding leader Steve Sherran becomes managing director, while strategist Pete Anderson joins as strategy director.<\/p>\n<p>Sherran brings 30 years of experience, having joined HROC in 1996, rising from PR Account Manager to Board Director and Shareholder.<\/p>\n<p>Having already played a central role in shaping HROC into the integrated agency it is today, Sherran will now lead the business into an exciting new era, building on the foundations laid by outgoing MD Carl Hazard.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m incredibly proud to take on this role,\u201d Sherran said. \u201cThe marketing landscape in 2026 is evolving fast\u2014from AI to rising demands for measurable creativity. I\u2019m excited to work with our talented team to ensure HROC continues to innovate and deliver outstanding results.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Joining the leadership team is also Pete Anderson, HROC\u2019s new strategy director, whose career spans senior strategy roles at Saatchi &amp; Saatchi, Publicis, Ogilvy, VMLY&amp;R, Havas, McCann and several leading independents.<\/p>\n<p>Having begun his career client-side with roles at BUPA, Maxwell Communications, and as Marketing Director for a global computer supplies brand, Anderson brings a hybrid creative-commercial mindset to his new role at HROC.<\/p>\n<p>Anderson said: \u201cIt feels like a hidden gem &#8211; credible, capable, and genuinely integrated. HROC\u2019s culture, talent, and outstanding client and staff retention, rivals any major network I\u2019ve worked with. The agency\u2019s vision is bold, focused, and unapologetically ambitious, and I\u2019m excited to be part of its drive to become the UK\u2019s most talked about independent agency.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Together, Sherran and Anderson mark a bold new chapter for HROC as it pushes for greater national recognition and continued growth.<\/p>\n<p>This includes a bold new rebranding strategy for the agency and a move into the heart of Birmingham city centre, taking up new headquarters at the iconic Rum Runner Works, the site of the former Rum Runner Nightclub famous for being Duran Duran\u2019s and UB40\u2019s gig and rehearsal venue during the New Romantic years.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Independent nationwide property regeneration consultants AspinallVerdi has appointed Alice Fish as a senior consultant to serve public and private sector clients and projects around the Midlands.<\/p>\n<p>Based at the firm\u2019s Birmingham office at Somerset House, 37 Temple Street, Fish joins from property consultancy Carter Jonas with wide-ranging experience, including in residential property management, compulsory purchase, planning and development and valuations.<\/p>\n<p>During her three-and-a-half years with Carter Jonas in Birmingham, Fish advised a major non-departmental public body on essential refurbishment works required for housing stock and undertook Red Book valuations for disposal purposes.<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-2109369 alignright\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thebusinessdesk.com\/_files\/images\/mar_26\/20260302_114438-225x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"225\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.thebusinessdesk.com\/_files\/images\/mar_26\/20260302_114438-225x300.jpg 225w, https:\/\/www.thebusinessdesk.com\/_files\/images\/mar_26\/20260302_114438-768x1024.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.thebusinessdesk.com\/_files\/images\/mar_26\/20260302_114438-1152x1536.jpg 1152w, https:\/\/www.thebusinessdesk.com\/_files\/images\/mar_26\/20260302_114438-200x267.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.thebusinessdesk.com\/_files\/images\/mar_26\/20260302_114438-300x400.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.thebusinessdesk.com\/_files\/images\/mar_26\/20260302_114438-500x667.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.thebusinessdesk.com\/_files\/images\/mar_26\/20260302_114438-600x800.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.thebusinessdesk.com\/_files\/images\/mar_26\/20260302_114438.jpg 1417w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 225px) 100vw, 225px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>She also worked in the commercial valuations team, completing Red Book valuations for loan security purposes across residential, commercial and development land assets.<\/p>\n<p>Her previous experience includes working with Bellway Homes, where Alice assisted in the preparation of land bids, carried out sales research and undertook searches to identify strategic land opportunities.<\/p>\n<p>A Chartered Surveyor and RICS Registered Valuer, Fish holds a first-class MSc degree in Real Estate from the University of the Built Environment and BSc (Hons) in Geography from the University of Exeter.<\/p>\n<p>Rachel Hill, director and head of the Birmingham office of AspinallVerdi, said: \u201dAlice is an invaluable and experienced addition to our growing team of chartered surveyors and chartered town planners, as we continue to attract and retain top talent while expanding our range of services.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOur robust financial performance across our six regional offices reflects the increasing demand for our expert, tailored development and regeneration services from public and private sector clients across the Midlands and nationwide.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Redditch-based marketing and bid management consultancy Stephen Alexander has announced two new hires as it continues to expand and support its ambitious growth plans.<\/p>\n<p>As part of its continued growth, the company has welcomed Chris Thomas as marketing manager and Liberty Blackwell as marketing executive, both joining in client-facing roles.<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-2109370 alignright\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thebusinessdesk.com\/_files\/images\/mar_26\/Stephen-Alexander-new-hires-300x189.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"189\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.thebusinessdesk.com\/_files\/images\/mar_26\/Stephen-Alexander-new-hires-300x189.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.thebusinessdesk.com\/_files\/images\/mar_26\/Stephen-Alexander-new-hires-768x484.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.thebusinessdesk.com\/_files\/images\/mar_26\/Stephen-Alexander-new-hires-200x126.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.thebusinessdesk.com\/_files\/images\/mar_26\/Stephen-Alexander-new-hires-500x315.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.thebusinessdesk.com\/_files\/images\/mar_26\/Stephen-Alexander-new-hires-600x378.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.thebusinessdesk.com\/_files\/images\/mar_26\/Stephen-Alexander-new-hires.jpg 866w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Thomas joins the business following marketing roles at Halfords, Calor Gas and Mars Group. Blackwell previously worked across marketing agencies in the West Midlands.<\/p>\n<p>Alex Footman, marketing director and co-founder of Stephen Alexander said: \u201cWe\u2019re delighted to welcome both Chris and Liberty to the team as we continue our growth journey. When we launched the business almost four years ago, our aim was to provide specialist marketing and bid management support to help businesses win new work and grow. We\u2019re incredibly proud of the results we\u2019ve delivered for clients across our marketing and bid management services. Chris and Liberty bring valuable new skills and experience to the business, strengthening our ability to deliver impactful marketing and enabling us to support even more businesses across the region.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Stephen Timmins, bid director and co-founder of Stephen Alexander said: \u201cBringing Chris and Liberty into the business is another positive step in the next phase of our growth. Since we launched in 2022, we have focused on building a business that can support our clients\u2019 ambitious growth plans and help them win new work. Both Chris and Liberty bring new expertise, experience and energy to our team and strengthen our ability to deliver exceptional service to clients in the UK and internationally.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Who&#8217;s moving where? <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":266702,"featured_media":2109368,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"coauthors":[127717],"class_list":["post-2109365","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-people","tag-featured-story","tag-greater-birmingham"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>People: HROC; AspinallVerdi; Stephen Alexander | TheBusinessDesk.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Who&#039;s moving where?\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.thebusinessdesk.com\/westmidlands\/news\/2109365-people-hroc-aspinallverdi-stephen-alexander\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"People: HROC; 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