People: Senior hires at digital marketing company; Director joins consultancy from Harworth; Property surveyors expand with latest hire; EMIS Group makes non-exec changes

Digital marketing and communications business Dentsu Aegis Network in Leeds has hired a trio to its senior leadership team.

Tim Ainsworth has been appointed as strategy director, having already worked with the business as a consultant for six months. Prior to this, he worked with brands such as Sky, Virgin and Nike during a 20-year media agency career.

The business also announced the promotion of two long serving senior executives. Andrea Bagan is promoted to managing director of Carat Leeds while Pete Coates becomes head of iProspect Leeds.

Kevin Cunningham, managing partner of Dentsu Aegis Leeds, said: “It’s fantastic to have someone of Tim’s calibre join our senior team. His strategic insight, strong business acumen and true entrepreneurial spirit will be a huge asset to us as we take the next steps on our exciting journey.”

“Andrea has been pivotal to the continued growth of Carat in Leeds, helping to secure many new business wins during her time with the business. She is a role model for many of her colleagues and is a brilliant illustration of what can be achieved through ambition and collaboration.

“Similarly, Pete has been integral to the launch of iProspect in Leeds and the subsequent 300% growth we have experienced over the last three years. Both promotions demonstrate the strength of the talent we have within our business and I’m delighted to see both Andrea and Pete continue to progress their careers with us.”

Leeds-based property consultancy Gent Visick is expanding its team after appointing David Travis as Director of Consultancy.

He joins from Harworth Group plc, where he was a member of the FTSE 500 firm’s Management Board and headed up the company’s Business Space Division. Prior to that, he worked at Lambert Smith Hampton in Leeds.

Gent Visick has made the appointment to grow the company’s specialist lease consultancy and development services.

At Harworth, Mr Travis led the sustained growth and asset management of its retained investment portfolio to over 2.5m sq ft of space across the Midlands and North of England.

He was also involved in the development of almost 1 million sq ft of advanced manufacturing, logistics and retail schemes, including R-evolution and AMPlify at the Advanced Manufacturing Park in Rotherham, Gateway 36 in Barnsley and Logistics North in Bolton.

Mr Travis said: “I’ve worked with the team at Gent Visick on numerous projects over the years so I understand the unparalleled level of service provided and the reputation that the wider business has developed.

“When the chance arose to head up its Consultancy division in Leeds, it appealed as a very exciting prospect and I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to spearhead the division’s growth over the coming years.”

Rupert Visick, managing director at Gent Visick, said: “Gent Visick has a wealth of knowledge and experience advising on deals and leases across a huge amount of industrial stock throughout the North of England and beyond.

“David’s experience will enable us to exploit and maximise this market intelligence for the benefit of our clients when they are approaching lease renewals and rent reviews. When this is combined with his development consultancy experience, there’s no doubt he will be a strong addition to our team, and we’re delighted to welcome him to drive the evolution of our strategic consultancy offering.”

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Chartered surveyors Barnsdales have appointed Tom Shelton to set up the agency team in its Sheffield office.

Mr Shelton will be based in the St James House base of the Sheffield office. He will be looking to grow the agency team there as well as win new business in South Yorkshire.

He has 13 years of experience in the property and joins from Fox Lloyd Jones in Leeds. Prior to that, he worked at Lambert Smith Hampton’s office for three years. He started out at Tuckerman in London and was there for seven years where he began his career.

Barnsdales have been established since 1905 and has ambitious plans to rapidly expand and grow the
business. 

Mr Shelton said: “Joining such a strong property consultancy to launch an agency business in my home city of Sheffield is a very exciting opportunity for me and the wider business and one which I am thoroughly looking forward to getting stuck in to. The Sheffield property market is performing well so it is a good time to be joining and I am confident that we can take advantage of the strong market conditions.”

Jason Barnsdale, managing director of Barnsdales said “I am delighted Tom has joined Barnsdales to
launch our agency business in Sheffield, this is an important and significant appointment for us and
brings our Sheffield team to 8 people now.

“Tom has fantastic market contacts and some great clients and will also be working closely with the Doncaster and Cirencester agency teams to provide national coverage.”

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Healthcare software firm EMIS Group has announced the retirement of Robin Taylor and appointment of Jennifer Byrne to the board as a non-executive director.

Taylor will retire officially on 8 May 2019 after nine years with the group, where he was also chair of its audit committee.

Andy McKeon, non-executive Director, who has been on the board since 2013 will step up to the role of senior independent director, while Kevin Boyd, non-executive director, will become chair of the audit committee.

Jennifer Byrne will be appointed as an independent non-executive director immediately following the 2019 AGM on 8 May 2019, bringing her wealth of experience in the global software sector to the leadership team. She will join the EMIS Group Board’s audit, remuneration and nomination committees.

She worked at Lockheed Martin for over twenty five years in a series of high ranking roles including Vice President of Space Systems Engineering and Technology. She relocated to the UK to take on the position of chief operating officer at G-Research, a quantitative research and technology company that produces predictive research and builds advanced data analytics technology.

Mike O’Leary, chairman of EMIS Group, said: “Robin has completed nine years of service with EMIS Group and on behalf of his colleagues, I would like to thank him sincerely for his advice and continued support throughout. We wish him a long and happy retirement.

“It gives me great pleasure to welcome Jennifer Byrne to the Board. Her wealth of commercial experience and background in using technical insight to deliver challenging and technically complex engineering programmes, will complement and enhance the significant expertise we already have on the Board.”