People: Herd; Sandton Capital Partners; Sheffield Property Association; and more

Mark Preston has joined Hessle-based performance marketing agency, Herd, as performance director.

He has over 13 years of agency and performance marketing experience across owned, earned and paid media strategy, in agencies including Jaywing and Stickyeyes.

He has worked with some of the biggest global brands including Dyson, Honda, Lloyds Banking Group, Cigna and Johnson and Johnson.

In his new role, Preston will be responsible for execution excellence across all performance marketing channels, ensuring Herd’s proposition is futureproofed and relevant to partner’s needs.

Ryan Saltmer, strategy director, said: “We are thrilled to announce the arrival of Mark, whose expertise and experience are set to take Herd to the next level.

“Mark’s arrival aligns perfectly with our next growth phase, expanding our offering to enterprise businesses and ambitious brands all over the world.”

Preston said: “It’s an exciting time to be joining Herd as we celebrate the agency’s tenth successful year in business.

“We are on track to welcome more big-name partners to our roster, who will benefit from our proprietary technology and data driven strategy. I can’t wait to be part of such a talented, close-knit team.”

Gareth Allen, managing director at Herd, added: “Mark brings with him a wealth of experience with global brands, and I know our whole team will benefit from working alongside him.

“He’s already hit the ground running and I’m sure we’ll see fantastic results for our clients.”

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Special situations capital solutions provider Sandton Capital Partners has welcomed Ian Green to its UK and European team.

Green, who is from Leeds and lives in North Yorkshire, joins Sandton having led PwC’s UK Restructuring practice.

He was responsible for the UK’s largest restructuring team of 800 and was subsequently made PwC’s Northern Regional Leader responsible for all disciplines.

He played a key role on notable assignments, including UK Coal, Lehman Brothers, Phones 4 U, Petroplus, and Carillion. He also brings a wealth of experience to the wider Sandton team across Europe.

Green said: “The opportunity to work with Sandton was too good to miss, a small team of people I like and the opportunity to deploy capital quickly and effectively into mid-market corporate UK and other interesting ‘one off’ situations.”

Matt Meehan, partner, head of Europe for Sandton, said: “Ian’s appointment emphasises our commitment to growing our UK and European team, building on our reputation in restructuring and special situations lending.”

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The collective voice of property in Sheffield, the Sheffield Property Association, has appointed four new directors who have joined the board of the organisation.

Charles Dunn, director at Urbana, Matt Smith, director at Services Design Associates, Rob Darrington, director at Commercial Property Partners and Chris Wood, business development manager at Ovo Spaces are now in place as directors as the organisation looks to grow its network and membership within the city.

The Sheffield Property Association (S-PA) brings together a group of businesses that are committed to improving Sheffield’s built environment.

Tim Bottrill, director at the Sheffield Property Association, said: “It is great news that Charles, Matt, Rob and Chris have joined the board at such a key time for the S-PA.

“We have been through a rigorous appointment process and their collective wealth of experience will provide support and guidance in achieving the S-PA’s values and goals.

“Since 2017 we have been driving investment, opportunity and prosperity in Sheffield. As a network of local property experts, we work collaboratively to ensure Sheffield’s built environment benefits local people and the communities that we are all part of.

“We are focused on bringing local businesses together with the aim of supporting our city and region by improving Sheffield’s built environment and ensuring it’s the best it can be.

“As a member organisation, we are always looking to attract new members and collaborate in partnership with businesses and individuals.

“The new directors will be reviewing the current role and objectives of the S-PA to ensure it continues to evolve and meet its member’s expectations.

“In addition, I know they are passionate about increasing diversity within the organisation and we will be working with our members and stakeholders to achieve this.”

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South Yorkshire’s Mayor has confirmed the appointment of Nicola Marshall, leader of the Sweaty Betty Foundation, as the region’s new active travel programme director.

Working alongside Mayor Oliver Coppard and active travel commissioner, Ed Clancy, Marshall will drive ambitions to make walking, wheeling and cycling the first choice for everyday trips in South Yorkshire and lead on the development of the region’s cycling and walking network.

With over 20 years of experience at organisations including Cycling UK and Save the Children, she has worked across multiple charity and sports sectors to empower individuals, families and communities.

Leading the Sweaty Betty Foundation – the corporate charity of the activewear brand, Sweaty Betty – her most recent role specifically supported women and girls to get active, and stay active, for life.

She said: “I’m incredibly excited about the opportunity to make South Yorkshire the best place to walk and cycle in the UK.

“I passionately want my toddler to grow up thinking the first choice for every journey is on his feet, a scooter, or a bike.

“Creating safe places to walk and cycle is a brilliant start, but we also need to actively support people to choose to get on their feet or their bike.”

As director of income generation at Cycling UK, Marshall supported the creation of cycle friendly environments.

In her 10 year career at Save the Children, she supported families in the UK to give the best start to their children, by linking up the public, private and third sectors to make a difference in communities and create change.

Coppard, said: “I’ve been open about the challenges we still face in delivering on our ambitions for active travel, but I’m determined to build a better-connected, more sustainable and healthier South Yorkshire.

“People being able to walk or cycle where they want, when they want, is the foundation on which more liveable, healthier and wealthier communities are built.

“Nicola brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise as we seek to step up our efforts to encourage walking and cycling schemes.

“We’ve been promised a London-style integrated transport network for South Yorkshire, and Nicola will be central to our work to drive change.”

Clancy added: “I am very excited to welcome Nicola to our Active Travel team, to support our mission to get people cycling and walking more across South Yorkshire.

“Her experience and talent will help build on the foundations we’ve laid to transform our infrastructure and to give communities the freedom to choose active travel for everyday trips.

“By putting well-designed and effective schemes in place we can bring about benefits to communities that help to improve lives – through better public health, connections to employment, education and local services, by tackling climate change, and by giving people the confidence and independence to travel safely.”