People: Sheffield Forgemasters appoints new chairman; Global IT firm completes recruitment drive; and more

Colin Smith CBE, the former Rolls-Royce group president, has joined the directors at Sheffield Forgemasters International Ltd (SFIL) as non-executive chairman.

Smith is the first chairman appointed to the board of directors at SFIL since the retirement of Tony Pedder in 2017 and joins new CEO David Bond, Steve Hammell as the group’s new CFO and Paul Cahill as new COO.

Smith brings a wealth of experience to the company and will work to regulate the board of directors, chairing all meetings of the board and ensuring that the company’s direction is set out and that the business strategy is delivered.

Smith retired from Rolls-Royce in May 2017 and has numerous industry roles including chairman of the Aerospace Growth Partnership and president of ADS, the premier trade organisation for companies in the UK Aerospace, Defence, Security and Space Sectors.

In June 2012, Smith was awarded a CBE for services to UK engineering. He is a Fellow of The Royal Society, the Royal Academy of Engineering, The Royal Aeronautical Society and The Institution of Mechanical Engineers. He was the recipient of a Royal Academy of Engineering Silver Medal in 2002, which recognises outstanding personal contribution to UK engineering.

Smith said: “I am delighted to be joining the new team of directors at Sheffield Forgemasters, this is a company with extraordinary heritage and a skills set that is at the leading edge of engineering and manufacturing technology.

“SFIL operates at the premium end of the market, but the quality and longevity of our output delivers long operational life for consumable components and ultimate reliability for safety critical components and these are tangible gains over our competition.

“We are collectively working to establish a clear future for SFIL and so we are making important decisions on how we manage our finances, how we market the business and taking steps to drive the company into emerging markets on a worldwide level.

“There are significant opportunities for this type of engineering, even on our doorstep, with the potential advent of Small Modular Reactors for the civil nuclear industry, decommissioning of nuclear power plants and the potential for a much more united and aligned UK supply chain serving the power generation sectors.”

David Bond, CEO at SFIL, added: “We welcome Colin to the board of directors and his unique experience and industry knowledge will bring a vast amount to the team as we work to create efficiencies and use our unique skills set to engage with new markets and product streams.”

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The Leeds office of independent planning and design consultancy Barton Willmore has announced the promotion of a senior planner.

Jane Beckett has been promoted to planning associate.

The promotion will see Beckett help lead Barton Willmore’s work across the housing, energy and commercial property sectors within Yorkshire.

Commenting on her promotion, Beckett said: “I’m thrilled to be taking on the role of planning associate in the Leeds office having been involved in a wide variety of exciting projects involving the development of infrastructure, business space and new homes, during such an exciting time for Yorkshire.”

James Hall, partner at Barton Willmore, added: “It’s been a great 12 months for Barton Willmore in Yorkshire – we have a fabulous group of clients who are continually investing in the county.

“Jane has stepped up to successfully lead a number of our major projects in that time, so I’m delighted she has become a planning associate.

“We remain optimistic for the next year, particularly if there is progress on the BREXIT and One Yorkshire devolution deals.”

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Redwood Bank, which launched in August last year, has appointed a business lending specialist with more than 30 years’ experience.

Mark Dolphin as been appointed as a new Business Development Manager at the Bank.

Having held numerous positions in real estate finance, High Street Banking and the Challenger Bank sector, Dolphin will be focusing on helping SMEs in Yorkshire and North East expand.

Dolphin spent 19 years at Lloyds Bank and almost 12 years at Santander where he worked closely with SMEs in general and specialist roles.

Dolphin said: “I am delighted to be part of Britain’s first 100 per cent born in the cloud business bank. I’m passionate about customer service and I am looking forward to establishing strong relationships with customers to ensure they have an enjoyable and reliable lending experience.

“For the last two and half years I have spent my time at Atom Bank, playing an integral role in developing brand awareness to SMEs and brokers, something I’m keen to bring with me to Redwood Bank.”

Gary Wilkinson, CEOCEO and Co-Founder of Redwood Bank, added: “I’m absolutely delighted to welcome Mark to our team. His wealth of experience will be a valuable asset to us. As we continue to develop and grow, it’s key that we have the very best people on board who are committed to delivering a first-class service for all our business customers.

“He is passionate about customer service, delivery and making a difference in helping SMEs, the lifeblood of the UK economy, achieve their goals and aspirations.”

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Global IT company Mastek, whose clientele includes NHS Digital and the Ministry of Defence, has appointed 18 Leeds-based graduates in collaboration with graduate talent firm Graft.

Mastek, whose recent annual results revealed a turnover of £90m, said that it aims to “create and nurture” millennial talent with a new graduate scheme in Leeds.

Gordon Cullum, Chief Technology Officer at Mastek, recruited the help of newly-launched Leeds agency Graft, a graduate and career development specialist run by Melanie Parker.

Cullum said: “At our Digital Learning Centre in our Leeds-based HQ on Park Row, Mastek aims to provide an opportunity for the tech innovators of tomorrow to gain key skills that are vital for the continued growth of industry.

“Mastek delivers modern technology solutions that improve the lives of millions and we hope this programme will inspire those new to the sector on the true impact their skills can make”.

Melanie Parker added: “Mastek is offering an exciting opportunity for local graduates, committing to three months’ training to develop their skills in software engineering.”

To accompany this large employment of graduate software engineers, Graft and Mastek hosted an assessment day for the candidates on Monday 24 September.

Mastek committed to employing 18 graduates from the day with future plans for more graduate intakes already in hand.

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Extreme Creations, the Harrogate-based marketing agency, has welcomed a trio of new hires to its team.

The new recruits take up roles right across the technical team. Nuala Doyle joins as a Marketing Executive, Adam Norris as a Front-end Developer and Harry Cooke as an SEO Executive.

Doyle, who will provide support to the social and PR teams, recently graduated from Sheffield Hallam University with a degree in Marketing. She joins team Extreme following a placement year at the NHS Leadership Academy.

Norris joins Extreme after several years in a web development role at another agency. Cooke joins the agency with several years of experience in content marketing, email marketing, social and SEO.

These three additions bring Extreme’s headcount to 35.

Antony Prince, Managing Director at Extreme, said: “Nuala, Adam and Harry each join a different department – showing the growth in demand for our full portfolio of marketing services. It’s fantastic to be able to reflect this with these highly-skilled additions.

“We want to continue exceeding our clients’ expectations – and these hand-picked appointments will help us to do exactly that! Everyone’s excited to see the input and ideas that the new trio bring to Extreme.”

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