Appointments: Pinsent Masons; LDC; Harrogate Law Society; Grontmij

LAW firm Pinsent Masons has appointed a former Secretary of State for International Development as a strategic adviser to the firm.

Douglas Alexander, who was until 2015 a Member of the UK Parliament, served in both the Tony Blair and Gordon Brown Cabinets. He has held several high-ranking positions in addition to his time at The Department for International Development, including as Secretary of State for Transport, Secretary of State for Scotland and Minister for Europe. He also served as the UK’s Governor to the World Bank.

During opposition, Mr. Alexander acted as Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, and, latterly, as Shadow Foreign Secretary.

Mr Alexander will work with the senior leadership team at Pinsent Masons to help inform and support debate among the firm’s clients on doing business responsibly.

His remit will include engaging with the firm’s UK based and international clients as they look to ensure their businesses are connected to their communities, are tackling poverty and inequality through investment and are developing more prevalent and robust business ethics and compliance practices.

He will also help Pinsent Masons and its clients develop business strategies to respond to those geopolitical issues that impact on business from time to time. In the short term this will include helping shape the firm’s engagement with clients around the upcoming referendum on Britain’s membership of the European Union in June.

Richard Foley, senior partner of Pinsent Masons, said: “Douglas has a stellar reputation as one of the most capable and engaging politicians of his generation. At the heart of Douglas’ remit with us is the issue of responsible business and how organisations can re-build bridges into society at a time when public trust is low. In short, it will be about helping executives do business the right way and for the right reasons. He will also bring his experience to bear on some of the major issues that businesses are currently facing. First and foremost on that agenda right now is how to engage with the debate around Europe’s future, and there are few better-placed to provide perspectives on that than Douglas.”

:::

THE Leeds office of private equity house LDC has welcomed investment director Ben Snow on board, as it plans to invest up to £80m of capital in 2016.

With more than 10 years’ experience in advisory, restructuring and private equity, Mr Snow joins the Yorkshire and North East team from LDC in Birmingham, where he played a pivotal role in a number of investments. This includes supporting the £42m management buyout of manufacturer Eley Group; leading the management buyout of UK based shower brand Aqualisa and the secondary buyout of holiday park owner and operator Away Resorts.

Prior to joining LDC, Snow worked for RBS in the strategic investment group, where he led a number of high-profile, pan-European deals. He also spent time in corporate development with Sainsbury’s, and with PwC, where he advised corporate and private equity clients on mergers and acquisitions in the transaction services team.

Mr Snow said: “Having been born and bred in Yorkshire, it is great to be making the move back to the region, particularly at a time when such positive levels of investment are being seen and with a high number of management teams looking to deliver strong growth over the coming years. LDC has shown first-hand how private equity can have a transformative impact and I’m looking forward to working closely with businesses from across the region as they embark on their plans for expansion.”

John Garner, head of LDC in Yorkshire and the North East, added: “For the region’s business community there is unrivalled appetite for expansion and a determination to be part of a success story.

“The outlook for 2016 is positive – the team here is busy looking at fresh opportunities, and we expect increased activity as PLCs and large corporates exit the downturn with record levels of cash and look to offload non-core assets after months of M&A activity. The growing interest in Northern private equity emphasises the need for strong relationships with management teams and the advisory community to complete deals ‘off-market’. No doubt, it will be those that can get deals done quickly, sensitively and to promise that will succeed.”

::: 

A FAMILY law specialist at Newtons Solicitors in Knaresborough has been appointed president of Harrogate and District Law Society.

In the 12-month role, Rachel Baul will lead and represent the district’s legal profession under the auspices of the national law society, ensuring issues affecting the profession locally are represented and communicated to members.

Harrogate & District Law Society, which can trace its origins back to 1918 and has more than 85 previous presidents, has around 120 members and covers Harrogate Ripon, Knaresborough and Boroughbridge.

Ms Baul says: “Harrogate District now has a very strong legal profession, including firms and individuals of regional and national significance, as part of a thriving professional services community.

“The considerable technical skills among Harrogate law firms means that local businesses and individuals no longer have to go to Leeds to receive top-class legal advice and I’m privileged to be asked to represent them during my term of office.”

Ms Baul, who has been a Harrogate & District Law Society committee member since 2000, has been a solicitor in the town since 1997, and joined Newtons Solicitors in January 2015.

:::

AN engineering consultancy with offices in Leeds has bolstered its senior team with the appointment of a new UK managing director.

Max Joy joined Grontmij UK directly from the British Army in which he served for 28 years. For the past three years, he was based at Army Headquarters, Andover, where he was assistant head capability development equipment support.

A chartered mechanical engineer and Fellow of the Institute of Mechanical Engineers, Mr Joy was awarded the OBE in 2011 for outstanding leadership and engineering management achievements.

He replaces interim managing director, Jeff Davitt, who will support his induction into the business in the role of chief operating officer.

Mr Joy joins Grontmij UK following its acquisition in October last year by European architecture and engineering consultancy Sweco, which has its headquarters in Stockholm, Sweden.

Sweco has 14,500 employees, sales of approximately SEK 16 billion (£1.3bn) and is listed on Nasdaq Stockholm.