People: Employment team director hired at law firm; Sales consultant recruited at estate agency; and more
Walker Morris has appointed Laura McLellan as a director in its Employment Team.
McLellan brings significant experience to the firm’s Employment practice having acted for clients such as Tesco Stores, Greggs, Eddie Stobart and WM Morrison’s.
She joins the team from Squire Patton Boggs, having acquired over 12 years of post-qualified experience.
She brings with her a wealth of experience in all areas of employment law including tribunal litigation experience and the undertaking of her own advocacy for clients at employment tribunal hearings.
McLellan has advised on high-profile cases in the past including a large scale multi-claimant litigation with up to 500 claimants, as well as mass changes to terms and conditions project, impacting upwards of 32,000 employees.
David Smedley, head of employment and chairman of partners, said: “The changing landscape of employment law affects our clients’ needs for legal advice.
“Laura’s appointment reinforces the significant level of expertise in our Employment Team. Having an experienced team, especially with Laura’s experience in high-profile cases and litigation experience, ensures our ability to provide our clients with expert legal advice.
“This solutions-driven, pragmatic approach is especially valued by clients and is one of the key factors in our growth strategy.”
McLellan said: “It’s an exciting time to be joining Walker Morris given their superb list of clients, highly ambitious strategy for growth and their talented team.
“The department is ranked in band 1 by Chambers & Partners, a leading independent guide to the profession and I look forward to playing my part in the continued growth and success of this team.”
:::
AN independent Yorkshire estate agency has strengthened its national Land and New Homes specialism after a post-election surge in demand.
Linley & Simpson has appointed James Curtis-Bean as new homes sales consultant, bringing with him more than a decade of property and marketing experience.
Launched just five years ago with a single member of staff and six properties, the department now employs eight specialists and has seen its new home sales portfolio grow to over 600 – with more than double that number in the pipeline.
Leeds-born Curtis-Bean returns to his Yorkshire roots after spending the past 12 years in Australia, where he delivered sales and marketing strategies for a raft of major property developers across the country. He had previously worked in the automotive industry for brands such as Lotus and Proton, including a spell in Kuala Lumpur.
He said: “It’s great to be back home in Yorkshire, especially with so many developers returning to the marketplace and the new homes sector becoming more vibrant as a result.
“Yorkshire is brimming with no shortage of striking new homes coming to market and I’m looking forward to swapping the Gold Coast for the East Coast, Sydney for Skipton, and Hobart for Harrogate in helping them reach their potential.”
Director of land and new homes at Linley & Simpson, David Waddington, said: “We are delighted James has transferred his skills 10,000 miles from Australia back to his home county, especially amid a New Year spike in buyer demand.
“He adds a fresh dimension and insight to the service we provide to a growing client base of landowners and developers, which is now supported by a network of 18 branches covering all corners of North and West Yorkshire.”
:::
CRT Property Investments, a subsidiary of the Coalfields Regeneration Trust, which is dedicated to supporting the 5.7 million people living in the UK’s former mining communities, has appointed Zoe Shearman as investment and development manager.
She will support investment and development director, Shaun O’Brien, by progressing property opportunities through planning and managing the development process of schemes located within some of the most deprived towns in the country.
She brings relevant experience from her previous position as senior development consultant for Thomas Lister, a development consultancy based in Bromsgrove.
During this time, she provided development advice to public sector clients, including Homes England and Local Enterprise Partnerships, on a range of residential and commercial schemes.
Shearman said: “The main reason I was attracted to work for CRT Property Investments was to be given the opportunity to work on a variety of projects that will make a real difference to the local communities.
“It is fulfilling to know that once we’ve completed a scheme, the organisation will continue to work with and support residents in these neighbourhoods to ensure the progress of each area continues.”
O’Brien said: “As the property portfolio is expected to increase as we proceed with more of our planned projects, Zoe will play an integral part in helping to manage this growth and bringing real change to our forgotten towns and villages.
“As Zoe has worked with several other charitable organisations in her previous role, she will already have valuable experience navigating through the complex planning processes that many of our proposed schemes require.
“I am confident Zoe will be able to make an immediate contribution and help the wider property management team build towards reaching our ambitious goals for 2020.”
:::
Danny Sims and Helen Menzies
Leeds and Stockport-based market research agency, DJS Research, has welcomed eight new staff including an associate director and for the first time, an HR manager.
Experienced researcher and moderator, Helen Menzies, joins the company as associate director and will be working out of its Leeds office.
She has worked in the industry for over a decade and has a wealth of both qualitative and quantitative experience across a number of sectors including finance, media and children’s research, with a specialist interest in arts and culture.
Her new role at DJS will focus her expertise in delivering projects such as customer experience and satisfaction, exhibition evaluations, audience profiling and segmentation.
In addition, following several years of consistent growth and the results of an internal consultation involving staff from across the entire business, the agency has announced the appointment of Lucy Pawson as HR manager.
Her role at the agency will be multi-faceted, including traditional personnel and compliance elements, in combination with broader strategic objectives around employee experience and engagement.
Further appointments to the research team at both Stockport And Leeds offices include Tanya Colbran, Jack Watson and Mike Desforges as senior research executives.
Working in market research since 2014, Colbran joins the public sector team at DJS Research with wide-ranging experience across government, health and FMCG sectors.
Watson works across the education, charitable and public sectors for clients such as the Tate galleries and Greater London Authority.
Desforges will be working out of the Leeds office. He has experience working for high-profile clients across financial, utilities, retail, and local government sectors, with particular expertise in quantitative research.
In addition, DJS Research has welcomed three junior members to the team.
Saffron Goodwin and Francesca Barker have joined the research team as junior research executives after previous roles within Operations and CATI.
There has also been an addition to our Field Team with Madeleine McGuire taking on the role of junior field recruitment executive.
Danny Sims, managing director of DJS Research, said: “We’re really thrilled to add to our already strong team of researchers and operations staff. Bringing a wealth of experience across a variety of sectors and invaluable individual expertise, I know they’re looking forward to working with our clients on exciting new projects.
“In addition to research staff, we’re also delighted to welcome our first HR manager, an appointment that is already proving an extremely positive step for the company.”
