People: Appointment at York’s destination management organisation; Senior promotions at real estate business; and more

York’s destination management organisation, Make It York, has confirmed the arrival of its new head of business, networking & inward investment.

Alex Green, who joins the organisation from the City of London Corporation, where he headed the promotion of trade opportunities to the Asia Pacific region now has the remit of showcasing opportunities for businesses to develop and grow in York.

He has also spent time at regional development agencies including One North East, Scottish Development International and UK Trade & Investment.

Sean Bullick, managing director of Make It York, said: “We are delighted with Alex’s addition to the Make It York team.

“His experience of capital markets and the responsibility for Far East trade, most recently with the Corporation of London, will be invaluable as we increase our focus on inward investment and international relationships.

“With York’s genuine world-class economic strengths and huge development opportunities such as York Central coming on stream, it is a really exciting time for the city and I know Alex will play a vital role in ensuring we deliver on the potential.”

Green said: “I am absolutely delighted to be offered this fantastic opportunity.

“It is a very exciting time to be joining Make it York, to be part of a brilliant team of people who are hugely driven towards continuing to grow and develop York as both a business and cultural destination.”

He added it is this international focus which he is keen to capitalise on for the benefit of businesses in the city.

He said: “City positioning and profile-raising in partnership with network-building and a focus towards increased long term inward investment into York will be a key focus for the team.

“We are at a potential turning point in how the UK does business with the rest of the world. Whatever the outcome, York can position itself to take advantage of this and the considerable opportunities it will bring.”

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CBRE’s Leeds office has announced senior promotions across its Rating, Lease Consultancy, Property Management and Project Management teams as the real estate company concludes another year of consecutive growth.

Robin Ellis, Ian Dewhirst, Andrew Milton and Gary Allen have been promoted to senior director within the Rating, Lease Consultancy, Property Management and Project Management teams respectively, while James Millson has been promoted to director within the Property Management team.

The promotions round up also includes Alison Wright who has also been promoted to associate director in the Valuation team and Dean McNulty has become a senior surveyor within the Building Consultancy team.

Over the last 12 months, CBRE’s Leeds office has enjoyed continued success.

Its Industrial team has transacted a total of 7m sq ft of space, while the expanding Property Management team now manages more than 1m sq ft of office space across Leeds City Centre.

The firm has also seen the growth of its CBRE SIPP team. It is now the biggest in the region, managing more than 2,000 properties across the UK for main clients James Hay and Standard Life.

Additional highlights for CBRE Leeds this year include the acquisition of the 31,650 sq ft Grade A Paradigm building for Leeds City Council at Thorpe Park and the acquisition of 43 acres off market for PLP at Gateway 45, which will deliver the biggest speculative development scheme ever built in Leeds totalling 850,000 sq ft.

Also, the Leeds Planning team secured the go-ahead for the next phase of the major mixed use scheme at Wellington Place in Leeds City Centre.

Richard Sunderland, managing director at CBRE Leeds, said: “We are delighted to announce these well-deserved senior promotions across multiple service lines in Leeds following another outstanding year of transactions and acquisitions, which is reflective of the continued hard work, focus and dedication of our growing teams.

“We look forward to further building on our success as we head towards 2020 and the property market continues to grow and prosper across the North.”

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A Leeds-based manufacturing business has marked the last quarter of 2019 with a key strategic appointment.

Sue Wood has joined CO₂Sustain, developers of a patented solution that helps makers of carbonated drinks keep the fizz in their products for longer.

She joins as business development specialist and has over 25 years’ experience in the beverage industry, having worked for some of the leading manufacturers and brands in the beverage sector.

Her role involves looking after a portfolio of existing brands and manufacturers across the UK and developing relationships with new customers. The value of the UK soft drinks sector is estimated to be worth 17.4bn euros.

From its manufacturing base in Horsforth, CO₂Sustain’s team of technical innovations chemists pioneered the preservative-free, liquid processing aid which controls foaming in fizzy drinks (in addition to retaining CO₂ content and extending carbonation shelf life), using an exclusive patented formulation.

CO₂Sustain currently works with drinks brands and manufacturers across four continents and is active in 25 countries across Europe, Latin America, India, Africa, and the Middle East.

Exports are growing at 300% annually and the business is building a new multifunctional workspace at the end of this year featuring an in-house laboratory and RTD drinks bar.

Wood will join the existing business development team which includes business development specialists’ Luis Cantu Robles and Marie Maisonnette.

Robles has responsibility for business development and sales in Latin America and Maisonnette’s focus is on commercialising CO₂Sustain within the European carbonated beverage market.

Wood said: “Having spent over two decades in technical and new product development, I’m genuinely excited about what CO₂Sustain is bringing to the carbonated drinks sector.

“The product is for forward-thinking drinks makers who want to create positive consumer experiences, improve production efficiency and reduce costs.

“To be working with a product that is completely new and truly innovative presents a bright future for the industry and lots of opportunities for established brands and aspiring, entrepreneurial manufacturers.

“I’m particularly looking forward to working with some of the up and coming challenger brands in the UK.”

John Story, founder and MD of CO₂Sustain, added: “Sue has a great deal of valuable technical product knowledge combined with expert retail insight.

“This combination of skills and expertise brings an added dimension to the team and helps to underpin our UK offering as we continue to look to expand into new territories and further consolidate our international customer base in markets around the world.”