People: Raft of promotions at Switalskis; Overseas trade specialist expands team; and more

Switalskis Solicitors has appointed 12 new associates across its 13 Yorkshire offices following the completion of the firm’s first Associate Development Programme.

The programme was designed to give all staff – not just lawyers – the opportunity to develop their skills in areas including leadership, financial management, client relationship management and communication, and progress to a more senior role within the firm that provides opportunities for involvement in management and business development.

Developed in partnership with West Yorkshire based AW Leadership, the Switalskis Associate Development Programme (ADP) involved three days of intensive learning followed by practical workplace projects and presentations to the board.

Switalskis Managing Director John Durkan said: “As a growing law firm with an eye firmly on the future delivery of legal services, we have put developing and nurturing talent high on our boardroom agenda. We are focused on providing the best possible service to our clients, which means we need the best lawyers and staff working in our team.

“I’m incredibly impressed with the ambition and talent within our team, and I’d like to thank all of our new associates for their hard work and commitment to the programme and congratulate them on their well-deserved success. I am thrilled with the success of this first ADP, and we will certainly be running it again in the future.”

Associate solicitor Sam Spain added: “It has been a real privilege to have successfully completed Switalskis’ first Associate Development Programme. It is a really exciting development for me, for the firm and for the Court of Protection Department. I’m looking forward to working alongside Alex Guy to continue to develop the team and build on my project, promoting and delivering our new and improved litigation support services.”

Established in 1993, Switalskis Solicitors provides expert legal advice and representation for people and businesses from 13 locations across Yorkshire in more than 18 areas of law including family, medical negligence, catastrophic injury and child abuse law.

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Three new staff have joined overseas trade specialist, Chamber International, as part of a more experienced and cosmopolitan team able to speak 12 different languages.

Fiorella Duran-Robinson, Sam Lazkani and Inga Keire, who join the Client Services Team, will help Chamber International meet growing demand for more complex export advice from companies throughout Yorkshire and the UK.

Duran-Robinson, who is originally from Colombia and moved to the UK 14 years ago, has a pharmacy BSc from University of Colombia and an MBA from Durham University. She previously worked as an export sales and marketing executive for a medical scientific company in the North East.

Lazkani is originally from Syria and speaks Arabic and Mandarin. He has worked in exporting for seven years. He attended the Central Academy of Arts, Beijing, achieved a Fine Arts PhD from the University of Wales and spent two years with the Syrian Embassy, Beijing, as an events coordinator.

Keire, who came to the UK from Poland eight years ago, has 10 years international trade experience in manufacturing and distribution. She previously worked as a finance assistant at a York brickwork contractor and as sales office manager for a West Yorkshire exporting manufacturing company.

The new advisers will meet demand for research, including access to new markets, working with Chamber International’s overseas network of private sector partners, bi-lateral chambers of commerce and business groups; practical support with import and export order management services including customs clearance, freight management and trade facilitation; and advisory work covering letters of credit, tariffs, trade agreements and country of origin assessments.

Among 12 languages spoken by the new team are English, Portuguese, Spanish, Latvian, Russian, German, French, Mandarin, Polish, Italian, Chinese and Arabic.

Chamber International director, Tim Bailey, said: “Increased competition, companies exporting further afield, and a wider range of products being exported, is leading to growing demand for more sophisticated support services.

“As well as being multi-lingual, Sam, Inga and Fiorella are all experienced with a high level of skills and will enable us to meet this demand with a truly international team.”

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Listed building products firm SIG has appointed Alan Lovell to the Board of Directors as a Non-Executive Director with effect from 1 August 2018. 

Lovell has also been appointed Non-Executive Chairman of Bradford-based Safestyle UK.

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Property specialists Garness Jones have strengthened their residential lettings team by investing in new people and technology as demand increases among property portfolio holders for professional management services in Hull and East Yorkshire.

Matt Johnson, the firm’s new Residential Lettings Manager, lives in Brough and said more people are looking to return or relocate to the area, which is seeing a surge in business investment and cultural interest.

He said: “Hull is making great strides as a place to live. There are more businesses investing here and there is more cultural activity going on. It is a more desirable city – that’s why I stayed here even when I was working in Leeds, and it’s why more people are moving to Hull.”

Johnson worked for Hull City Council before moving into property four years ago with a letting agent in Leeds. He progressed to branch manager within two years and now heads the residential lettings team at Garness Jones.

He said: “We work for a lot of landlords with apartments and houses all over the region and we are looking to increase those numbers and also extend our area of operation.”

Dave Garness, Managing Director of Garness Jones, said: “Our residential division has made great progress in recent years and Matt’s arrival will enable us to build on that. We are aware from our commercial property activity that investment in Hull and East Yorkshire is increasing. That is translating into more activity in the residential sector and we have made a significant investment in our IT systems to support this growth.”

 

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