People: Business development manager recruited; Experienced corporate and banking lawyer hired; and more

A company which has expanded its offer from telecoms packages to green energy and IT in three years is gearing up for further growth with the appointment of its first business development manager.

Lesley Gradwell joins River, based at The Bloc in Anlaby, after a career working in preventative health care, insurance and transport.

She said: “River’s work is a completely new area for me, which is always good and it’s a competitive sector. It’s good to see how the company is progressing already having only launched three years ago.

“It gives me confidence that I’m going somewhere that’s stable and progressive. The more ideas a business has the more I have something to sink my teeth into.”

Ashley Hunter, managing director of the company which he launched with his brother Guy in 2016, said: “Lesley’s appointment was driven by a hole in the business.

“We are very good at front end sales and our portfolio is solid and compelling but we haven’t done much marketing or networking and we still remain one of the area’s best-kept secrets.

“We haven’t been able to build a brand and increase people’s awareness. That means we’ve had to work to generate every opportunity from cradle to grave, but because of the calibre of clients we have started to secure we can now shout a bit more.

“Lesley will also help us to improve our account management. We have run very fast to get where we are but we don’t want to be seen as just a new business company.”

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Sills & Betteridge has confirmed the recent appointment of Partner Neil Large.

He joins the firm with over 20 years’ experience as a corporate and banking lawyer, with leading UK national and regional full-service law firms.

Large specialises in the full range of corporate transactions including cross border, all types of debt and equity finance, and all aspects of company and commercial law.

His clients include local, national and international businesses and their stakeholders, private equity and venture capital funds, business angel investors, banks, asset and trade finance lenders, MBO/MBI teams, high net worth individuals, entrepreneurs, and real estate investors and developers.

He will be based primarily in Doncaster and will also support his corporate and banking colleagues in the firm’s Lincoln and Nottingham offices.

Large said: “I am delighted to join the Sills & Betteridge Corporate Team and to be given the opportunity to help drive and develop the firm’s corporate and commercial practice throughout South Yorkshire and the East Midlands.

“Sills & Betteridge is a successful, forward thinking, highly progressive, and dynamic full-service law firm with a clear vision and commitment to invest in and grow its business legal services offering across all its offices.”

James Conduit, head of the Corporate Team, said: “Neil is an excellent corporate lawyer with a wealth of experience which will bolster our already very strong corporate team here at Sills & Betteridge.

“After a successful year in 2019 during which we worked on deals totalling more than £96 million in value we are now looking to build on that performance and Neil’s energy and commitment to developing the firm will play a significant part in our strategy going forward.”

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Drainage contractor, Jet Aire Services, has appointed Lee Whitear as business development manager to support the company’s continued UK-wide growth.

Whitear was previously the operations manager at Jet Aire’s Leeds office prior to his move to the sales division.

Following four years of military service, he joined Jet Aire in 2013 as a CCTV drainage engineer and progressed through various promotions including operations support manager and service delivery manager.

Jet Aire managing director, Darren Pavan, said: “Lee is steeped in Jet Aire’s quality-led culture and values.

“Having worked across many aspects of the business, he now has outstanding technical expertise, a wealth of industry knowledge and proven capabilities in the efficient management of drainage operations, including nationwide contracts for some of the UK’s biggest names in retail, utilities, infrastructure and manufacturing.”

With a Middlesbrough office in addition to its Aberford HQ, Jet Aire Services has been established for over 30 years. The company’s drainage maintenance services include high-pressure water jetting, drain and sewer cleansing, CCTV surveys, tankering and waste disposal.

It also provides drainage remediation services including patching, lining, infiltration sealing, robotic cutting, root cutting and epoxy spray coating.

Whitear said: “This is a very exciting opportunity. In the past few years Jet Aire has made substantial investment in fleet technology, industry accreditations and specialist recruitment to facilitate expansion across all regions.

“With these foundations in place, I’m looking forward to building its core business and developing new markets on a nationwide basis.”

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Sheffield-headquartered specialist building materials supplier, SIG, has confirmed that chief executive officer Meinie Oldersma has returned to work on a full-time basis following his leave of absence.

Following his return, both Andrew Allner, chairman and Nick Maddock, chief financial officer will return to their normal duties.