People: Yorkshire Building Society; Legal Studio Solicitors; Servo Group; and more

Yorkshire Building Society has confirmed Fraser Ingram will join as chief operating officer in August, subject to regulatory approval.

He will lead the mutual’s technology and operational teams, ensuring the society continues to deliver strong service levels while investing in opportunities and technologies to improve its products and services.

With almost 20 years’ experience in financial services, his most recent role was chief digital and innovation officer and previously chief operating officer at Virgin Money, before which he held a number of executive roles at Kleinwort Benson, Royal Bank of Scotland and Citizens Bank in America.

Susan Allen, chief executive at Yorkshire Building Society, said: “We’re looking forward to welcoming Fraser in the summer.

“His experience and knowledge of financial services combined with his passion to do more for our members and customers, will add value to our organisation as we seek to deliver real help for real life.”

Ingram said: “I’m pleased to be joining Yorkshire Building Society and look forward to helping shape the organisation’s strategy to create a better future for members.”

:::

Leeds-based Legal Studio Solicitors has welcomed Andrew Vickerstaff as a solicitor-advocate specialising in commercial law.  

He has over 18 years’ commercial law experience from both private practice and in-house having worked with several rapidly-growing, innovative businesses that have scaled internationally.

Vickerstaff has experience across a wide range of industries including retail, manufacturing, sports, media and technology, with more than a decade’s worth experience of working in-house at general counsel/head of legal/sole counsel level.

Joining Legal Studio to set up a general counsel on demand service, he will be working with a portfolio of clients who want to benefit from such advice for a fixed monthly cost and on a retained basis to support their strategic plans.

:::

A multi-service provider is taking on a new partner to help propel its growth, after increasing its turnover by a third.

Nina Brooks joined Servo as group sales director in November 2022, after holding senior leadership positions at Techbuyer, Moorepay, Yell Group and BT over the past decade.

As a partner, she will leverage her extensive experience to nurture and support career development across the company, including boosting Servo’s track record of helping young professionals build a future in the security industry.

The multi-service provider, which specialises in static guarding, CCTV solutions, rail labour and cleaning, recently promoted Paige Grimes to non-executive director and Millie Avallone to head of operations.

At just 25, Grimes was the firm’s youngest ever director, having joined Servo just five years ago as a receptionist and subsequently working her way up to accounts director. Avallone joined the business five years ago as an FM co-ordinator.

Servo Group is targeting a £20m turnover within the next 12 months and has taken on at least 12 people within a managerial and sales capacity, from new directors to apprentices.

Along with its Leeds-based head office, the company has opened new regional offices in London, Darlington, Manchester and Birmingham to boost its national presence.

Brooks said: “The growth of the company has been phenomenal in the past couple of years and I’m looking forward to driving this further.

“It’s great to see young women like Paige and Millie forging fabulous careers for themselves and rising up the ranks, especially in a sector that is traditionally male.

“Some of my major career achievements include recruiting and building award winning teams so I’m looking forward to enhancing Servo’s commitment to career development and building their infrastructure across the team.”

:::

Sheffield-headquartered Linbrooke Services Ltd has appointed Will Wilson as chief executive officer.

Linbrooke is an engineering company specialising in the design and integration of multi-sector power and telecom solutions, combined with rail related signalling, telecoms and power systems and multi sector, multi-discipline consultancy.

Lee Hallam, executive chairman, said: “We are pleased to welcome Will Wilson to Linbrooke and he will lead the company into the next phase of growth, bringing into his new role a wealth of experience in the engineering and rail industries.”

Prior to joining Linbrooke, Wilson held senior leadership positions at a number of global companies including Siemens, Alstom and GE Transportation. He was formerly the CEO of Siemens Mobility in the UK.

During his career he has gained extensive rail and transport experience on an international basis, and has majored in railways, aerospace, traffic and general transportation for over 27 years.

With a current personal passion for carbon free transport he is a recognised authority in the sector.

He said: “I am pleased to be joining Linbrooke at such an exciting time in its evolution. With many sectors growing especially around the global de-carbonisation agenda we are so well positioned to deliver innovative bespoke solutions as well as growing our unique position within the rail sector as the only multi-tier signalling integrator.

“The company has an outstanding reputation in the industry and a talented team of engineers, project managers and hugely dedicated staff in all areas.

“We are already building on this strong foundation, continuing to deliver high-quality projects for our clients, while also expanding our capabilities and exploring new growth opportunities.”