People: Banner Jones; Avacta; Hull and East Yorkshire LEP; and more

Banner Jones, which has offices in Sheffield, Chesterfield, Mansfield and Nottingham and Sheffield, has appointed seven new colleagues across its business.

The appointments, which span the law firm’s residential property, dispute resolution and commercial property departments, have been made in response to “unprecedented demand” for its legal services during the pandemic – including employment law, family law, wills, personal injury, and commercial property.

Joining Banner Jones from BRM Solicitors is residential property executive Perri Boyes-Weston, who brings more than a decade of experience overseeing complex conveyancing matters including leasehold & freehold sales & purchases, remortgages, new builds and transfer of equity matters to the role.

She has joined the Chesterfield property team along with paralegals Amy Hawksley and Lauren Smith, and the Sheffield property team has welcomed paralegals Camilla Donnell and Morgan Buisson.

Boyes-Weston said she was pleased to be joining the business at the start of such an “exciting new era”, and is looking forward to contributing to the firm’s continued success.

The Dispute Resolution team in Chesterfield welcomes solicitor Adam Tankard who joins the firm from Keoghs where he worked as a property risks and coverage solicitor dealing with insurance litigated claims for fires/floods and property damage claims.

Previously he undertook his training contract at the Cooperative Legal Services in its Manchester office.

Assistant solicitor Rozeena Aslam has joins Banner Jones Business Legal Services department in the firm’s Chesterfield commercial property team.

Having qualified at Trent Law where she gained experience in commercial law, she says she is “now very much looking forward to expanding her knowledge of commercial law at Banner Jones”.

Chief executive Simon Wright said, “The last year or so has been extremely challenging for all businesses, but the demand for both business and personal legal services has bounced back strongly.

“In response to that, we are delighted and privileged to be welcoming seven new colleagues to the Banner Jones family.

“We are committed to investing in our staff and look forward to providing them with opportunities to develop their career within the firm.

“I’m sure that all of our new recruits share our firm-wide passion and dedication to delivering outstanding customer service.

“As we continue to grow, we remain on the lookout for passionate, skilled individuals at all levels and we would invite anyone that can contribute to our expert, no-nonsense legal services to reach out.”

:::

Wetherby-based life sciences company Avacta Group has appointed Dr Mark Goldberg as non-executive director to its Board with immediate effect.

Goldberg is a medical oncologist and haematologist on the faculty of Brigham & Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, a veteran biotech executive, and long-time American Cancer Society (ACS) and ACS Cancer Action Network (CAN) volunteer.

He is the past-chair of the Eastern New England Area Board of the American Cancer Society and currently serves as a member of its national board of directors.

He currently serves on the boards of directors of ImmunoGen, Idera Pharmaceuticals, GlycoMimetics, Walden Biosciences, and Blueprint Medicines.

Goldberg served on the board of directors of Audentes Therapeutics up to its acquisition by Astellas Pharma in 2020.

Previously he served on the executive management team of Synageva Biopharma from 2011-2014 and before that served in various management capacities of increasing responsibility at Genzyme Corporation from 1996-2011, most recently as senior vice president of clinical development.

He said: “I look forward to joining the Board and working with my new Board colleagues and the Avacta management team to develop novel therapies that will improve the lives of patients suffering from cancer.”

Dr Alastair Smith, chief executive officer of Avacta Group, said: “I am very pleased to welcome Mark to the Board. Mark is a vastly experienced biotech executive and oncologist and Avacta will benefit greatly from his future contributions to the strategy and vision for the therapeutic business.”

Dr Eliot Forster, chairman of Avacta Group, added: “I am delighted that Mark will be joining the Board of Avacta. Mark’s wealth of experience and expertise will be invaluable as we progress our pipeline of proprietary Affimer® and pre|CISION™ platforms into clinical stage assets.“

:::

James Newman

The Hull and East Yorkshire Local Enterprise Partnership (HEY LEP) has confirmed new appointments to its Business Support, Employment and Skills and Infrastructure Boards.

The LEP announced the appointments following a successful recruitment campaign.

The Business Support Board, to be chaired by Gill Alton, will ensure businesses can receive and access advice, access to finance and other support to sustain and develop their organisations to flourish, whatever their size and sector.

The Employment and Skills Board, to be chaired by Jayne Adamson, will focus on reducing the skills gaps in the region, delivering the recommendations of the Local Skills Report, by creating the foundations for the growth of new jobs in the region, in addition to ensuring that young people receive high quality careers advice.

The Infrastructure Board, to be chaired by Stephen Parnaby, will look at future investment opportunities for the region, focusing on transport and placed-based property developments.

All the Boards will have representation from both Local Authorities in the HEY region to ensure a joined up private and public sector approach to the economic issues facing the region.

James Newman, chair of HEY LEP, said: “I am delighted that so many high quality individuals from all sectors have volunteered to support the LEP in its vital work in developing and delivering the economic strategy for the new HEY region.

“The work these Board’s will be doing is an important part of the implementation and delivery of the various economic strategies and funding programmes that will transform the region over the next five to ten years.

“This is an important watershed in the history of the region, with a potential devolution deal on offer and the region at the forefront of the Government’s Net Zero and Global Britain strategies.

“Never has there been an opportunity for this region to shine and demonstrate its private sector and entrepreneurial strengths in such a united way.’’

List of Board members so far appointed:

Business Support Board (Chaired by Gill Alton)

Jan Brumby (FEO)

Antonio C Malfense Fierro (Hull University Business School)

James Mason (Welcome to Yorkshire)

Rachel Smurthwaite (Sewell Group)

Jason Speedy (Groupe Atlantic)

Nic Dakin (Chamber of Commerce)

David Hall (Beverley Park Homes, Minster Leisure Homes, Oaks of Beverley and Halls and Oliver)

David Kilburn (MKM Building Supplies)

Madge Moore (Yorkshire Food Farming)

Education and Skills Board (Chaired by Jayne Adamson)

Sue Balthazar (Probe Hull)

Kirsty Bark (Soncoco Trident)

Catherine Bishop (Tigers Sport and Education Trust)

Sarah Bone (Headlands School)

Laura Botham (Siemens Gamesa)

Daniel Brett (Bishop Burton College)

Mark Burley (Keepmoat Homes and Hull Citywide Developer Partnership)

Pat Coyle (Rollits LLP)

Andy Crossland (Humber Learning Consortium)

Nikki Davies (VictoriaPlum.com)

Iain Elliott (HETA)

David Gent (Active Humber)

Liz Hutchinson (DWP)

Becky Huxley-Binns (University of Hull)

James McIntosh (CATCH)

Michelle Peacock (Education Development Trust)

Mike Welsh (East Riding College/TEC Partnership)

Infrastructure Board (Chaired by Stephen Parnaby)

David Garness (Garness Jones Limited)

Tony Kirby (Local Transport Projects Ltd)

Linda Martin (Sewell Group)

Richard Beal (Beal Homes)

Eman Forster (Eon Consulting)

Andrew Horncastle (Horncastle Group)

Tim Rix (JR Rix and Sons)

Dominic Gibbons (Wykeland Group)

Mark Barratt (Risby Homes)

:::

Recruiting experts, Hays, has appointed a new MD for Hays Yorkshire & the North region – Jeff Taylor.

Taylor, who held the role of director of the North West & Cumbria region replaces Jackie Mordue who retired at the end of June after over 30 years with the business.

He joined Hays in 1995 as a trainee recruitment consultant and with over 26 years’ experience in the industry, will now be responsible for 13 offices across the region including Leeds, Sheffield, and Newcastle.

The appointment comes as Hays grows its footprint across technology in the region and is currently recruiting for 25 experienced and non-experienced recruitment professionals.

Taylor said: “As we plan for growth across Yorkshire & the North – it’s a really exciting time to be joining the team and build upon our talented pool of recruiting experts across the region.

“A good majority of employers across the region are recruiting, and we’re looking forward to being able to expand our teams to continue to support businesses who are competing for talent.

“Roles across most areas in technology, construction, engineering, and marketing are in high demand – so professionals looking to move do have the upper hand.

“For employers across the region, now is the time to think about how best attract and retain talent and appreciate how the pandemic has changed job seekers’ priorities.”