People: Weightmans; Lupton Fawcett; Ripon Farm Services; and more

National law firm Weightmans has started the year with the appointment of four new partners, spanning its specialisms and offices, to support the firm in its growth.

Antony Ball has been appointed to the Family team in Weightmans’ Leeds office.

He joins as a partner from Knights (formerly Keebles), bringing over 20 years’ experience in finance and child matters, including complex cases involving pre-marital assets and inherited wealth.

He is an accredited mediator, collaborative lawyer, Resolution-accredited specialist and member of the Law Society Advanced Family Panel, with expertise in the drafting of pre and post nuptial agreements, and cohabitation agreements.

In addition, Michael Balmer joins the Manchester office as part of the regulatory team, specialising in business and financial crime. Louise Miller joins the Newcastle office, heading its wills, trusts and estates team. And Nicola Pegg is based in Birmingham in the firm’s health sector practice.

John Schorah, managing partner, said: “Our four new partners join at an exciting time for us, as we look to expand our senior team and deepen our expertise across our core sectors.

“They bring a unique range of skills and specialisms, with the appointments to the family and wills, trusts and probates teams significantly strengthening our offering for individuals.

“These appointments demonstrate the value of our longstanding reputation as the employer of choice in the legal sector, allowing us to continue to attract the top talent in their respective fields.”

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Yorkshire law firm Lupton Fawcett has appointed a new marketing manager to support the next phase of its growth.

Lauren Perry will lead the firm’s brand and marketing activity as it continues to expand its client base and service offering.

She brings to the role over 10 years’ experience in business marketing, gained at firms including Clarion and DLA Piper.

Managing partner James Richardson said: “During the past two years we have invested in our infrastructure and in evolving our service offering, which has put us in a strong position to meet the changing needs of our clients as the region continues to emerge from the shadow of the pandemic.

“Our success is built on the expertise of our people and the quality of our advice – and Lauren’s experience and marketing skills will be invaluable as we continue our drive to become the region’s law firm of choice.”

Perry added: “I’m thrilled to be joining Lupton Fawcett at a time of such opportunity for the business.

“It already has an impressive client list and an excellent reputation and I’m looking forward to working with James and the rest of the team to spread the word further to help achieve its growth ambitions.”

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Ripon Farm Services (RFS), an agricultural machinery supplier, has appointed Sophie Allanby as marketing manager.

Allanby grew up on an arable farm just outside Malton and was actively involved with her local young farmers’ club.

She has a first class honours Business degree from York St John’s University and has been in the marketing world for the past ten years in varying roles, including at the Castle Howard Estate as communications executive from 2018-2021.

She said: “This is a tremendously exciting opportunity for me. RFS are one of the most respected companies in the farming sector in the UK and I am proud to be joining a close-knit and talented team.

“It will be my responsibility to develop and implement a dynamic marketing strategy that builds upon the substantial progress that Ripon Farm Services have made over the past two years.”

Richard Simpson, commercial director of RFS, said: “We are looking forward to Sophie’s contribution as we develop our marketing strategy and grow our business.

“She arrives at RFS at a significant time in our development, as we look to build on our successes of the past, enhance our relationship with customers old and new and raise our profile across the region.”

Ripon Farm Services is one of the UK’s largest John Deere dealers with 11 depots, as well as three Ifor Williams trailer dealerships and a newly opened vehicle Paint and Body facility.

Last year the company launched Europe’s largest combine harvester at the Great Yorkshire Show and earlier this year held a successful two-day agricultural machinery show in Harrogate.

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Finance recruitment consultancy, Headstar, has made two appointments and a promotion to its Leeds-based team following record demand for its services.

Sharon Phillips has been appointed to head up the company’s transactional finance division. This is experiencing surging demand as employers look to strengthen their finance functions through the hiring of credit controllers and payroll managers in particular.

With a successful track record in recruitment spanning 30 years within blue chip organisations specialising in various sectors including legal, health, care, and business support, Phillips has built an unrivalled reputation for developing long-lasting business relationships.

In her new role, she will support the growth of the transactional team, expanding its markets in temporary and permanent placements across the region.

She is joined by Sam Goodwin, who has been appointed marketing manager.

As a senior chartered marketing manager with over 14 years’ experience working in market-leading companies, Goodwin will lead on the development and delivery of a marketing strategy to complement the business’ growth objectives, raising the profile of its services and events programme.

Headstar has also promoted Jenny Mayer to the position of head of senior finance. A specialist in placing financial controller and finance director roles, Mayer is now also responsible for leading a team of consultants who recruit for part and qualified accountant roles across Yorkshire.

Commercial director, Natalie McGregor, said: “Sharon and Sam both bring with them a wealth of expertise and experience.

“Their appointments, coupled with Jenny’s well-deserved promotion, mean we’re better placed than ever before to connect businesses with good people and meet ever-growing demand for our services.

“The business has got off to a great start in 2022, and in addition to Sharon and Sam, we’re looking to add at least a further four people to our team over the course of this year, ranging from consultants to heads of division, as well as expanding our portfolio FD team.”

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CPP Group, a Leeds-headquartered provider of personal protection and insurance products and services, has confirmed the appointment of David Bowling as chief financial officer, with immediate effect.

Bowling has worked for CPP Group for over 10 years, having joined as a senior manager in the Group Financial Reporting division, and has most recently been group finance director.

He qualified as a chartered accountant with Mazars. Prior to working for the company, he was group accountant for Barchester Healthcare Limited.

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The Property Franchise Group PLC says Glynis Frew will be stepping down as managing director of Hunters and from the TPFG Board with effect from 31 March 2022.

She will remain with the Group in a new role as franchise training and development director.

Following a period of over 20 years with Hunters, having overseen its growth and subsequent integration into The Property Franchise Group, she will now be responsible for driving the Group’s agenda to be an employer of choice and implementation of new Regulation of Property Agents (RoPA) initiatives.

Gareth Williams, an established member of the Group’s senior management team, will be taking on the role of Hunters MD.

Gareth Samples, CEO of TPFG, said: “I am extremely thankful to Glynis for all she has achieved since we acquired Hunters, working closely with us to fully integrate the brand and sharing her knowledge with the wider Group.

“I am confident she will continue to add ongoing value to TPFG while the day-to-day leadership of Hunters transfers into the more than capable hands of Gareth Williams.

“We have put together a very strong senior management team, and we are pleased to have such an experienced, accomplished leader to pass on the mantle to.”

Frew added: “I have been with Hunters since 1999 and I can honestly say it has been a privilege and an honour to either serve or represent all those that were part of the team over that time frame.

“I am very pleased to be continuing in my new role with TPFG to work together towards our collective success.

 “I will be tasked with driving the TPFG agenda to be an employer of choice; driving my passion for training to establish us with world class training capability.”