People: Addleshaw Goddard; Sheffield Forgemasters; PCL; and more

Addleshaw Goddard says partner Pervinder Kaur will succeed Simon Kamstra as the head of its Leeds office for a three-year term.

Kaur is head of the firm’s Private Capital team and part of the corporate department.

She has expertise in providing trusts and succession advice to leading entrepreneurs and wealth creators and their businesses across the region, as well as advising numerous high profile charitable institutions.

She has been with Addleshaw Goddard for nearly 27 years, having joined as a trainee in 1994, receiving recognition for her work in the region and beyond, including the Private Client award at the Yorkshire Legal Awards 2020, and Best Out of London Practice of the Year at the Chambers High Net Worth Awards 2020.

She said: “I am delighted to have been given the opportunity to lead Addleshaw Goddard’s Leeds office and am very excited about the next three years.

“I remain fiercely proud of the firm’s reputation in the local market, and look forward to building on this to make the most of the many opportunities that the city has to offer both us and our clients.”

John Joyce, managing partner, added: “Pervinder is incredibly well connected in Yorkshire, having advised some of the region’s largest entrepreneurs and charities across their business interests, making her an excellent choice to build on the great foundations laid by Simon.

“I would like to extend a big thank you to Simon for his hard work building our profile and key client relationships in the region, and for the energy he has bought to the role over the last three years.”

Under Kamstra’s leadership the firm has made a number of significant investments to its Leeds office, including the recruitment of Shakeel Daad from Walker Morris, Adam Hastings, Andrew Fordham and Richard Hunt from Squire Patton Boggs, Rebecca Kitson from Eversheds Sutherland, and Martin Griffiths from Charles Russell Speechlys.

Kamstra continues in his role as a senior litigation partner and co-head of the firm’s highly rated international arbitration team.

The firm has also continued its inward investment with the internal promotion of Sara Gilmore, Louise Dobson, and Joe Maitland to partner.

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Sheffield Forgemasters has appointed a new Health, Safety and Environment (HSE) director to oversee all aspects of its 64 acre operations.

Carl West, a health and safety specialist for 20 years, joins the company from Parker Hannifin where he was division EHS manager.

He is a Fellow Member of the International Institute of Risk and Safety Management (IIRSM) and the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH). He is also a Practitioner Member of The Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment (IEMA).

Gareth Barker, chief operating officer at Sheffield Forgemasters, said: “Health, safety and environmental responsibilities are our primary objective and nothing that we do carries more importance than the safety of our employees and those attending our site.

“Carl has a prestigious background as a senior HSE practitioner within industry and also has a strong understanding of the challenges posed by heavy engineering. We are delighted to welcome him to Sheffield Forgemasters.”

West said: “I am excited to be a part of this iconic company and to carry on with the good work that has been done by my predecessors to transform the business and to implement 21st century standards within such a historic setting.

“The fact Sheffield Forgemasters has been certified against ISO 45001 is an outstanding factor and was part of the reason that I was attracted to the role.”

The goal of ISO 45001 is the reduction of occupational injuries and diseases, including promoting and protecting physical and mental health.

West added: “This is an exceptional company and I look forward to growing the health and safety culture, with encouragement and support from our forward thinking senior management team.”

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Sheffield-based pneumatics business PCL has made another addition to its expanding team.

In her new role of assistant category manager, Jodie Mitchell will help strengthen the company’s global reach as a distributor of innovative tyre inflation and compressed air products by growing and maximising the product range potential.

She brings a wealth of product management knowledge from working at Morphy Richards, where she spent five years as assistant category manager and product manager for various product ranges.

She said: “I am thrilled to join PCL at this exciting time, and look forward to playing my part in the growth and expansion of the product portfolio, with my initial focus on strengthening and growing our existing ranges of compressors and air tools.

“I will be bringing my experience of collaborating with internal teams and customers alike to develop new products based on market needs and wants.

“My expertise lies in overseeing projects from concept to shelf, and I will be ensuring our products are of the highest calibre to maintain PCL’s fantastic reputation for quality and service.”

Simon Alexander, category manager, added: “As a company that prides itself on developing long-term relationships with our customers and supporting a growing workforce, we are proud to be able to support customers as well as recruit to our team throughout these challenging times.

“It is vital we recruit personnel who are not just experts in their field, but who are also aligned to our company ethos of putting the customer first.

“Jodie has the exact set of skills and experience required to assist in assessing our product portfolio to meet customer needs, and support me in developing the range accordingly.”

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York Cares has appointed Louise Soulsby, UK communications lead at Aviva UK as new chair of the employee-volunteering charity.

York Cares is supported by around 30 of the city’s businesses, which encourage their staff to volunteer their time and skills for the benefit of the city, with the aim of making York a better place to live and work.

In return the employees benefit from personal and professional development including teambuilding and leadership skills.

Soulsby said: “Employee-volunteers give over 10,000 hours of their time each year to over 200 community organisations and schools in some of York’s most disadvantaged areas.

“I’m excited to be joining York Cares as chair and to hopefully bring more people together to make a difference to our local community.”

Soulsby is a professional communicator, with over 28 years’ experience within the financial services and transport industry.

She currently leads the external communications function at Aviva UK and is responsible for managing and building the company’s brand and reputation. She has worked at Aviva since 2001 and was in the media team at Railtrack from 1994 to 2001.

She takes over from Caroline Dibbs, customer engagement director at Aviva UK, who stepped down after three years in the role.

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