People: Ward Hadaway; Axiologik; Pro-Development; and more

A law firm has recruited one of the region’s top private wealth lawyers as its private client team continues to grow.

Vivienne Wild joins Ward Hadaway as a partner in its Leeds office, providing specialist advice and support with complex and high value estate and succession planning matters, including wills, trusts, inheritance tax and powers of attorney and often with cross-border elements.

Before joining Ward Hadaway, she was a partner and head of the private wealth team at Clarion, a position she held for nearly seven years.

With over two decades of experience as a solicitor in this highly technical area of law, she brings with her a wealth of knowledge that will drive forward the law firm’s work with high net worth individuals, who are often business owners or entrepreneurs.

Andrew Facer, a partner and head of the private client team at the firm, said: “Vivienne has a lot of experience and knowledge in managing complex estate planning, trust and taxation matters and her technical acumen is second to none.

“Alongside these exemplary skills, Vivienne also has the strong interpersonal qualities that you need to work in this area of law.

“She is a trusted adviser to her clients and is able to understand the issues which affect both their business and private assets, and support accordingly.”

Wild has a national remit and will support clients across England. Her appointment is part of a strategic growth plan for Ward Hadaway Leeds.

She said: “Ward Hadaway has a unique set of characteristics, in that we provide quality legal support, delivered by brilliant professionals, plugged into our regional communities.

“The firm very much has an ‘on the ground’ approach to supporting businesses and individuals. Our community-focused ethos enables us to combine world-class legal expertise with empathy and regional know-how, a rare but winning combination.”

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Leeds-based digital delivery consultancy, Axiologik, has appointed Jack Taylor as head of talent to spearhead recruitment as the company enters its next phase of growth.

As part of his new role, Taylor is tasked with sourcing experienced talent and will focus on expanding the team in technical leadership specialisms including roles within Architecture, Product Management and Delivery Management.

In addition, he is also responsible for supporting the development and maturity of company value and culture.

He joins with a wealth of experience, which includes a long and successful tenure at Leeds-based consultancy Aire Logic, where in just four years he supported the growth of the company from 10-15 staff to 200 full time staff and around 200 contractors.

Taylor said: “I was really interested in the vision of Axiologik and this is something I want to continue projecting as I support new team growth.

“I’m excited about the opportunity ahead. Often, as companies scale up it can be difficult to maintain the culture that makes them so unique, so I want to ensure this remains a core focus for me.

“I’m confident my new position at Axiologik will allow me to expand my experience and that I will emulate my previous success.”

Co-founder, Ben Davison, said: “We are really excited about the knowledge, experience, and enthusiasm that Jack will bring to Axiologik, and are passionate about our team’s growth.

“Our people are our business, and they help to make Axiologik a great place to work. We feel strongly that Jack is the right person for the job. It’s an exciting time to join us on our own journey of evolution whilst we continue on our mission to make digital make a difference.”

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York-based learning and development firm, Pro-Development, has appointed two new recruits, exceeding its founder’s original growth expectations when it was set up a decade ago.

Michelle Mook’s vision when she established Pro-Development was to employ 10 people in its first ten years of business.

Bringing onboard Lee Newbold as learning and development consultant and Rob Gooch as learning and development support takes the number of employees to 11. The team has also doubled in size and doubled its turnover in the last 12 months.

Newbold joins Pro-Development from Benenden Healthcare where he worked for five years, building its learning and development team from scratch.

He has over 20 years’ experience in the industry, gained largely from his time working in sales training at Barclays Bank. He is responsible for helping businesses to develop their leadership and teams and improve employee engagement, delivering interactive training sessions for clients.

Joining from a York theatre company where he worked as operations and production manager for 16 years, Rob Gooch will apply his technical and operational skills to the new role at Pro-Development.

His background in theatre and theatre production will also enhance Pro-Development’s in-person training and team building activities.

Pro-Development was launched in 2011 out of an office in Michelle Mook’s garage. The business now offers a wide range of people, learning and development solutions to businesses across York and North Yorkshire from its offices at Forest Farm Business Park in York.

Mook said: “I am proud and thrilled that we have gone beyond what I originally set out to do in our first ten years, and value each and every team member who has helped to get us to this position.

“As well as having a brilliant team, I believe some of our success can also be attributed to the way we do things. We offer something unique to clients and try to make it fun, creative and engaging so it leaves a lasting positive impression on those taking part.

“We are a busy team and Lee and Rob are welcome additions, allowing us to deliver even more programmes to clients.”

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Hull and Manchester-based Hudgell Solicitors has promoted two experienced solicitors with track records of providing “exceptional legal support” to people who suffer catastrophic injures to the roles of joint managers of serious injury.

Accredited APIL senior litigator Samuel McFadyen has an established industry reputation of ensuring extensive rehabilitation packages for clients, securing early interim payments and eventual six and seven-figure damages settlements.

It is a second promotion in recent times for McFadyen, who qualified in 1999 and joined Hudgells in 2015, having been made an associate at the business two years ago.

Jessica Gower has more than 15 years’ experience within the personal injury and litigation field and specialises in cases relating to brain injury, spinal injury and those where people suffer multiple traumatic injuries.

Now in her second spell with Hudgells, Gower spent more than six years working in serious injury teams at Irwin Mitchell and Stewarts before returning earlier this year.

The appointments come as head of personal injury Jane Woodcock has agreed a step-back from her day-to-day managerial role after 23 years with the firm. She will now work on a consultancy basis part-time.

In another change for the department, associate solicitor Sarah Kidd, who has been at Hudgells for eight years and has led a range of cases including public liability, road traffic accidents and accidents at work, has been appointed as manager of personal injury.

Chief Executive Rachel Di Clemente said: “We are lucky to have many highly talented lawyers in our personal injury department and with regards Sam and Jessica, we have two experienced solicitors now leading our serious injury work who have repeatedly excelled in managing highly complicated cases, offering exceptional legal expertise and ensuring the best support for our clients.

“They are fully deserving of their promotions, and I know they are both excited by the challenge and determined to build on our reputation for being a leading firm in the serious injury market.

“We are of course thrilled that Jane Woodcock has decided to continue working for us in a consultant role as she moves to a part-time role. This will allow us to continue benefiting from the huge contribution she makes.

“Our teams, and management, will still be able to tap into her exceptional knowledge, guidance and experience.

“We’re also delighted to promote Sarah Kidd to a managerial role, another highly experienced solicitor who has always had a wide-ranging caseload of her own, something which will help her in mentoring others.

“Sarah is a tenacious solicitor who really works hard to dig deep on cases and get the best results, so she will be an ideal leader of our team.”