People: Law firm recruits for new Leeds office; Chase de Vere makes hire as it plans to launch investment service;

Ridley & Hall, headquartered in Huddersfield, has kicked off 2018 with three new partner appointments and by opening a new office in Leeds.

Daxa Patel is now a partner in the firm’s Clinical Negligence department, with Melanie Webb and Clare Linden joining its growing Family Law team. All
three join from Simpson Millar.

The new trio will particularly be making their mark from Ridley & Halls’ new Leeds office at Park Place, which opened this month.

Emma Pearmaine who joined the firm as a director last September has taken on the role of managing director. It follows a recent spout of successes in attracting new developer clients who previous MD, Adam Fletcher will now be dedicating his time to as director of property.

“We have set ambitious targets and are meeting them all. The opening of an office in Leeds is part of our strategy to grow as a leading Northern firm,” says Pearmaine. “Clients who might find it more convenient to meet with us in Leeds, are now able to do that when it suits them.”

The 90-year old law firm now employs 65 people. It turned over £2.5m in 2016 and aims to double that by 2020.

“We are ambitious yet sensible, and that’s how we will grow the firm – in a sustainable manner which will most likely include both strategic acquisitions and further new appointments,” says Pearmaine. “This is an exciting time of investment into attracting the highest quality of people to deliver outstanding legal services to clients.

“Daxa, Claire and Melanie’s move to join us is a testament to the confidence people have in the firm and in the management team. This is a great place to work, and I am really pleased to welcome former colleagues to the team.”
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Chase de Vere, the firm of independent financial advisers with offices in Leeds, has announced that Ben Willis has joined the company as head of portfolio management.

Willis will have overall responsibility for managing Chase de Vere’s new discretionary model portfolio service, which is expected to be launched on June 4.

He will work alongside investment research manager, Justine Fearns.

Willis entered the financial services industry in 1999 when he joined Chartwell Investment Management. He left Chartwell in 2006 and joined Whitechurch Securities as head of research and senior investment manager. He was lead manager on several of Whitechurch’s discretionary portfolios which won investment awards for risk adjusted performance, and had joint responsibility for running around £400m, before leaving Whitechurch to join Chase de Vere.

He said: “I am very excited about launching Chase de Vere’s new discretionary investment service, as I know that I have the skill set, experience and expertise to make it a success. I am aiming to translate the award-winning performance I’ve achieved previously to the new portfolios I will be running.

“It has been relatively straightforward to make gains over the past decade, as most assets have risen in value. However, it is likely that we face more challenging times ahead and my experience in generating returns, while effectively managing risk, should prove beneficial for Chase de Vere’s clients.”

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Homebuilder Redrow has appointed a new head of land for its Yorkshire division in Wakefield.

David Gilling has been promoted from his previous senior land manager role.

Gilling has been with Redrow since January 2016. A planning and property development graduate of Nottingham Trent University, he cut his land-buying teeth with Barratt Homes in Newcastle before becoming a land manager for Persimmon Homes in York.

“I was drawn to Redrow because of its reputation for building a really good product in some excellent locations. And the fact that I’ve gone on to buy a Redrow home myself speaks volumes,” he said.

He will now lead a team of land buyers and managers primarily focused on acquiring land that has outline consent for development or is on land that has been allocated for housing in draft or adopted local plans.

Redrow Homes (Yorkshire) recently announced a package of new developments which will deliver over 1,000 new homes close to Leeds, Wakefield and Huddersfield and, in his previous role, Gilling made a significant contribution towards getting the deals over the line.

Warren Thompson, regional chief executive for Redrow, said “David’s promotion is well deserved. His knowledge, experience and expertise is an asset to the business and he has worked hard to bring several new and exciting sites to the point where we can now develop them.”