People: Solicitors appoints head of life planning department; Law firm bolsters property team; and more

Guest Walker, the York-based solicitors, has appointed Rowena Rogers as Head of its Life Planning department.

The department covers all legal aspects of future life planning and management, including Wills and Probate.

Rogers joined the firm having previously for Bond Dickinson (now Womble Bond Dickinson) in Leeds and Harrowells in York.

The Life Planning team works alongside Guest Walker’s specialist residential and commercial property departments to provide clients with a holistic service for all of their property, business and personal matters.

Their work includes all future care and life planning issues including Wills and Probate, Powers of Attorney, Tax and Estate Planning, Intergenerational Agreements, Pre-nuptial and Living Together Agreements.

As a qualified member of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP), Rogers is a specialist in Inheritance Tax , Succession Planning and Property Trusts and is able to advise families on how to manage and preserve their assets for future generations.

Deborah Barton, Director of Guest Walker, said: “Rowena has an outstanding reputation as a specialist solicitor in life and future wealth planning matters and we are delighted she is now heading up our team. Her arrival has bolstered our department and will mean we can offer our clients a wider range of services within this area.”

Rogers added: “I am delighted to be joining Guest Walker. It is a firm which I have always admired for its culture and values – the team are positive, friendly and completely focused on providing the best possible service to their clients. I am looking forward to getting to know our existing clients, welcoming new ones and helping the department go from strength to strength.”

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Newtons Solicitors, which has its head office in Knaresborough, has appointed solicitors Roy Cusworth and Jennifer Kirkhope to its property team.

The new team members will join Sophie Barton in acting for landlord and tenant commercial property work.

Cusworth joins Newtons from Beaumonts in Wakefield, where he was a senior partner. He brings many years of experience to the team, including his expertise with farming and large retail clients.

Kirkhope is a senior solicitor who joins from Berwins Solicitors, in Harrogate. She will be focussing on developer clients as well as agricultural work.

Chris Newton, managing director at Newtons Solicitors, says: “The team is going from strength to strength. Roy in particular continues to receive the support of his former clients from West Yorkshire, such that a new office in Wakefield is the obvious next step for us and one which we are currently planning to open in June with another new team, in addition to our existing 12 offices across Yorkshire, Teesside and the Northeast”.

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Hargreaves Land, the property and land division of Hargreaves Services, has announced the appointment of a new regional development manager in Yorkshire.

Rob Firth has joined the property company, bringing the team to 16 full-time members of staff, which operate across the firm’s offices in Barnsley, Durham and Scotland.

Firth, a chartered surveyor, brings with him a wealth of experience in a breadth of commercial property sectors and over 25 years at partner or director level at firms including DTZ, St James Securities and Holbeck Land.

He said: “It is great to be joining Hargreaves Land at such an exciting time when the focus is very much on building a successful new property venture. In my new role I will be working to identify, secure and build a pipeline of developments throughout Yorkshire, Lancashire and beyond.”

Hargreaves’ UK-wide land portfolio includes over 50 sites ranging from former coal mines undergoing remediation, through to prime consented sites ready for development.

Key sites include the 390-acre Blindwells scheme located in East Lothian near Edinburgh, where planning consent has been secured for 1,600 new homes. At Westfield in Fife, Scotland over 1,000 acres have been earmarked for energy, waste recovery and employment uses.