People: Age Partnership; Addleshaw Goddard; and more

Leeds-based equity release specialist Age Partnership has appointed Justin Wysocki to the position of chief revenue officer (CRO) and Simon Warhurst as chief operating officer (COO).

The new appointments follow last week’s announcement that Steve Auckland has joined Age Partnership as chief executive officer.

The two senior leadership appointments are part of Auckland’s plan to make Age Partnership the global leader on equity release.

Simon Warhurst

Auckland said: “Both Justin and Simon are young but experienced operators and benefit from having held director level positions at Age Partnership for a number of years.

“They have a tangible passion, enthusiasm and talent for the business, and I have no doubt that they will make an even greater contribution in their wider roles.

“They’re a key part of the restructuring to ensure that we are best prepared as a business for the next phase of our growth in the second half of 2020.

“As the economy tightens we believe there’ll be an even greater desire for customers to release equity they’ve accumulated in their homes. Our teams will be fully geared to assist and support them through that process.”

Prior to taking up the role of CRO, Wysocki held the position of marketing director, while Warhurst – the newly appointed COO – was previously operations director.

Wysocki said, “I’m delighted to be taking up the role of CRO. This is an exciting opportunity to own the full end to end customer journey, with a clear objective of creating great customer experiences, and most importantly finding the right solutions to help our customers.”

Warhurst said: “Having been at Age Partnership since its inception, I have seen the business grow from a small start-up to the UK’s largest equity release broker.

“In my new role I will be focused on ensuring we deliver a world class service for our customers and I’m excited for the next chapter of Age Partnership’s growth.”

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Adam Hastings, the former UK head of capital markets at Squire Patton Boggs, has joined Addleshaw Goddard’s Leeds-based Corporate practice.

He will be adding specialist listed company expertise to the practice’s pre-eminent reputation in M&A, private equity and financial services. His arrival brings the total number of corporate partners in Leeds to six.

Hastings has more than 20 years’ experience advising on a variety of national and international corporate transactional and advisory work, focusing in particular on IPOs and equity capital markets work, public fundraisings and related listed company work.

His experience also covers a range of corporate transaction structures across a number of industries and covering international markets from sub-Saharan Africa to Central Asia and the Middle East.

Garry Elliott, head of Addleshaw Goddard’s Leeds Corporate Team, said: “We want to continue to be the first choice for every significant corporate transaction in our local markets as well as continuing our support for our national and international corporate client base.

“Adam’s track record is outstanding and his addition to our team in Leeds puts us in an even stronger position to attract and resource a greater share of listed company work locally, as well as strengthening our national Equity Capital Markets offering.

“Adam will be a further great addition to our existing talented team.”

Simon Kamstra, head of Addleshaw Goddard’s Leeds office, added: “Adam is well known to many in our firm and his massive experience and collaborative approach will fit well with the culture of both our office and the wider firm.

“We are energetically growing our partnership in Leeds.

“With the joining of partners Rebecca Kitson from Eversheds and Shakeel Dad from Walker Morris, and our 1 May promotions of Louise Dobson and Sara Gilmore, we have in recent months strengthened our corporate, litigation, projects, energy and employment teams in Leeds, with yet more quality partner talent.

“We’re now the largest partner team of any commercial law firm in the region.”

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Sheffield lawyer Carl Jones has been appointed as a Deputy District Judge.

Jones, a partner at Broomhall-based MD Law, which specialises in business recovery, insolvency and dispute resolution, will work on the North Eastern circuit from later this year after completing his induction.

The Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales, the Right Honourable The Lord Burnett of Maldon, appointed him to the position, and he has been allocated to the Humber and South Yorkshire cluster of courts.

Alongside this appointment, he will continue to practise at MD Law acting for insolvency practitioners and other corporate and individual clients on litigious matters.

Jones, who joined MD Law in 2015 and became a partner in 2019, said: “I was surprised, but really pleased, to be appointed on the first time of applying.

“The application included a rigorous qualifying process, which featured tests, assessments and an interview.

“I am now hoping to apply many of my day-job skills to the position and look forward to starting later this year.”

A Deputy District Judge, who works part-time, sits in both public hearings and in private, and is expected to sit 30 days a year.

The position’s main activities include preparing for trial and hearing actions, handling applications in the course of proceedings, determining applications on paper and deciding claims by finding facts and applying the relevant law to give a reasoned judgement.

Founder and partner of MD Law, Matthew Dixon, said: “We warmly congratulate Carl on his judicial appointment. His strong decision making and sound judgement will serve him well.”