People: Director appointment at WYG; Freeths hires from Irwin Mitchell; and more

Professional services firm WYG has appointed Matthew Good as planning director for housing and economics, a newly created role focussing on housing need and delivery.

Good will lead on objectively assessed housing need work nationally and will also help to grow WYG’s planning business in the north and north west. He is based in the company’s Leeds office.

Formerly planning manager (Northern Regions) for the Home Builders Federation (HBF), Good represented HBF members’ interests on all aspects of town planning. He also participated in over 50 Examinations in Public, mainly on issues of housing need and delivery. Before joining the HBF, he worked for three different local authorities in the north in development management, planning policy and community involvement roles.

Good has sat on Local Enterprise Partnership housing boards and has been a key member of the ‘Housing the Powerhouse’ campaign group in Greater Manchester.

WYG planning director Simon Chadwick said: “Matthew will be able to provide our clients with his expertise in relation to housing requirements and objectively assessed need, particularly when it comes to challenging Local Plans and Core Strategies at Examinations.  He has a wealth of experience advising house builders on this matter and other relevant areas of planning and we welcome him to our team.”
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The Leeds office of Freeths has welcomed Kim Jones as a director in the pensions team.

Jones was previously at Irwin Mitchell, where she gained extensive pensions law experience, advising trustees and employers in relation to pension schemes on a range of issues.

She joins a growing office in Leeds where Freeths has seen staff numbers increase rapidly over the past 12 months.

John May, managing partner at Freeths in Leeds, said: “Pensions has been a growing area for us over the last year so it is vital for us to have experts in this sector to provide our clients with the best individually tailored legal advice. Kim is a great addition to the team and I wish her well.”

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Chartered surveyor and commercial property consultancy Sanderson Weatherall has grown its national rating team with the appointment of Rob Cohen, who joins the firm’s Leeds office as a partner.

Cohen has 12 years’ experience specialising in the provision of rating advice for clients across the North of England.

He joins the firm following six years at Colliers in Leeds, and five years prior to that at Sanderson Weatherall’s Newcastle office.

He said: “Sanderson Weatherall has a long history of providing expert property advice in the market I operate and has a strong team of experts and loyal client base due to their service excellence.

was particularly keen to return due to their clear strategy for the future and the opportunities this presents.  I believe the company is going places and want to be part of that journey.”