People: Four new associates at solicitors; Family law firm expands; Regional MD appointed at finance business; and more

Switalskis Solicitors is celebrating the appointment of four new associates.

Carole Spencer and Sally Smith who work within the child abuse team, Sarah Kent from the conveyancing team and Lucy Wells, who works in the clinical negligence department, have all gained associate status following the successful completion of the Switalskis Associate Development Programme.

The programme launched in 2018 and was designed to give all staff the opportunity to develop their skills in areas including leadership, financial management, client relationship management and communication, and progress to a more senior role within the firm that provides opportunities for involvement in management and business development.

Switalskis director and head of the Associate Development Program programme, Sharron Hardman, said: “As a growing business operating in some very specialised areas of the law, succession planning is a big priority for us.

“We’re delighted to promote four more experienced lawyers to associate status. All of them have worked extremely hard on projects that will bring real benefit to their departments in the near future. This will also help them to develop leadership skills to complement their legal knowledge, which bodes well for the future of the business.”

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Niche family law firm Jones Myers has further expanded its Harrogate team with the appointment of solicitor Lisa Russell, a specialist in children law.

Based at the firm’s Windsor House office, her expertise spans over 13 years and covers all aspects of children law, representing clients in the High Court, County Court and Family Proceedings Court.

A Law Society Children Panel member since 2011, she acts for parents, children, grandparents and local authorities.

The nine-strong children’s team – which operates across the firm’s offices in Leeds, Harrogate and York – jointly combines over eight decades of expertise.

Jones Myers partner Kate Banerjee: “Lisa’s wealth of experience is a perfect fit with our team’s reputation and expertise as we attract complex and varied casework and continue to receive increasing commissions from clients in Yorkshire, the UK and overseas.”

The development follows a series of appointments across 2019 for the firm which has its own in-house counsel and is consistently ranked in a joint Top Tier position by the Legal 500 and Chambers guides alongside national practices.

Strengthening its teams in Leeds and Harrogate, Jones Myers has also launched an office in York headed by partner Nicki Mitchell, a skilled mediator who became the first collaborative family lawyer in York in 2005.

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Reward Finance Group has promoted Gemma Wright to be regional managing director for Yorkshire and the North East.

Wright joined the alternative finance provider as commercial director two years ago with the responsibility of building and running the operations team across the Leeds and Manchester offices.

With 20 years’ experience working in the financial sector, she has played a key role in overseeing the continued growth of the business and, in this time, doubling the headcount to a current team of 27 people across the two offices.

As regional managing director, she will take on responsibility for both the operations and sales team within the Yorkshire and North East region while Nick Smith will continue to lead the Manchester and North West team.

These changes come at an exciting time for Reward, as it has recently announced a record eighth year of consecutive growth.

In the year to February 2019 income was up 39% to £12.1m and the loan book increased by 21% to £65m. Demand for Reward’s funding solutions continues to grow within the SME market.

Tom Flannery, co-founder and joint group managing director of Reward Finance Group, said: “Since joining us, Gemma has played a leading role in Reward’s expansion plan overseeing 50% increase in personnel as well as wholesale IT infrastructure changes.

“This has resulted in us establishing ourselves as a key player in the Manchester market, as well as continuing to build on the success of our long-established Leeds office. This is an exciting appointment as the new structure will also provide us with a platform to scale up for future expansion into other regions.”

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Leeds-based estate agent, Manning Stainton, has promoted Louise Lawrence to manage Fine & Country Leeds, its specialist division that deals with high value and exclusive properties across the city.

Louise has a wealth of regional property sales experience, having worked at Manning Stainton for more than 28 years, most recently as branch manager of the estate agent’s Moortown office.

Her new position at Fine & Country will see her lead a dedicated team on a new growth strategy for Manning Stainton’s luxury homes division, overseeing all current sales and creating unique and effective marketing strategies for every listed property.

Louise said: “I’m extremely excited about my new position and looking forward to growing the Fine & Country division in Leeds. My aim is to become the go-to specialist estate agent for people looking to buy and sell high value properties in the city.”

Mark Manning, managing director of Manning Stainton, added: “Louise has been with the company for almost three decades, so we know our Leeds office of Fine & Country is in safe hands.

“The upper quartile of the city’s property market operates very differently to the rest of the market and Louise has the expertise required to deliver the unique service that Fine & Country’s customers require.”