People: CBI Yorkshire and Humber; DLA Piper; Armstrong Watson; and more

A new associate regional director has been appointed for the CBI’s Yorkshire and the Humber region.

Olga Watterich said she is looking forward to helping the region’s businesses navigate a path through recovery and on to renewed prosperity.

She joins the CBI from Business in the Community, where she has held a variety of roles over the past 19 years.

Those roles have included advising on companies’ community investment strategies, and latterly managing the organisation’s national community and education programmes and partnership development.

Prior to that, Watterich worked in corporate account management for companies including Thomson Reuters and Trinity Mirror – now Reach plc.

She will work alongside regional director Beckie Hart in her new CBI role, and says she is looking forward to using her experience to benefit a region she is passionate about.

Watterich said: “I am delighted to have been appointed as associate regional director for Yorkshire & the Humber to work alongside Beckie Hart.

“This is a region I feel very passionately about. The diversity of its cities and landscape is reflected by the business community, which boasts talent across a huge array of sectors.

“Businesses have faced notable challenges over the past two years with Covid-19, the changing EU-UK relationship and the drive to net zero, with further challenges around supply chain issues, rising energy costs and skills shortages emerging.

“It is a pivotal time for our economy, and the decisions we make now will define our futures.

“I am committed to working with CBI members to not only support them in overcoming their challenges, but also to achieve their long-term ambitions to grow prosperity and opportunity throughout the region.”

Hart said: “I am thrilled Olga has joined the CBI team; she brings a wealth of experience to the role, and her knowledge of Yorkshire and the Humber’s strengths and challenges means she is well equipped to support our members to achieve their ambitions.

“Businesses across the region have faced a tough time over the past 18 months, but the CBI’s Yorkshire and Humber team stands ready to help them bounce back from these challenges plot a new trajectory towards a prosperous, equitable and sustainable future.”

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Law firm DLA Piper has inducted its next generation of lawyers across its two Yorkshire offices.

Joining the firm in September, the Leeds and Sheffield offices took on a total of 28 trainees, newly qualified solicitors and service delivery apprentices.

DLA Piper has retained nine newly qualified solicitors (NQs) in its Leeds and Sheffield offices following successful completion of their training contract with the firm.

In the Leeds office: Lydia Demnitz-King (Restructuring), Suki Newsome (Core Real Estate), Lorlor Osborn (Employment), Benji Payne (Data Protection, Intellectual Property & Technology), Victor Sampson (Litigation & Regulatory), Peter Sequeira (Litigation & Regulatory), Anna Ward (Tech & Sourcing, Intellectual Property & Technology) and Laura West (Finance).

In the Sheffield office: Kristi Boyes (Corporate) and Lydia Raybould (Real Estate).

The emphasis on investing in grass roots talent continues as the firm also welcomed its newest cohort of trainees as they embark on the first step of their legal career.

The Leeds office trainees are: Arif Ali (Litigation & Regulatory), Christopher Connell (Finance), Daniel Crichton (Projects), Saffron Goldberg (Litigation & Regulatory), Sienna Henry-Fisher (Corporate), Matthew Manwaring (Corporate), Lotte McGuire (Construction), Senal Premarathna (Projects), Anna Rivera (Intellectual Property & Technology), Reece Robinson (Finance) and Jenna Snook (Property Litigation).

Meanwhile the Sheffield office trainees are: Nick Kosloff (Litigation & Regulatory), Enala Mwanza (Intellectual Property & Technology), Bethany Smart (Construction) and Dean Wright (Core Real Estate).

Alongside trainees and NQs, the Leeds office also welcomed the inaugural intake of service delivery apprentices: Casey Haller (Real Estate), Ellie McGawley (Contentious) and Karlie Midgley (Corporate).

The firm’s Service Delivery Apprenticeship is an important evolution of its Early Careers programmes and over the course of two years the apprentices will gain experience in the Legal Delivery Centre (LDC) and other service delivery teams.

The LDC is based in the Leeds office and provides repeat or data-heavy legal services using streamlined processes, paralegals and cutting-edge technology.

Haller, McGawley and Midgley will simultaneously work and complete academic study to equip them with the knowledge, skills and behaviors required to be a successful paralegal.

Upon completion of the programme, the apprentices will be awarded with the Level 3 Paralegal Apprenticeship standard.

Andrew Dyson, DLA Piper’s office managing partner for Leeds, said: “It is wonderful to welcome our next generation of lawyers to our Leeds office community.

“The introduction of the Service Delivery Apprenticeship is a great development for the firm and anchors our commitment to investing in home grown talent, collaborating with local schools and colleges to support students navigate the transition from education to the world of work.

“We are wishing our NQs, trainees and service delivery apprentices every success in their careers and we look forward to celebrating their achievements with them along the way.”

Newly appointed Sheffield office managing partner, Richard Norman, added: “We are delighted to welcome the next generation of NQs and trainees to our fantastic community of lawyers here in the Sheffield office. I wish them all the best as they begin their careers at DLA Piper.”

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Twenty-seven accounting trainees and graduates have taken up their roles at Armstrong Watson.

The firm is on the lookout for almost 30 more recruits as it continues its commitment to investing in young people.

Among the new starters are 11 AAT students and one ATT apprenticeship student, in addition to 15 ACA graduates who started throughout the summer to work towards becoming Chartered Accountants.

The successful AAT/ATT candidates were selected from a record number of 236 applications received for the positions available.

Based in Leeds, Skipton and Carlisle, they will join the Accounting and Tax Compliance teams and will receive hands-on experience alongside classroom study as they work towards their qualifications.

Richard Andrew, partner and head of accounting, said: “We’ve continued to invest in our training programme throughout the pandemic and develop talented accountants of the future.

“I’m so proud of the training, support and development our trainees receive from our dedicated training manager Karen Blaylock.

“I truly believe our programme and the experience our trainees receive is unrivalled in the sector and I look forward to seeing this year’s intake develop over the coming years.”

The firm is now also on the lookout for its 2022 intake of ACA Trainee Chartered Accountants and AAT/ ATT apprenticeship students.

There are a total of 13 AAT positions available across offices in Leeds, Carlisle and Glasgow, and a further two ATT positions in Carlisle. Meanwhile, Armstrong Watson is looking for 14 graduates to join its Audit and Assurance team on the ACA training programme.

Paul Dickson, CEO and managing partner, added: “We have a long history of growing our own talent and strongly believe in investing in our people as our people are our business, providing solutions to our clients.

“We invest in ambitious individuals who are keen to launch their careers and take advantage of the development we offer.

“With 17 offices across the North of England and Scotland and several different service lines supporting our clients, there’s a huge range of scope for career direction and development available to those who choose to join us on this exciting journey.”

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The ex chairman of Sheffield Forgemasters, Graham Honeyman, is taking on a non-executive director role at Castings Technology International, (CTI) in Rotherham.

CTI chairman, Kevin Parkin, said: “Graham and I have collaborated over many years and we have produced some world class solutions by bringing together our respective company skills and capabilities.

“We also share a passion for good communications and the continuous development of our workforce.”

Honeyman will be collaborating with the executive team to support their corporate strategy for growth and business development.

As former chief executive, he led Sheffield Forgemasters for 16 years following the 2005 MBO.

He brings a wealth of industrial knowledge and management experience to  further strengthen and enhance the Castings Technology team.

Honeyman continues to support the development of engineers through his involvement with the Institute for Apprenticeships, which provides talented young people with the training and opportunities that they deserve.

He said: “It’s been a privilege to visit the manufacturing facility at Castings Technology and see first-hand the excellent technology they bring to the science and engineering of both steel and titanium products.

“I am delighted to have been offered the position of non-executive director on the Castings Technology Board and I look forward to supporting their Business and Management Strategy in the future.”

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Filtronic, which designs and makes communications components and subsystems, has said that further to Reg Gott’s retirement at its AGM on 28 October 2021 it has appointed Jonathan Neale as non-executive chairman, effective 15 November 2021.

Neale has been chief operating officer of McLaren Group for the past five years, prior to which he held a number of executive roles including chief executive officer of McLaren Racing F1, between 2001 and 2016.

He has occupied principal roles, leading strategic operational and infrastructure planning for the business and has been pivotal in the integration of the McLaren Racing, McLaren Applied and McLaren Automotive businesses.

Neale began his career as a research physicist in high-frequency semiconductor design and application.

He became a chartered electrical and electronic engineer at Philips Defence Systems and went on to lead the advanced development group within the electronic warfare division.

Prior to McLaren, he had been at BAE Systems, UK, as managing director – Hawk Military Aircraft.

Having started by working as a project design engineer where he led major systems projects for commercial aircraft, he was then promoted to director of operations and support operations at BAE’s Manchester and Prestwick sites and was responsible for aircraft production, customer support and pilot training.

He then returned to defence systems and aircraft, taking charge of the Hawk Fast Jet Programme as managing director in 1999.

Richard Gibbs, Filtronic CEO, said: “I am delighted to welcome Jonathan to Filtronic, with his extensive aerospace experience and leadership across fast moving technology businesses.

“I look forward to working with him as we seek to execute engineering programs and scale the organisation.

Neale added: “I have been impressed with the capabilities of the Filtronic organisation.

“I look forward to working with the Board to expand and grow the Filtronic capability from its very solid engineering base into new markets and partnerships, and to reach new customers.”

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