People: Institute of Economic Development; Blacks Solicitors; Young’s Seafood; and more
Judith Blake, the Baroness Blake of Leeds, has been appointed as the new Patron of the Institute for Economic Development (IED).
She takes up the unpaid role from outgoing Patron, The Rt Hon Greg Clark MP, who was in post for two years.
A British Labour politician serving as a life peer in the House of Lords since 2021, Baroness Blake sits on the opposition front bench as a shadow spokesperson for Business and Energy.
She was previously leader of Leeds City Council from 2015 to 2021, becoming the first woman to hold the position, having been deputy leader for five years. An elected member of the council since 1996, Baroness Blake also formerly served as an Otley town councillor.
She was awarded a CBE in the 2017 Queen’s Birthday Honours, and, in December 2020, it was announced that she would be conferred a Life Peerage after a nomination by Labour Party leader Sir Keir Starmer.
Currently Baroness Blake is part of the Liverpool Strategic Futures Advisory Panel, established last summer by The Rt Hon Greg Clark MP in his capacity as Levelling Up secretary, alongside Liverpool City Region metro mayor Steve Rotheram (Chair) and Sir Howard Bernstein, former chief executive of Manchester City Council from 1999 to 2017, and another past chair of the IED.
Baroness Blake said: “This is an important time for economic development and regeneration, and for the Institute and its members as the organisation embarks on its 40th anniversary year.
“I am looking forward to supporting chair Tom Stannard, executive director Nigel Wilcock, and other Board members in its mission and strategic priorities.
“In particular, I have a keen interest in keeping in touch with practice in economic development.”
Stannard added: “The Patron of the IED is an important national role, filled by someone who, due to his/her public achievement, exemplification of outstanding leadership and stature in society, can help the IED achieve its mission by enhancing the Institute’s credibility.
“My Board colleagues and I felt that Baroness Blake fits that profile perfectly, and we look forward to working with her over the coming years.
“I would also like to thank The Rt Hon Greg Clark MP for his service over the past two years, and we are grateful for his continued support in investing time in our 40th anniversary activities.”
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Yorkshire law firm, Blacks Solicitors, is marking the start of the year with the promotion of 10 team members.
Five teams across the firm have seen colleagues promoted; Corporate & Commercial, Residential Property, Commercial Dispute Resolution, Wills & Probate and Family.
Sarah Brown and Dean Goodwin (Residential Property), and Alex Hall (Corporate and Commercial) have been promoted to senior associate chartered legal executives, while Hayley Blackburn (Corporate & Commercial) and Liam Douglas (Residential Property) have been promoted to associate chartered legal executives.
Goodwin said “It’s a privilege that my dedication to the firm over the last nine years has been recognised.
“Over the years, I’ve had the opportunity to work with most of the leading specialist buy-to-let mortgage lenders. I am dedicated to continuing to deliver a highly valued and quality service to our clients as I move into my new role.”
James Martin (Commercial Dispute Resolution) and Amer Ali (Residential Property) are now senior associate solicitors, while Annie Beaumont (Wills & Probate), Josie Kirk (Family) and Samantha Simpson (Residential Property) have been promoted to associate solicitors.
Tom Moyes, training partner at Blacks Solicitors, said: “Investing in our people is crucial, and we are happy to have kicked off the new year by marking the hard work and dedication of our colleagues.
“They have been committed to going above and beyond to carry out our vision, and it always means a lot to be able to recognise and reward our colleagues.
“Everyone who has been promoted is an inspirational role model for our other employees, and it will be fantastic to see how they continue to progress throughout 2023 and beyond.”
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Sofina Europe, owner of Young’s Seafood and Greenland Seafood, has appointed William Davies as its new group CSR manager.
He brings over 18 years of experience in the seafood industry to the role, having started his career in the catching sector working on his father’s Langoustine trawler in Northwest Scotland.
Being keen to learn more about the wider supply chain, he undertook a Master’s degree in Marine Conservation before moving into roles focused on the global supply chain, aquaculture and primary processing factories, including 10 years at Hilton Seafoods and most recently, The Big Prawn Co.
His new role will be to build on Young’s’ commitment to seafood sustainability and to continue to develop the brand’s Fish For Life initiative, which focuses on sourcing fish in a responsible manner to protect the environment and the planet.
His role will also encompass Sofina Europe’s Greenland Seafood, with Davies focused on leading on Sofina’s responsible practices across seafood sustainability, as well as carbon footprint, biodiversity, plastics and human rights due diligence across the wider Sofina Europe group.
He said: “As an industry we have a responsibility to source fish in a way that ensures it can be enjoyed for generations to come, so I’m looking forward to playing a key part at Sofina Europe in delivering its seafood sustainability strategy.
“From working on a langoustine trawler in Scotland to undertaking positions across every major seafood production area, I’ve been lucky enough to have had a very varied career and to experience the good practice, passionate people and innovation that make the seafood industry such a rewarding place to work.
“I’m excited to continue my career at Sofina Europe and build on the work of Young’s Seafood and its Fish For Life initiative, ensuring we source fish in a sustainable way and respect the people and communities that fish and process for us.”
Scott Johnston, technical and CSR director at Sofina Europe, said: “As a leading processor and supplier of seafood, at Sofina Europe we know we have a responsibility to ensure we act in a way that has a positive impact on the environment and the communities we operate in.
“At Young’s, we have already demonstrated this through our industry leading Fish For Life initiative, but we know there is always more we can do to ensure the sustainability of fish for many years to come.
“William will be instrumental in helping us to play an industry leading role in our CSR commitments, and we are looking forward to having his extensive knowledge and experience in our team as we look to achieve our sustainability goals.”
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Consumer law firm, Simpson Millar, has appointed Alex Hockett as its new head of learning and development (L&D).
She brings more than 10 years’ experience in the professional development industry to the role having previously worked as the strategic people lead at the Housing Association, Accent Group, and as a regional training partner at insurance company, LV=.
Based out of Leeds, she will spearhead the firm’s learning and development initiatives for both solicitors and support staff located across the country, operating within its three core legal practice areas of Family, Public and Injury.
She will also oversee the roll out of training for Simpson Millar’s new transformation programme which includes enhancements to its current systems and processes that will enhance the client journey, and allow its legal teams to focus on case work and customer care.
Hockett is joined by two additional new starters within the Learning and Development team – experienced training and development advisor Alison Holding-Jones, who joins as Learning and Development business partner, and Stephanie Thorp who has been appointed as a Learning and Development co-ordinator.
Simpson Millar director of people, Helen Sutton, said: “As a business we place a huge amount of emphasis on training, learning and development.
“We are heavily invested in enabling our colleagues to progress their careers at a pace that is right for them, and to have the necessary skills in place to best meet the needs of our clients.
“Ensuring they have access to the support and necessary tools to facilitate that is incredibly important, and these appointments reflect our commitment to that.”
Hockett added: “While many businesses that have embraced remote and flexible working have lost sight of the importance of bringing teams together at pivotal moments throughout the year, Simpson Millar has managed to maintain that sense of camaraderie and peer-to-peer support.
“That was immediately evident during the induction process – a key deliverable for the L&D team – when all of the new starters were able to come together to learn about the history, vision and value of the company.
“I am now looking forward to building on those foundations that are already in place, and to helping to support the development of both our people, and our performance.”
