People: Law firm recruits new family head; Communisis announces CFO appointment; and more

A new head of family law has been appointed by North and East Yorkshire law firm Harrowells.

Lucy Phipps, who has specialised in family law for ten years, joins as a partner from a national family law firm and will be based mainly at Harrowells office in St Saviourgate, York.

She will lead Harrowells Family Law Department which has three solicitors covering the firm’s office network.

After studying at BPP University School of Law in Leeds, Phipps trained with a regional family law practice in Yorkshire before spending five years with a specialist national firm where she became a partner in her second year.

She says: “Being able to lead and grow the Family Law Department of a highly-regarded firm with such strong roots in North and East Yorkshire is just the challenge I have been looking for.

“Family law is immensely interesting. No two people are the same and every case creates a different challenge. The work varies with social trends. Many cases now stem from couples living together rather than marrying and the international context of people forming relationships in other countries or with those of a different nationality.”

Harrowells has three offices in York and others in Thirsk, Easingwold and Pocklington.

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Listed marketing services provider Communisis has appointed Steve Rawlins to the position of group chief financial officer and to the company’s board of directors.

Most recently Rawlins was CFO of EDC Communications, a private equity backed group of digital media agencies. Previously he held senior finance roles at Vendia UK Ltd, Uniq PLC, Caradon PLC and The Gillette Company.

Mark Stoner, group finance director, has stepped down from the board.

He will work with Rawlins through Q1 2018, after which he will leave the Company.

The company said: “Mark has played an important role in the development of Communisis in recent years and the Board is grateful to him for his contribution and commitment.”
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An IT specialist with almost 14 years’ industry experience has been appointed by York-based IT automation specialist PowerON, to bolster its integrated software provider credentials.

Chris Lim joins from specialist software vendor and Microsoft system centre specialist Cireson, where he was the EMEA sales and partner manager. He will be responsible for driving product development and building partner alliances.

Phil Mercer, solutions and services director, from PowerON says: “Chris brings a wealth of experience across the product management lifecycle, with his key focus being on customer experience. His skills will ensure we grow and continue to deliver excellence to our customers.

“Chris’s job will be to develop the software side of our business, expanding our services here in the UK, but also into the European and US markets as first target areas. Responsible for product development at PowerON, Chris will assist this expansion whilst we remain wholeheartedly committed to our core product and service offerings.”

PowerON, which is headquartered in York, has seen its turnover double to almost £2m since its launch  three years ago, following notable contract wins in both the public and private sectors.