People: More solicitors swell the ranks at law firm; Changes to senior roles at listed manufacturer; and more

Leeds-based law firm Blacks Solicitors LLP has successfully retained its newly qualified solicitors.

As a result, the firm has increased the headcount of its Corporate & Commercial, Property, and Family Law teams.

Alex Morris joined Blacks as a Trainee Solicitor in 2017 after gaining commercial experience in London, New York and Lyon.

He will strengthen the firm’s expanding Corporate and Commercial teams, dealing with a broad range of corporate and commercial matters for owner-managed businesses, including acquisitions and disposals, and the production of terms and conditions.

Sarah Scullion joined the business in 2015 as a Family Law Paralegal, before starting her training contract in 2017, and is now a Solicitor in the Family Law team.

She advises clients on all aspects of relationship breakdown including divorce, financial settlements, and child-related disputes. Prior to joining Blacks, Scullion obtained a law degree from the University of Leeds before receiving a Distinction on the LPC at BPP University.

Finally, Elaine Flynn joined Blacks as a Paralegal in 2015, after completing her LPC at BPP University in Leeds. She has qualified into the Property team where she will deal with sales and purchases, landlord and tenant matters, and refinances.

Tom Moyes, the Partner in charge of Training at Blacks, said: “I am thrilled to see Alex, Sarah, and Elaine become fully qualified solicitors and be retained by the firm.

“They have demonstrated commitment and professionalism throughout their training contracts and each of them bring different skills and personalities that will help contribute to the firm’s continued success.”

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Antony Collins, who has been Chief Restructuring Officer at Wakefield-based manufacturer Carclo since he joined at the end of May 2019, is to be appointed Group Chief Executive.

Collins will join the Board with effect from 1 October 2019. At this time Mark Rollins, the Group Chairman, will cease to act in an Executive capacity and will return to a Non-executive Chairman role.

It is currently planned that Collins will fill the Group Chief Executive Officer role on an interim basis whilst the ongoing restructuring of Carclo Group is completed and a platform from which to set the long-term strategy is established.

Separately, Paul Below, Carclo Group Finance Director designate, whose appointment was announced on 3 September 2019, has decided not to continue in the role and leaves the Group on 27 September 2019.

In his place, Ed Watkinson is being appointed as Group Chief Finance Officer designate, starting on 30 September 2019. He is a Chartered Management Accountant with a 20-year career in interim restructuring and finance roles and a strong track record of delivery in turnaround situations across a variety of industries in the publicly listed, private equity and privately-owned company environments.

Watkinson will become the Group Chief Finance Officer when the current Group Finance Director, Sarah Matthews-DeMers, leaves the Group at the end of October as previously announced. Watkinson will fill the Group Chief Finance Officer role on an interim basis and will not, at least initially, join the Board.

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Leeds and Manchester-based Northcoders – the coding bootcamp for the North – has added three new members of staff to its teaching team. The new tutors are: Suneet Misra, Sherpal Singh and Natalia Megias. All three have industry backgrounds, are qualified coders and Northcoders alumni.

They will be responsible for delivering Northcoders’ curriculum, mentoring students on a group and one to one basis, as well as researching and staying abreast of industry news, technology trends and changes in tech.

Prior to joining Northcoders, Misra spent seven years working at Apple Retail in sales and leadership positions. After leaving Apple he completed an MSc in Computing as well as a PGCE in Secondary Computer Science and IT. Singh managed his own small-scale cosmetic products manufacturing business and Megias worked as a civil engineer.

Misra said of his new role: “Myself, Sherpal and Natalia are all incredibly excited to be joining Northcoders at such an exciting time in the company’s evolution.”

Chris Hill, CEO of Northcoders, added: “All three of our new tutors are talented coders and will I’m sure inspire and bring the best out of their students.”

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Drax Group has confirmed that, as previously announced on 21 February 2019, Non-executive Director Tim Cobbold will be standing down from the Board today.

Cobbold has served on the Board of the listed company since September 2010.

The company operates Drax power station, in North Yorkshire.

 

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