People: Jenx Ltd; Tyr Law; Carclo; and more

Sheffield-based postural support specialist, Jenx, has announced the retirement of company co-founders Clive and Catherine Jenkins.

The entrepreneurial couple, who formed Jenx Ltd in the cellar of their Walkley home in 1982, are widely known as “pioneers in their field”.

They have helpe transform thousands of children’s lives with life-changing – and often live-saving – postural support equipment and advice.

Almost four decades after its establishment, their company now employs more than 200 staff.

Jenx’s development was widely overseen by Clive and Catherine, an engineer and special needs physiotherapist respectively.

The company has moved premises  six times due to its expansion, relocating to its current headquarters on Wardsend Road since 2001.

During the pandemic Jenx has offered adapted services to ensure the children and families it serves can continue to access help when needed.

Clive Jenkins said: “It’s important for Jenx as a company to adapt and change and to allow the next generation to refresh things and move the business forward.

“Our product design has always very much been based around giving the child opportunities and skills that nature hasn’t given them naturally – the children and the needs of the children are essential to Jenx and they’re what it’s all about.

“I also see our products as tools which enable therapists to treat and work easier with children. Now we distribute products from a number of companies, but always with the children in mind and how therapists can work with them.”

Catherine continued: “We wanted to create a great place to work, so that people who work with us enjoy what they’re doing and they know that they’re doing a worthwhile job. We want our staff to enjoy the time they spend at work and they’re encouraged to train and improve themselves if they want to.

“We look after children, but we also consider parents and therapists as they need products that are attractive, they want to use and that are easy to use. What I’d love is for every child in Sheffield to say, ‘I’d love to work at Jenx when I leave school’. Wouldn’t that be wonderful?”

Holly Jenkins, director of Jenx’s UK Distribution Division, Jiraffe, will spearhead a new management team at the firm alongside fellow director, Dan Limb.

Jenkins said: “Clive and Catherine deserve to be proud of what they created on so many different levels, including for the thousands of children and their families worldwide whose lives have been impacted positively, and also the people who work for us now and in the past and their families as well.

“Both divisions of the company – Jenx and our UK distribution division, Jiraffe – are performing better now than ever, which is fantastic to see and is something everyone who works for us can be proud of.”

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Commercial law firm Tyr Law, which is based in Leeds, has continued its recent growth with the recruitment of partner, Chris Blantern.

Blantern was previously a partner at Schofield Sweeney and joins to lead the corporate team at Tyr Law.

He has been part of the corporate community in Leeds for nearly 20 years having also worked at LCF Law, Pinsent Masons and Eversheds.

During this time he has built a strong network of contacts and clients acting for a wide range of local and national businesses from small to medium sized enterprises through to large public and private companies.

He is the fourth partner to join Tyr Law in the past year, as the firm continues to grow even in the current climate. Two more partners will join in the next few weeks.

Managing partner, Dean Jowett, said: “We are attracting the highest quality work and clients locally, nationally and internationally.

“With the recruitment of Chris and others who will join early in 2021, we have completed our aim of becoming a full service firm that really stands out with its focus on working in partnership with our clients and delivering great service.

“Chris is a great addition who gives real weight to our corporate offering and complements the wider team of partners across the firm.”

Blantern added: “I am excited to have joined such a dynamic firm and to be given the opportunity to develop the firm’s corporate practice.

“Tyr Law mirrors my ambitions and will be a great fit for my clients. The calibre of lawyers and their client base is impressive and I am looking forward to being a part of the firm’s continuing growth and success.”

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Wakefield-based listed manufacturer, Carclo, says Eric Hutchinson has been appointed a non-executive director of its Board with effect from 7 January 2021.

Following graduation, Hutchinson qualified as a Chartered Certified Accountant and spent his early career in advisory and industrial roles before joining Spirent Communication a London listed Data Communications specialist.

At Spirent he spent 13 years as CFO and then six years as CEO, before retiring in 2020 during which time he oversaw the transformation of the business and a significant strengthening of its balance sheet.

He also served as a committee member of the Financial Reporting Review Panel for nine years.

It is expected he will take over as chairman of the Audit Committee, following a suitable handover with Peter Slabbert, the current Audit Committee Chairman. Slabbert will step down from the Board on 31 March 2021.

Nick Sanders, executive chairman of Carclo, said: “I am delighted to welcome Eric to the Board.

“His wealth of experience will make a great contribution to the business, as we embark on the next stage of the Carclo journey.”

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Independent creative agency, ACD&B, has started the year by bolstering its team with the appointment of a new creative designer following a series of client wins.

Cleckheaton-based ACD&B, which specialises in providing clients with branding, artworking, creative and web design has welcomed back Caitlin Wyllie.

23-year-old Caitlin secured a year’s placement from 2017 to 2018 at ACD&B as part of her degree course at the University of Leeds.

After graduating with first class honours, she returned home to begin her new role as an in-house graphic designer with gifts and gadgets retailer, Gift Universe Group (formerly Menkind), where she was responsible for creating print and digital designs including web, packaging, POS, digital banners and social media assets.

Following increased demand for its services, ACD&B has appointed Caitlin to provide its clients including NorthEdge, JLA, and Bespoke with creative design ranging from branding, artworking and animation.

Managing director, Chris Parkinson, said: “Caitlin has a natural talent for creative design and a great chemistry with clients.

“With increasing demand from retained and new clients, we needed to expand the team.

“Through each lockdown the team has adapted to remote working seamlessly and it made me realise that I didn’t need people sitting in the office to deliver excellent service.

“I needed the right person with the right attributes and talent. It was no longer a requirement for them to be able to commute to the office. Caitlin is perfect for the position and I’m delighted to welcome her back to the team.”

Wyllie added: “It was my ambition to return to an agency as it gives me the opportunity to use my creativity to its full extent, and as a young designer develop my skills and learn new ones.

“I kept in touch with Chris and when the role for a new creative designer arose, I jumped at the opportunity.”