People: Fletchers Group; Lichfields; and more

Personal injury and clinical negligence law firm, Fletchers Group, has promoted six of its colleagues to heads of office across its various office locations, around the UK.

The newly appointed office heads are Emma Semwayo, Michelle Heyes, Saima Mazhar, Gillian Lakes, Tim Moulton and Claire Hutchinson.

Semwayo, partner and head of clinical negligence, will become head of Leeds office.

She joined Fletchers eight years ago as a clinical negligence solicitor in Manchester.

She was appointed head of clinical negligence for the Leeds teams in January 2023.

Semwayo is a partner and a passionate advocate of women lawyers and leaders. She co-founded the Fletchers Menopause Support Group providing support across the Fletchers Group and was a founder member of Fletchers EDI committee, driving positive change across the business.

In their roles, the new office heads will assume overall responsibility of supporting colleague welfare and the Fletchers culture.

Adrian Denson, chief legal officer of Fletchers Group, said: “I am happy to make these promotions to such key roles, and they reflect the strength and depth of talent that we have at Fletchers.

“Fletchers has always built on the strength of our people and invested in their development and I am proud of this latest example of that.

“Promoting these six individuals recognises their hard work and talent and puts them in key roles which positions us for continued growth and excellence in serving our clients across all of our office locations.

“We are excited to see how they will lead their teams, their offices and help to drive our mission forward.”

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UK planning and development consultancy, Lichfields, has promoted Emma Gomersal and James Cox to planning directors in its Leeds office as its Yorkshire team continues to grow.

Gomersal has a strong background in strategic land, specialising in the promotion of residential and employment sites.

She has worked extensively with landowner and developer clients, managing the planning and development process to maximise the potential of these sites.

Cox works with a range of clients primarily in the retail, tourism and roadside development sectors.

He has also taken on a lead role in advising Anglo American on the Woodsmith Project; a nationally significantly polyhalite fertiliser mine that is being developed in the North Yorkshire Moors National Park.

Gomersal said: “The support I’ve experienced since joining Lichfields has been instrumental in allowing me to build on my experience in strategic land and contribute effectively to the continued success of the Leeds office.

“The expertise and services we offer as a company, alongside our reputation for in depth insight and research, have been invaluable in achieving the objectives for our clients across the region.”

Alongside these two promotions, Lichfields has also confirmed the promotion of three other planning directors and several senior-level promotions across its other offices.

Cox said: “I’m grateful for the support of the team and our clients as we continue to deliver innovative planning solutions and I look forward to taking on new challenges in this expanded role.”

Chris Darley, head of the Leeds office, said: “Emma and James’ promotions are well-deserved. Their leadership and expertise will continue to drive our growth and strengthen our position as a leader in the planning and development sector.

“We’re excited to see them both take on these new responsibilities and lead the team through the next phase of growth.”

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Aldercote, a Hull-based manufacturer of vehicle-mounted access platforms, has appointed a new sales executive to meet demand for the company’s products, which are supplied to firms across the UK and Europe.

Mark Tooley joins the team with almost a decade’s experience in the industry and will be working with current and prospective customers to help make them aware of the firm’s range of products and the expert engineering and diagnostic support services it offers.

His previous role was with Access Hire, one of the largest hire companies in the sector.

He said: “I’m looking forward to this new challenge in the industry I’ve gained a lifetime of experience in.

“I’m already enjoying engaging with customers and explaining how Aldercote’s commitment to engineering and innovation can help them find solutions for their platform needs.

“I’ve had a really positive experience with the wider Aldercote team and it’s fantastic how we’re all working towards the company’s shared goals.”

Marc Paish, managing director, said: “We are pleased to welcome Mark to our team. His wealth of experience in the sector, and the knowledge he can share with us and our customers, is invaluable.”

Two other people have also recently joined the business. Emily Boyd joins as customer relationship co-ordinator while Sam Dillon is the company’s newest service engineer.