People: Hill Dickinson; Sowerby; Wrigleys Solicitors; and more

Hill Dickinson has confirmed the addition of a full Restructuring practice to its Leeds office with the appointment of two more lateral hires.

Lizzy Wood and Molly Rowell have reunited with Restructuring partner Lemi McAuley, who joined the firm earlier this year, to complete a trio of lateral hires from Shoosmiths.

Since joining the firm in August, McAuley has led on setting up the Leeds restructuring practice, bolstering Hill Dickinson’s national restructuring team and expanding its capabilities into the Yorkshire market.

Legal director Wood will assist the team in acting for corporates, private equity investors, lenders and office holders.

Her work will focus primarily on all aspects of corporate turnaround and formal insolvency procedures, notably corporate restructuring and distressed business sales.

Completing the team, Rowell joins as an associate, following three years at Shoosmiths where she progressed from corporate paralegal through to associate.

The addition of the Restructuring team comes at a time of sustained growth for Hill Dickinson.

And it comes amid a number of key lateral hires for the firm in the region over the past 10 months, including corporate partner Alison Starr, construction partner Anjon Mallik and health real estate partner James Atkins.

Hill Dickinson has also recently revealed a planned move to new offices at 11 Wellington Place in 2024.

Craig Scott, head of the Business Services Group, said: “The addition of a Restructuring team in Leeds is the latest step in our plans to further expand our Restructuring offering nationally.

“It is part of our strategy of investing in talented and ambitious teams who are committed to helping us grow our Hill Dickinson Leeds office over the long-term.

“We’re building on our early successes in the city, having opened in 2017 with a purely health-focused practice, then adding several teams from within our Business Services Group, such as Corporate, Real Estate, Construction and Employment.

“We expect to announce further hires over the next few months.”

McAuley added: “Having recently joined Hill Dickinson to set up the firm’s new restructuring practice in Leeds, I am pleased to welcome Lizzy and Molly to the team.

“As an established team, we know the Leeds market well already and expect to hit the ground running.

“Over the next few months, we’ll be introducing our clients to the firm, building on new opportunities and benefiting from the added strength of the firm’s restructuring capability nationally.”

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East Yorkshire-based accountancy firm, Sowerby, has welcomed Sarah Wragg as director of owner managed businesses and Adam Welbourne as audit director.

Welbourne joins from an Internal Audit role following the initial stages of his career at Smailes Goldie and Ernst & Young LLP. 

His expertise covers Risk and Control, developing methodology, and executing forward looking business strategy.

Wragg started her career at Mazars in Leeds, as part of its Audit and Business Advisory team.

She subsequently moved into industry, starting as financial director before ultimately becoming managing director.

Sowerby partner, Elizabeth Blanchard, said: “As the finance sector continues to evolve, we are looking forward to welcoming Sarah and Adam to the team to cement our position of offering services beyond the traditional Accountant role.

“Their high level of industry experience, focusing on business risk and strategy, will enhance our offering to clients and support Sowerby with our future vision.”

Welbourne said: “I am incredibly excited to join Sowerby, a dynamic and growing practice right in my home region of East Yorkshire. 

“Having previously worked out of town, I jumped at the chance to work for a locally based firm to augment an already fantastic service offering with significant commercial risk and control experience.”

Wragg said: “Although I wasn’t looking to re-join an accountancy practice, Sowerby offer something over and above what most accountancy practices traditionally offer.

“Sowerby genuinely care about each and every one of their clients and take an active role in supporting them in both the good and challenging times, as well as planning for the future.”

The directors are the latest of several new appointments so far in 2023 for the business. Sowerby has also welcomed Dominic Judd, Nicole Dixon and Sinem Ozer with Emily Moulton returning from maternity leave.

Richard Skewis, partner, added: “We are so pleased to be able to continue to invest in our professional team to ensure we can maintain our service levels and growth.

“The growth in 2023 has continued at a similar pace to the past few years, so these new additions will strengthen our existing team, while adding new skillsets and allowing us to plan for the future.”

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Molly Neville and Will Fowers

Yorkshire-based Wrigleys Solicitors has made several key changes to its growing team, including key appointments and a raft of promotions.

Will Fowers and Molly Neville have been offered permanent positions at the firm after completing their training and qualifying as solicitors – Fowers within the pensions team and Neville within the probate, trusts and estates planning team.

The newly qualified solicitors make way for two new trainees at the firm, Susannah Hope and Mark Beech, who worked alongside Wrigleys’ private client team as a paralegal after finishing his law degree at the University of York.

Sue Greaves, training partner, said: “I’m pleased to offer permanent positions to our qualifying trainee solicitors and welcome a new cohort of next-generation talent.

“We only take on a small number of trainees each year to guarantee we have the time and resources to provide excellent training.

“Will and Molly are a testament to this commitment and I’ve no doubt that Susannah and Mark will achieve similar success.”

Elsewhere in the firm, Jack Hedley joins as compliance manager. He brings five years of experience in legal compliance and will be responsible for maintaining the firm’s policies and procedures and ensuring they remain compliant with regulatory and ethical standards.

In addition to the recent recruitment drive, Wrigleys has introduced the new role of associate and 33 of the firm’s solicitors have stepped into this position.

This is a significant change for the practice, which, until now, has operated with just solicitors and partners.

Newly appointed associate, Orlando Bridgeman, has also recently passed his exams to become a Chartered Tax Advisor (CTA). This is the highest level of tax qualification in the UK and one very few lawyers hold.

Marie-Louise Hamilton, managing partner, said: “Our people are our greatest asset and some colleagues have been with us since inception. We attribute our success to defining and maintaining who we are and our niche experts are the lifeblood of the firm.

“We felt it important to recognise those with a certain level of experience and the introduction of the associate position not only does this but helps define a clear path of career progression for those newer to the industry.

“It’s a strategic move that we’re confident will aid retention and ensure we continue to attract some of the industry’s brightest talent.”

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