People: Partner hire for Lupton Fawcett; Business development firm recruits Dragon’s Den entrepreneur; and more

Lupton Fawcett has appointed a family law practitioner as a partner at its York office.

Andrew Smith joins the growing firm from Blacks in Leeds.

He has been practising in Leeds since 2011, having graduated from the University of Leeds and the York College of Law in 2005.

He specialises in legal issues arising from relationship breakdown; specifically divorce, separation, children disputes, cohabitation, domestic violence and dissolution of civil partnerships. Andrew also deals with complex issues including pre and post marital agreements and property ownership disputes between non-married couples.

He is a member of the Law Society’s Family Law Accreditation Scheme and has previously trained and qualified as a family mediator accredited by the Family Mediation Council and the Law Society. In addition, Smith is an active member of West and North Yorkshire Resolution and sits on the regional committee.

Chris Burns, head of family at Lupton Fawcett York, said: “Andrew will be a fantastic addition to our family law team. He brings significant experience and expertise to the firm and will be a great asset at our York office providing clients with the best possible support and advice.”

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Rob Purfield Associates, a leading motor sector training and business development specialist, has appointed Laura Booth as business development associate.

Booth, a Dragon’s Den entrepreneur who successfully secured £65,000 investment from Theo Paphitis for the original WedgeWelly concept, has over a decade experience running her own businesses as well as experience in the high-end retail sector, where she has worked with clients to shift business perceptions and inspire growth.

In her new role, she will be responsible for delivering the business’s growth strategy.

She will also take the lead on creating and delivering solutions helping clients to develop their brand communication and delivery of their customer proposition.

She said: “This is a fantastic opportunity to work with a fast-paced business that is committed to helping its clients improve and grow. Having developed two successful start-up businesses and gained experience selling to, and working with, major brands like Amazon, Debenhams and QVC, I’m looking forward to helping client businesses create positive change and help maximising the potential of their people.”

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Performance marketing agency Journey Further has welcomed Dan Nutter on board as head of technical and SEO.

He will work with the leadership team to develop and instil best practice into Journey Further’s Technical SEO offering including site speed optimisation, international SEO and SEO for JavaScript frameworks – key growth areas for the agency.

Journey Further launched in January 2017 offering PPC, Programmatic and Paid Social, adding SEO, PR and influencer marketing capabilities in August 2018. The Influence team  has more than tripled in size, growing from three people to ten and runs SEO campaigns for brands including MYA, 247 Blinds and Hudgell Solicitors.

Nutter has spent the last five years of his career at digital agency twentysix working on brands including DFDS and AO.com.

He said: “I believe for the SEO industry to continue to deliver value for clients, agencies need to shift from the traditional model towards a strategic support role which allows clients direct access to specialists. Journey Further is leading the charge in this area. I’m looking forward to forging a closer relationship with clients which will allow for a more collaborative and results-driven way of working.”