People: Urbana Town Planning; DLA Architecture; PFF Group; and more

Consultancy Urbana is celebrating its third hire in less than six months across its Sheffield and London offices.

Tom Breislin, Chloe Parmenter and Tom Vincent will work alongside managing director Adam Murray, recently promoted director Charles Dunn and the wider Urbana team to support in delivering development proposals that improve cities and towns nationally.

The consultancy recruited based on how aligned applicants were with the values and cultures of Urbana, rather than for specific roles.

Each member of the team is encouraged to work on projects they find most exciting, as a strategy to ensure staff always have the maximum positive impact on new developments.

Murray said: “A big part of the business growth has been securing the right people. A team like this can take decades for businesses to secure, but with a very clever recruitment approach and clear values, we have honed it in the last year.

“While the last 12 months have been some of the most successful and trailblazing for us, the highlight has definitely been the point at which we’ve achieved the current team we have in place now.

“Tom Breislin and Chloe, who started with us earlier this year, have already made a huge impact, and I’m looking forward to seeing more from Tom Vincent, who joined this month.”

Following a background in Brexit contingency planning at the Welsh Government, Breislin joined the consultancy earlier this year. Parmenter has three years of experience in leading on major projects and joined the team as a senior planner.

The most recent hire, Vincent, joins as a graduate from Sheffield Hallam University and is interested in the development of sustainable urban neighbourhoods in and around city centres.

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Mark Hargreaves

DLA Architecture has announced two senior promotions as part of its succession planning strategy.

Mark Hargreaves has been promoted from associate director to become director and education sector lead in the Leeds studio.

Hargreaves, who has been with DLA for six years, has an award-winning track record with considerable experience in developing design solutions for schools across various education Frameworks and key clients.

Latterly, he has focused on offsite construction and component-based design solutions.

Neil Matthews has also been promoted from associate director to director in the London studio.

He joined the DLA Leeds office over 16 years ago before relocating to London in 2010.

Specialising in large complex mixed-use office & residential design, Matthews is widely experienced in leadership, sustainability and collaborative working for both public and private clients.

He is also instrumental in growing the London workplace sector and the implementation of digital transformation across the practice, working on projects that have received national awards.

Chris Levett, group board director at DLA Architecture, said: “We are delighted to announce these well-deserved promotions as we continue to expand and bring in new recruits.

Neil Matthews

“Both Neil and Mark have shown incredible loyalty to the practice and dedication to delivering exceptional architectural solutions for our clients.

“Their passion for high quality design and innovation along with inspiring leadership and mentoring skills will help to drive forward the next chapter for DLA with a strong focus on bespoke, sustainable, and narrative-led contextual architecture.”

DLA Architecture has been established for more than 40 years with offices in Leeds, London and Manchester.

In January the firm announced its succession strategy with a rebrand and has streamlined its core architectural services to focus on core growth sectors.

Whilst its HQ remains in Leeds, it has committed to grow its North West presence with larger premises in Manchester city centre.

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PFF Group has made a raft of promotions as the company expands its Keighley-based food packaging division.

PFF supplies packaging products to supermarkets and food manufacturers across the country from its site at Airedale Park.

Three long-standing members of staff have been promoted to create a senior team overseeing production and supply of its packaging goods to new and existing customers.

Lee Brydon has been made general manager, responsible for 120 staff working across the business. Steve Barstow becomes production manager after several years as a shift manager at Keighley.

Aaron Reeves, who joined PFF as an electrician 10 years ago, has been made maintenance manager.

Brydon joined PFF as a machine setter in 2012 before leaving to complete a degree in sports physiology.

He returned in 2017 as a shift manager and over the last four years has taken on more responsibilities, now becoming general manager of the Keighley site.

He said: “The new team reflects a streamlining of company processes to make our production operations even more efficient and meet the supply required by long-standing customers as well as new ones coming through.

“It’s great that PFF has made these internal promotions – between myself, Steve and Aaron we have many years of experience and knowing your people is paramount to making teams that work together well in a business.

“One of our USPs is that we are very responsive to our customers’ needs – we supply them with their orders at exactly the time they need them.

“Our teams have worked tirelessly during the pandemic which has been crucial to keep food on supermarket shelves.”

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Horsforth-based Tenet Group, a financial adviser support network, has appointed Martin Tyler as new chief financial officer, subject to FCA approval.

With more than 15 years’ experience in senior roles within financial services, Tyler joins from The Gelert Group of companies, where he was CFO since 2019.

He previously also held senior finance roles for Howden Insurance Brokers, Agria Forsaking and Bluefin Insurance Group, and brings a track record of overseeing both M&A integration activity and business transformation.

At Tenet, he will oversee all Group financial activities, reporting directly to chief executive Mark Scanlon.

His appointment precedes the forthcoming departure of Keely Craig, who is relocating abroad after nearly four years’ service, and is working closely with Tyler over a three-month period to ensure a smooth transition.

Mark Scanlon, chief executive of Tenet Group, said: “Keely has played an outstanding role in positioning us well for future growth, and I’d like to thank her for all her service and wish her all the very best as she relocates to her husband’s home country of New Zealand with her family.

“Investing in technology and delivering genuine support and financial peace of mind is at the heart of Tenet’s development strategy, and we’re delighted to have secured someone of Martin’s calibre and vast knowledge of scaling financial services businesses to take over from Keely.

“It’s an exciting time for our business and I look forward to working with Martin as we execute our ambitious growth plans.”

Tyler said: “This is an exciting period for Tenet Group. The company is in a strong financial position and has an excellent reputation of providing market-leading support to its network, backing adviser independence and putting clients’ financial wellbeing first.

“I’m therefore thrilled to be joining them on the next stage of their growth journey.”

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