Latest appointments: Langleys expands; Credit expert joins industry advisory council; and more

LANGLEYS of York’s claimant personal injury and medical negligence specialist unit has welcomed three new members to the department.

Denise Bell joined Langleys in 2004 and has worked in both defendant and claimant personal injury together with dispute resolution.

She is a Fellow of the Institute of Legal Executives and handles claims in all areas of personal injury.

Sarah Cook will join the department as a paralegal to tackle the new Road Traffic Accident Claims Process.

This new process went live in April for cases valued from £1,000 – £10,000. The claims process has been streamlined so that claims can be settled more quickly.

Helen Rundle, a trainee solicitor, joined Langleys in 2006. She is due to formally qualify as a solicitor in September and will specialise in clinical negligence claims.

She currently volunteers for Action against Medical Accidents (AvMA) and works on their helpline once a month, assisting people who need support and advice after suffering from a medical accident.

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THE divisional director at P&A Receivables has been elected to the advisory council of the Institute of Credit Management (ICM) to represent the credit services sector.

Laurie Beagle, who will sit on the council for two years, is the founder and chairman of several international credit forums run by P&A which bring together credit and senior managers from corporates in diverse industry sectors.

He said: “One of the biggest challenges for the credit management sector is going to be working to a new model in these difficult times. Through my work with the forums I see at firsthand what is happening as a result of the economies in Spain and Greece. I would hate to see it happen here but if it does, then we need to be prepared.

“I hope to use my position to help push back boundaries in terms of the way the credit management sector does business. Credit has been around forever and we need to look at different ways of working and different ways of helping businesses to pay their bills.”

P&A Receivables is part of Sheffield-based The P&A Group, one of the largest independent insolvency and debt collection firms in the country.

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FULL service design agency Spiral Communications has appointed Keith Williams to its board as non-executive commercial director.

Mr Williams, recently voted Yell.com’s Business Mentor of the Year 2010, has been brought in to develop new business.

He said: “ I am excited about the prospect of helping Spiral take their unique qualities to more and more businesses who are looking to improve their own image and raise their own brand recognition.”

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DEBBIE Mellor, managing director of Keighley Laboratories, has been elected to the management committee of the Contract Heat Treatment Association (CHTA) and formally appointed a director, following the recent AGM.

Ms Mellor is the only woman amongst 18 CHTA officers and one of relatively few female chief executives in the engineering industry.

Formed in 1973, the CHTA represents the majority of companies providing sub-contract heat treatment services, together totalling over 70% of UK processing capacity, and its members have more than 2,500 years’ combined metallurgical experience.

The CHTA promotes, protects and champions the industry, recently publishing a comprehensive buyers guide and, through its umbrella organisation the Surface Engineering Association (SEA), negotiating entry into a Climate Change Agreement (CCA) to reduce members’ energy tax.