People: Chadwick Lawrence; OptiBiotix Health; and more

Law firm Chadwick Lawrence has hired two senior commercial property lawyers in its Complete Property Solutions team.

The new hires are Jonathan Moore, partner, and Katie Solano, solicitor who will be based in Leeds and Halifax respectively.

Solano joins from Milners Solicitors and she has previously worked at Eaton Smith. She has re-joined the legal profession after taking an employment break to have her two children.

She said “It is a challenge to find a firm that has a legacy like Chadwick Lawrence that only comes from years of history while having such a forward-facing outlook. It felt like an obvious career move for me.

“At the moment my focus is on building my caseload with a high quality of work. I can see progression opportunities already to work my way up to partner and I am excited to be back on my law progression journey after a few years off.”

Moore joins the Commercial Property team with years of experience in top Yorkshire law firms including Eversheds Sutherland, Lupton Fawcett and Knights.

He helped to build the York office for Knights plc, being office partner for nearly three years before setting up the Yorkshire office for Horwich Farrelly.

He said: “Joining Chadwick Lawrence is fantastic. The culture is genuine, positive and supportive and my new colleagues are friendly, diligent and very professional.

“Currently, I am working with developers and landowners as well as with a local authority in relation to an urban regeneration project.

“There is a wealth of opportunity for a firm of our size to continue to win more great work and this was a big pull for me joining.”

Managing partner Neil Wilson said: “Jonathan and Katie have been brought in through their very meritable skillsets and experience.

“They fit the Chadwick Lawrence mould both in their personable attitudes and their hard-working nature. This is just the latest step in a long series of positive changes we are making within the firm.”

Head of the Commercial Property Department, Cheryl Largue, added: “It is a pleasure to welcome both Jonathan and Katie to our team and I look forward to working with both of them going forward in respect of developing our offering as a commercial property team and providing the expert service to our clients.”

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OptiBiotix Health, a York-based life sciences business developing compounds to tackle obesity, high cholesterol, diabetes and skincare, has appointed Graham Myers as its finance director.

Myers is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England & Wales and has extensive financial and commercial experience in a number of private and public companies, including being a member of the Executive Committee at Croda International, where he worked for almost 30 years.

He brings extensive experience in optimising financial controls, managing budgets, building profitable businesses and mergers & acquisitions.

He is currently chair of Croda Pension Trustees Ltd, the sole trustee of Croda’s £800m UK pension scheme.

Myers’ appointment to this part-time role will see him work with the OptiBiotix team to support the focus on driving each business unit and the group to profitability.

Stephen OHara, CEO, said: “We are pleased to confirm the appointment of Graham Myers as finance director.

“The appointment reflects the progress we have made in 2023 after a difficult 2022 and the Board’s focus on controlling costs and building revenues to create a profitable international business with well-known global brands.”

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Sheffield-headquartered National Timber Group (NTG), a timber processing and distribution business, has appointed Scott Cairns as its group chief executive. 

He brings a strong track record of growth and financial delivery, gained from a career spanning almost 40 years.

An NTG spokesman said: “Cairns has spent much of  his career with the Donaldson Group, where he was group chief executive until 2020 and more recently, a non-executive member of the Donaldson board.

“During his 26 years with that firm, initially leading Donaldson’s timber and merchanting businesses, he transformed the group’s enterprises into market leaders within their categories.

“During his tenure as group CEO, the Donaldson Group doubled its turnover to over £230m annualised and also saw its profits positively transformed.”