Appointments: Shulmans, Leeds Building Society, Lloyds Bank

CORPORATE law firm Shulmans has appointed a head of operational excellence.

Mel Bulmer trained at Hammonds, before working at Pinsent Masons, then becoming an associate after three years at Walker Morris.

Tim Halstead, Shulmans’ managing partner, said: “Mel is a specialist in knowledge management and professional support, and her appointment reflects our determination to provide an excellent service to our clients and our drive for continuous improvement.

“She is a dedicated resource to help us achieve that aim.

“Having recently broken through the £10m turnover barrier, our aim is not to rest on our laurels but to build on this achievement, ensuring we provide a consistently excellent service to our clients.

“We are confident that, by creating this new role, and recruiting such an experienced operator in Mel, we will succeed even further.”

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A head of regulatory compliance has been appointed at Leeds Building Society.

Katie Marriott has spent seven years at KPMG in financial services external audit and risk.

She said: “I am proud to join Leeds Building Society at a time when we continue to deliver excellent results and growth.

“Being an advocate of the mutual sector, my values are aligned to those of the Society. We have been offering our members a secure place to invest their savings and helping them to buy their homes for 140 years.

“However, we are delivering this in a modern way with investment in our brand, digital proposition and product offerings.

“As Head of Regulatory Compliance I will be working closely with other risk functions and the business to ensure our customers receive a fair deal, great products and services and can trust us in how we do business with them.”

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Gordon Foster has been appointed to the global transactions banking business in Scotland and the North as regional head of trade and working capital team.
Mr Forster said: “This is all about ensuring we are putting our customers here in Yorkshire first in everything we do.

“Customers want to know that the people they are dealing with are local product specialists, but they also need to know that the solution being delivered is the best possible combination of those products for the unique challenges they face.

“As we get to know and understand our customers even more, we are better placed to identify the challenges they face and deliver the right expertise and products to solve them.”

Headed by mid markets managing director, Kash Ahmad, the Trade and Working Capital team will use the Bank’s existing specialist expertise in Trade Finance and Commercial Finance to provide end-to-end working capital solutions to help businesses prosper.

Mr Ahmad said: “Only by putting clients first in everything we do and by delivering what they want – holistic, innovative solutions that are bespoke for their needs – will we do that.

“We have been doing that for some time, but this new team gives us the platform we need to build on that even further.”