People: Secerna; Erris Homes; Journey Further; and more

Intellectual property specialist, Secerna, has welcomed a new trainee patent attorney to its team in York, bolstering the firm’s biotech expertise.

Niamh Crabtree joins the established firm to support an ever-growing worldwide client base of multi-national corporations, FTSE and NYSE listed companies, universities, spin-out companies, small businesses and innovators.

Having graduated from the University of Durham with a Mbiol in Biosciences, Crabtree has attained considerable knowledge in antibodies and biologics, immunology and nucleic acid technologies.

In her role, she will work across a broad range of sectors including biotechnology and life sciences.

She said: “Working at Secerna is giving me the chance to be very hands-on with big cases right from day one.

“This has meant I have gained a lot more practical experience than many others in my position. This, and the fact that I get to work extremely closely with the partners and learn from them, made joining an easy decision.

“I knew that lab work wasn’t where my passion lay. However, I love to learn and stay up to date with new technologies, which a career in intellectual property allows me to do.

“In my short time with the firm, I have already worked on a wide range of cases, including those in my field of expertise as well as in areas such as engineering. I love to learn about new technologies, so this has been tremendously fun and interesting.”

Secerna partner, Charlotte Watkins, said: “We are very happy to welcome Niamh to our team. Her knowledge and hard work are already proving to be a considerable asset to Secerna and we are very excited to see how her career develops over the coming years.

“As well as celebrating our tenth anniversary this year, the business has seen considerable growth.

“We are keen to continue attracting top talent at a senior level as well as appealing to the brightest minds looking to enter the intellectual property field.”

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Erris Homes is accelerating its growth plans with the appointment of Andrew Gawthorpe as managing director.

The company aims to double the number of homes it builds over the next two years.

Gawthorpe brings a wealth of experience to the role, having held the role of managing director at Avant Homes, Linden Homes and Esh Group Yorkshire. He will be responsible for the strategic growth of the business and daily operations.

The Leeds-based builder has seen turnover grow from £2.2m in 2018 to £9.5m in 2020 and is currently developing sites across Yorkshire.

Michael Howard, the founder of Erris Homes, moves to become CEO.

He will now concentrate his efforts on Erris Homes’ sister company, Howard Civil Engineering, which was founded in 2003 and has a turnover of over £30m.

Howard said: “We have big plans for Erris Homes, and Andy is pivotal in accelerating our growth. He brings a huge amount of experience and shares our commitment to building high quality, environmentally friendly homes.”

Erris Homes is actively seeking land purchase opportunities for new home development opportunities. It is currently building its largest development to date in Huddersfield.

Gawthorpe said: “The market wants a return to houses that fit the environment and thoughtfully designed living spaces.

“We believe our passion for doing things properly will drive our expansion over the coming years and firmly establish ourselves as Yorkshire’s premier new home builder.”

Erris Homes launched in 2014 with its first site in Barnsley and has since completed a number of developments throughout Yorkshire.

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Leeds-based Performance marketing agency, Journey Further, has appointed Lauren McFarland, Katheryn Watson and Amy Jones to join its influencer marketing, digital PR and creative teams respectively.

Watson, from Jellyfish, will be joining as head of PR. She will build the southern PR team and work closely with PR Director, Beth Nunnington, to lead key accounts and drive new business activity.

McFarland leaves her role as senior client partner at Influencer to join Journey Further as influencer marketing director.

She will be leveraging her experience working with the likes of PepsiCo and Mars to develop the agency’s influencer marketing proposition for its growing customer base.

Jones departs her role as campaign lead at Rise at Seven to join Journey Further as senior art director in the agency’s through the line creative team.

She will help drive the agency’s data-driven creative approach, managing an art and copy team from the Leeds HQ.

McFarland said: “I’ve been watching Journey Further progress for a few years now, so when the opportunity emerged to get on board, it was a no-brainer.

“I feel incredibly excited to be leading the influencer department in such an ambitious and supportive business.”

Watson said: “It’s amazing to be joining Journey Further at a time when there’s lots of movement and growth.

“I’m excited to continue the development of the digital PR team by taking London by storm and putting our digital PR footprint on the map in the capital.”

Jones said: “Journey Further’s plans to inject big ideas into the performance marketing space attracted me to join the team.

“I’m super excited to be joining a department of great conceptual thinkers to shape even bigger and better brand campaigns.”

Robin Skidmore, CEO at the agency, added: “I keep a close eye on the talent in the market and Lauren, Katheryn and Amy have been on my wishlist for quite some time.

“We need the right people on board to help us achieve our vision of unifying the worlds of performance and brand marketing. We have made some big steps towards that this week.”

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Audit, tax and consulting firm, RSM, has made two new promotions to director in Leeds and Hull as part of its largest ever cohort of new directors.

It has strengthened its tax faculty with the promotion of private client specialist Kate Aitchison.

She has over 15 years’ experience advising individuals and their related structures in all aspects of their tax affairs, including cash extraction, family succession, offshore trusts, residency and domicile issues, business restructuring, transaction support and inheritance tax planning.

In addition, Steph Sutton joined the firm in 2009 in Hull and has over 20 years’ experience advising underperforming and distressed businesses.

She specialises in corporate restructuring and insolvency including various advisory and turnaround assignments, administrations, solvent and insolvent liquidations and company voluntary arrangements.

Aitchison and Sutton were among 40 newly promoted directors across the national firm – marking the largest ever cohort of new directors.

In addition, hundreds more have been promoted in RSM’s continued bid to strengthen the growth of the firm from within its own ranks.

Alex Tait, RSM UK’s regional managing partner for Scotland and Northern Ireland, said: “I’d like to congratulate Kate and Steph – they have worked extremely hard to reach this stage in their careers and we wish them every success as they each play an integral role in driving RSM’s future growth.

“Each promotion is a reflection of the hard work, dedication and talent at RSM.

“When it comes to developing our talent, we’re in it for the long haul. Beyond our newly promoted directors, hundreds more have progressed their careers here at RSM in recent weeks.

“We’re committed to investing in and supporting our people to grow.”

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