People: JRP Associates; York & North Yorkshire LEP; ilk; and more

The founder of Wakefield-based architects JRP Associates, John Paley, has named a new board of directors to steer the firm into a new era.

Promoted to the board is managing director, Vikki Sykes; Laura Mepham, director of planning & design; and Lee Brown, director of urban design. The trio has been promoted from within JRP having worked their way through the business over the past 16 years.

Paley, who founded the business almost 50 years ago, will remain as chairman with his daughter, Emma Wynne, staying as company director.

JRP Associates is a multidisciplinary architect practice that delivers developments for a range of clients from NHS Trusts, private homeowners and national housing developers, to the UK’s biggest land, property and regeneration companies.

Its range of services includes master planning, commercial and industrial planning and landscaping services as well as large scale residential projects.

Sykes said: “This is a very proud moment for me. Becoming MD of such a great organisation with a fantastic history is not something I could have envisaged when I joined in 2004.

“I am grateful to both John and Emma for their continued support and to have such a great team around me in Laura and Lee.

“I’m looking forward to driving the business forward building on the strong foundations we already have.”

Wynne added: “This is a natural progression for both Vikki, her team and the business.

“She has incredible drive and knows JRP and the industry as well as anyone. Her conscientiousness, energy and expertise make her the perfect person to take the firm into a new era.”

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Sue Jefferson has been appointed chairman of the Business Board at York & North Yorkshire Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP).

She has 30 years in UK director and global leadership roles, including at Danone Group and McCain Foods, and now uses her expertise in non-executive director roles and developing leadership teams’ diversity of thinking so their organisations thrive through competitive outperformance.

She said: “The Business Board identifies current and emerging issues at the heart of all types of business, helping to shape then monitor the effective support offered through the York & North Yorkshire Growth Hub.

“There’s a huge range of support on offer, including peer to peer networks, planning for scale ups and guidance relating to innovation, reducing carbon and opening up online or export markets.

“Alongside the increasing Growth Hub offer, the Board is overseeing new work to attract inward investment and develop internationalisation in the region’s import and export markets.

“We also continue to champion delivery of bold and ambitious initiatives, such as circular economy and carbon abatement schemes, which provide immense business advantage and new skill opportunities for the area.

“Having been involved with the Board since 2018, I’ve valued the breadth of independent, experienced private sector members, bringing a diversity of thinking to our discussions.

“The agility and impact shown during this unprecedented time, the success stories already emerging and the important initiatives now rolling out, makes it an exciting time to chair the Business Board and see the region’s greener, fairer, stronger growth realised.”

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Leeds-based integrated agency, ilk, has added three members of its management team to the company’s board.

Joining MD Nev Ridley on the board are Lauren Saville as client services director, Stewart Williams as design director and Richard Hanney as strategy director.

They bring nearly 30 years of combined experience at the agency, and have each played key roles in shaping the development and direction of the company over the last decade.

Ridley said: “This move represents the next stage in the development of ilk, as well as recognition of the incredible part Lauren, Stewart and Richard have played in the growth and success of this agency.

“All good agencies need to plan for the future and with the expansion of the board we have a young, dynamic and talented team that will really help drive us forward – building on the success we have had over the last 21 years.”

Saville added: “Like every agency, we have seen some clients suffer as a result of the pandemic, and we’ve done everything we can to support them, and repay the loyalty they’ve shown us over the years.

“However, we have also seen other clients grow considerably during this period, as well as adding a number of major clients to the roster, including Aardman Animation, Hi-Veg and Visit Leeds.

“This period has demonstrated to me and the rest of the board what an incredibly robust agency we have in ilk, and we couldn’t be more excited to be even more closely involved in steering the future of the agency.”

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DA, also known as Drunk Animal, a creative agency in Hull, has marked a successful year by bolstering its team with seven new specialists and expanding its office network to include a brand new London base.

The agency, which pivoted from a design and events-based agency to a content-driven team at the start of 2020, has seen growth across its PR, content creation and media buying services, winning new clients including Evoke Technologies, Italian vineyard Cantina Goccia and most recently, global consumer goods company, Reckitt.

Calvin Innes, creative director and CEO, said: “We’ve introduced new services to better support our clients and that’s helped us to secure projects we could have only dreamed about two years ago.

“We have upskilled the team and added new staff to strengthen our market offer, and that means we’re now in a position to take on new clients.

“More of our clients now require international support and heavyweight PR activity, so we’ve made the decision to expand our offer in London.

“To that end, we have built an experienced team to develop the business further and have opened up a satellite office to enable our central team to work in the office that most suits the needs of the client.”

The London office will be headed by duo Craig Spence, and Nick-Kenyon Muir, both seasoned marketers with extensive experience across a range of sectors. They will be consulting on DA’s growth and partnership initiatives.

The agency’s central team sees Yasmine Droullos and Adam Fawcett join as project manager and operations coordinator, respectively, Coby Taylor as PA to CEO, and Martin Challoner as lead creative.

Laura Greenwood, senior consultant, will also be supporting the team remotely on business development.

Innes added: “We’ve strengthened our central team to better cater to the needs of our clients.

“The addition of Bauer Media’s creative director, Martin Challoner, who’s won more than 30 international awards throughout his illustrious career, ensures the agency has the right skill set to achieve record-breaking growth over the next 12 months.”