People: Northern Gritstone; Beverley Building Society; and more

Northern Gritstone, a university spin-out investment business based in the north of England, has confirmed the appointment of Alison Maughan as investment manager.

She joins Northern Gritstone’s growing investment team, led by chief investment officer, Marion Bernard, who joined the company in January.

Maughan arrives after nearly four years at Deepbridge Capital specialising in life sciences and will bring deep experience and expertise in this area to the team.

Her appointment follows that of Mark Wyatt, who joined Northern Gritstone as investment director earlier this month from Mercia Asset Management.

Launched in July 2021 by the Universities of Leeds, Manchester and Sheffield and chaired by Lord Jim O’Neill, Northern Gritstone is dedicated to investing in university spinouts and start-ups in the north of England, while delivering its philosophy of ‘profit with purpose.’

In May, it announced its first close of £210m after its initial fundraising attracted a broad and diverse base of investors encompassing local authority pension funds, high net worth individuals and institutional investors.

The company has since unveiled initial investments in life sciences company, Imperagen, immersion cooling technology producer, Iceotope, and biological engineering firm, Opteran.

Maughan will be responsible for helping guide the company’s future investments.

Northern Gritstone CEO, Duncan Johnson, said: “I am very pleased that Alison has joined our investment team as we continue to attract top-class, early-stage investors to Northern Gritstone’s ambitious vision of helping to catalyse a Silicon Valley of the North.

“I look forward to Alison having a long and fulfilling career with us.”

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Beverley Building Society says Christopher White is its new chief financial officer, subject to regulatory approval.

He takes up the position after Janet Bedford, who previously held the position, was promoted to the role of society chief executive.

White, a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales, has significant experience in financial services and the Building Society sector.

He spent seven years at PwC specialising in providing assurance services to building societies. He then spent 10 years at Darlington Building Society, during which time he rose to the post of chief financial officer.

Bedford said: “The Board is pleased to appoint such an accomplished financial services professional with significant executive and board-level experience in the building society sector.

“Christopher clearly has a proven track record in helping to drive growth across commercial and operational areas, through the delivery of a proactive financial strategy and we are confident he will play a significant part in strengthening our financial position within our East Riding heartland and nationally.

“The Beverley is a traditional building society that provides an outstanding personal service and a flexible, common-sense approach to lending, together with great value savings products and this appointment is another key step in our strategic plan to build on these impressive foundations.”

White said: “I am really excited to be joining the Beverley and am looking forward to leading the society’s Finance Department.

“A really important part of the Society’s next phase of development is growing its membership and mortgage book and I look forward to helping its team achieve this in line with its mutual principles and founding purpose of ‘Building Better Futures’”.

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Doncaster Culture & Leisure Trust (DCLT) will strengthen its training offering and position as an employer of choice after appointing a new training & development manager.

David Morley joins DCLT to work within the HR team to create and deliver a comprehensive training strategy to grow, retain and develop talented staff.

He has 30 years of experience in a range of roles including a variety of logistics businesses covering products from beer and computers to car parts.

Morley holds a Master’s degree in Business Administration, PGCE and NEBOSH, among other qualifications.

His role will include promoting high levels of staff engagement, development, wellbeing and performance. He will also complete and deliver a Training Needs Analysis and review and implement an appraisal process for all DCLT employees.

He said: “I’m thrilled to be able to progress my career in an exciting role with DCLT that allows me to be involved with the training and development of colleagues.

“I have previously delivered business improvement and operational cost savings by creating innovative solutions through organised and self-motivated teams.

“I use an open, pragmatic approach and I’m passionate about developing empowered teams, which improve safety, increase operational efficiency, change organisational behaviours and create competitive advantage.”

Michael Hart, chief executive of DCLT, said: “We are very pleased to welcome David to the DCLT team and know he will do a fantastic job overseeing the training and development of our wonderful team.

“DCLT is proud to be an employer of choice and by refining and enhancing our training and development programme, we look forward to empowering all our team members to reach their potential.”