People: Q5; Thurston Group; Herd; and more

Leeds-based organisational health consulting firm, Q5, has welcomed Amanda Lewis as its new chief financial officer.

She brings over two decades of experience as a transformative finance leader, and was most recently the chief financial officer at The Chemistry Group.

She helped the business through an M&A process, attracting top-tier talent to help move the company into its next phase of growth.

Lewis also played a key role in fostering a culture of data transparency, facilitating strategic insights, improving operational efficiency, and aligning cost structures with financial targets.

Now, as chief financial officer at Q5, she is responsible for shaping and executing the company’s strategy of doubling in size by 2030 in a sustainable way.

Q5 has doubled in size between 2020 and 2025, and has grown from a footprint of four offices to nine.

Lewis will work with the leadership team to achieve this goal, driving growth in the Middle East, North America, and Australia.

She said: “I am thrilled to join the Q5 team and be part of an award-winning firm that is helping to build better businesses across the world.

“I’m passionate about driving client and partner success, while also coaching and mentoring a team to create a high-performing environment. I look forward to the growth we can achieve together.”

Olly Purnell, managing partner, added: “It’s wonderful to have Amanda on board. She inherits an excellent Finance team, but will bring experience and commercial finance nous and leadership that will hopefully enable us to be more global in the way we approach things.”

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Wakefield-based off-site manufacturing specialist, Thurston Group, has appointed a non-executive director to deliver on improving growth, recruitment, and the company’s wider business strategy.

Paul Tierney joins with over 30 years of experience in the offsite and modern methods of construction (MMC) sector, having built modular manufacturing firm ExtraSpace Solutions (ESS) across the UK and Ireland until it was acquired by ISG in 2022.

Since 2023, Tierney has been CEO of MMC Ireland, advising on aligning government MMC programmes with the expanding capabilities of Irish MMC manufacturers and contractors.

He will continue to lead MMC Ireland, representing the best interests of its 85-strong membership.

In his role as non-executive director at Thurston, Tierney will be working at board level, and alongside managing director Matt Goff, and the wider executive leadership team.

Tierney brings decades of expertise in MMC along with extensive experience in building high-performing teams and collaborating with government departments on the frameworks enabling MMC adoption.

He said: “I am excited to work with the team at Thurston – a passionate group, with a strong culture and a clear commitment to development and growth.

“There are certainly the foundations here to be the top offsite manufacturer in the country.

“The entire executive leadership team is driven by the same goal, which is to make Thurston the number one choice for modular manufacturing in the UK.”

Goff added, said: “Paul’s incredibly vast expertise in the world of modular manufacturing will be hugely beneficial as we look to continue our ambitious growth plans and deliver MMC projects faster, safer and more sustainably.

“His experience in growing ESS to be one of the biggest modular manufacturers in the country will play a big part in hitting our own future objectives, as we look to centre ourselves as the very best in the industry.”

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Hessle-based performance marketing agency and Shopify Plus Partner, Herd, has appointed Andrew Lee as its new solutions architect.

Lee has worked with e-commerce businesses such as Just My Look, Kickers, and Mitre, most notably during his 12-year tenure at software-as-a-service e-commerce agency Visualsoft. Here, he was pivotal to a platform processing over £1bn in annual Gross Merchandise Value (GMV).

He will work with Herd’s marketing and strategy teams to ensure every solution is aligned with their clients business goals and is built to last.

His experience building and integrating complex eCommerce systems, will strengthen Herd’s Shopify capabilities.

Tim Powell, managing director, said: “We’re incredibly excited to welcome Andrew to Herd. His experience and problem-solving mindset will be a major asset to both our team, and our clients, as we continue to scale our e-commerce offering.”

Lee added: “Herd is known for its creativity, agility, and technical firepower. What really drew me to the agency is the opportunity to bring enterprise-level thinking into a fast-moving, e-commerce agency.

“Shopify has evolved into an incredibly powerful ecosystem, and I’m excited to help clients unlock even more value from it.”

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Green hydrogen technology and manufacturing company, Clean Power Hydrogen (CPH2), has appointed Richard Scott as chief commercial officer of the Doncaster-based group, effective from 1 July, 2025.

He joins CPH2 with over 30 years’ experience in the energy sector, spanning commercial management, business and market development roles.

He brings global expertise in the green fuels market and a strong track record of scaling projects to commercial viability.

Most recently, Scott served as executive vice president at ACME Greentech Group India (2023–2025), where he led development of its green hydrogen derived fuel business.

Prior to this he was vice president, global market development at World Kinect Corporation (2017–2023), a US Fortune 100 global energy company. He has held senior roles at Siemens, E.ON and Applied Energy (Formerly a GE company).

Scott has served in several industry advisory roles, including non-executive director of the UK Business Council for Sustainable Development, member of the Energy Management Association, commissioner of the City of Sheffield Green Commission, and as member of the Energy Efficiency Partnership within the then Department for Environment.

As CCO, he will lead the acceleration of CPH2’s Commerciality Phase, overseeing licensee activation, building the contracted order book, and refining the commercial pipeline.

His appointment supports CPH2’s strategic growth plans as the company continues to progress towards its 2030 production target of 4GW per year, with 1GW produced in-house and the remainder under licence.

Jon Duffy, chief executive officer, said: “We are happy to welcome Richard to CPH2 as our first chief commercial officer.

“His appointment comes at a pivotal moment as we transition into this next stage of commercialisation.

“Richard’s experience in scaling energy projects will be instrumental in driving forward our route to market – delivering on our existing order book, generating our first revenues, and activating our global licensees.

“With our differentiated technology proven at scale, Richard’s leadership will play a critical role in helping CPH2 unlock its full commercial potential and deliver value for our shareholders.”