People: Skipton Building Society; Armstrong Watson; SBFM; and more

Skipton Building Society has appointed Sarah Whitney to its Board.

Subject to regulatory approval, she will also become the new non-executive chair of Connells Group, taking over from current chair, Mark Lund, in September.

In joining the Skipton Board, Whitney will have oversight of the Skipton Group, a collection of businesses spanning the housing, IT, and financial services industries and employing around 18,000 people.

She brings an extensive background in property and finance through holding a range of senior roles across a number of sectors.

A former PwC partner, she has held senior leadership roles at DTZ and CBRE. She is an experienced non-executive director, serving on the boards of BBGI Global Infrastructure SA, Bellway plc, Tritax EuroBox plc, and JP Morgan Global Growth & Income plc.

She is also a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales.

Gwyn Burr, chair of the Skipton Group, said: “I’m thrilled to welcome Sarah in her new role as a non-executive director at Skipton.

“In appointing her to our Board, we are bringing in a skilled leader with a wealth of valuable experience to help us further strengthen and harness the large Skipton Group.

“Working alongside the management team at Connells, Sarah’s expertise in the property and financial services landscape in particular will ensure this significant group business remains an industry leader for many years to come.”

Whitney said: “I am excited to be joining the Board of Skipton. With mutuality in its blood thanks to the 170-year-old building society, a new group chief executive in Stuart Haire, and a clear vision, purpose and strategy, I am looking forward to helping drive this exciting business forward.

“Whether people are saving for their future, moving house, or running a business, the Skipton Group supports hundreds of thousands of people every single day.

“And I’m eager to continue building on the impressive work being done and in particular to become the new non-executive chair of the Connells Group.”

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Accountants, business and financial advisers, Armstrong Watson, has welcomed new strategic business advisory manager, Neil Sevitt.

He joins Armstrong Watson’s Leeds office after spending almost 40 years with RSM, where he was one of the senior partners with a portfolio of middle-market, family-owned and family-managed businesses.

He will be responsible for developing the firm’s Strategic Business Advisory services across Yorkshire and brings with him a vast amount of experience.

Sevitt will also help develop the wider Business Advisory proposition and will liaise with various service line heads and regional partners.

Sevitt said: “I hope to be able to use my business development and strategic planning skills to add value to the company and its clients.

“Armstrong Watson is a growing company ideally placed to advise family and owner-managed businesses. I am excited to have the opportunity to play my part in its development.”

Stephen McCullough, partner and head of business development, said: “Neil brings a wealth of experience from his previous position working for a top firm such as RSM where he was a senior partner.

“With Neil’s knowledge and sector  expertise, we believe he will be a perfect fit for the further development of our specialist advisory services for family and owner-managed businesses.”

Sevitt will be responsible for sector business growth for the region, working with the Business Development and Marketing teams to identify and pursue new business opportunities, build relationships with potential clients and expand the company’s specialist advisory services reach.

Matthew Osbourne, lead partner of Armstrong Watson’s Leeds office, added: “We are thrilled to have Neil join our team, together with his impressive background and experience he will be invaluable as we continue to grow and expand across Yorkshire.”

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Leeds-based SBFM, a soft facilities management (FM) service provider, has strengthened its senior leadership team with the appointments of David Mountain as head of human resources and Gail Lees as head of QSHE & Workplace.

Mountain will lead on the strategic development of SBFM’s human resources division and the company’s industry leading people strategy to position the business for its next phase of growth.

He has over 15 years’ experience in HR and a history of working in the FM industry.

He joins from facilities management and professional services company Mitie, where he was senior people business partner and a member of its senior management team.  

Mountain spent 11 years leading talent development programmes in roles at Interserve Industrial Services, Adviser Plus Business Solutions and Barnardo’s.

He will lead on SBFM’s critical HR functions – including talent acquisition and retention, succession planning, change management and employee engagement, amongst others.

Meanwhile, Lees will focus on delivering ever-improving QSHE performance across the business, including best practice in health and safety and environmental management, continual improvement of quality systems, and increasing staff engagement with QSHE policies and systems. 

Prior to joining SBFM, she was QHSE manager for Filtermist International Limited Group and Fera Science Ltd respectively, where she developed technical expertise in QSHE, strategic awareness of health and safety management systems, and improved safety performance across the businesses.

Matthew Chapman, chief executive officer at SBFM, said: “We are pleased to welcome colleagues of such a high calibre, with demonstrable industry experience to our executive team.

“The appointments of David and Gail come at an important time for us as we build upon a period of sustained growth and evolve to meet the needs of our expanding client portfolio.

“We are confident that under their leadership, the business will build on what we have already accomplished, grow and develop our industry leading services.”

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Health law firm, Hill Dickinson, has confirmed the hire of real estate partner James Atkins, who joins the company’s Leeds office as its national head of health real estate.

An experienced health real estate lawyer, Atkins advises a wide range of organisations, including NHS and independent healthcare providers, national NHS organisations, local commissioning bodies and developers of health infrastructure.

In addition to the management of routine estates work for a range of NHS organisations, he also advises on innovative or complex health infrastructure development, the reconfiguration of health estate and projects involving the disposal of former NHS facilities, including the imposition of overage and clawback arrangements.

He is a leading specialist on the rules for funding and development of primary care premises and regularly advises commissioners and GPs on their application.

Atkins has been at the forefront of the development of integrated health and wellbeing facilities which provide a range of health and social care services, often by joint venture arrangement between the NHS and local authorities.

Andrew Craggs, head of the firm’s Health Group, said: “We have added significant capacity to our health real estate team in the past 12 months to the point that it is now a substantial revenue generator for the firm in its own right.

“Appointing James to head the team with a brief to lead and further develop our growth strategy is our next step forward and we are happy to have him on board.

“James will head a growing national team that has already seen a number of appointments in recent months, including partner Emma Brecknock, senior associate Rachel Jones in Leeds, as well as partner Andrea Proudlock in Newcastle.”

Atkins said: “Hill Dickinson has long stood at the forefront of the health legal sector, and I am thrilled to join the experienced and talented team to head up its health real estate offering.

“At a time when demand for private and public healthcare services continues to grow rapidly, the healthcare estate can either be an enabler of or a barrier to change.

“I am looking forward to working with the growing team to advise clients across the country on a range of day-to-day and transformational health infrastructure projects.”

Atkins was previously a health real estate partner and head of Bevan Brittan’s Leeds office.