Appointments: Clarion, EY, Business Growth Fund, YPO

SENIOR associate Sue Streatfield has been hired to boost law firm Clarion’s intellectual property practice.

She has more than 14 years’ experience in IP, and six years as a commercial litigator.

Prior to her appointment, she was an associate at Bond Dickinson, before which she worked at Eversheds and DLA Piper, with three years at an Australian commercial law firm under her belt before that.

The Legal 500 said Ms Streatfield has “great expertise and an impressive aptitude for complex issues”.

In her new role, Sue will work within the seven-strong Clarion team on all IP matters relating to patents, designs, trademarks and copyright, including litigation and dispute resolution.

Leigh Martin, lead partner of Clarion’s IP practice said: “It’s great news that such an excellent IP specialist as Sue, with her wealth of experience and expertise, has chosen to join our growing team at Clarion.

“It makes me proud that our business has become a market leader in the IP field, with one of the largest teams of specialist IP solicitors in the city, and indeed in the region. Our IP offering also has the added benefit, of course, of sitting within a full service law firm, meaning that we are able to bring to our clients whatever resources and other business and legal expertise they may require.”

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MICHAEL COOKE has been appointed as a business development director at EY in Yorkshire.

Mr Cooke joins EY from PwC in London, and brings 18 years’ of business development and account management experience to the company.

Steve Robb, partner and FS Leader for the North at EY, commented: “Michael has exceptional sector experience and is adept at building lasting client relationships with major financial organisations.

“He will play an important role as we continue to grow in what is an exciting time for our financial services business in Yorkshire and the North of England, as we continue to develop our offering to meet the changing needs of our financial services client base.”

EY’s Financial Services practice, which includes assurance, tax, advisory and M&A services, employs 150 people in Yorkshire and 550 across the wider North of England.

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THE team at the Business Growth Fund has been boosted with the appointment of Mike Clarke to its Northern investment team.

Mr Clarke will be based in the Leeds office, joining BGF’s 60-strong nationwide team.

Prior to his appointment, Mr Clarke worked for eight years at BDO in leeds, specialising in corporate finance, mergers and acquisitions.

He worked on a number of projects including the sale of Spanish restaurant La Tasca to Casual Dining Group, operators of Café Rouge and Bella Italia, in September this year.

Andy Gregory, BGF’s regional director for the North said: “In the last 12 months, the Leeds team has completed five new investments, follow-on funding transactions and the partial exit of York Mailing, making this our most active year in Yorkshire and the North East to date.

“To support the growing portfolio, we are focused on bringing on to team the highest calibre professionals, across a range of finance and investment backgrounds.”

BGF has made more than 100 investments since 2011 including 21 businesses across the North of England including Xercise4less, Chemoxy, Springfield Healthcare and Altec Engineering.

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MANAGING DIRECTOR at publicly owned purchasing organisation YPO, Simon Hill, been elected to the BESA Executive Council for a two year term.

BESA is a trade association supporting UK-based companies that supply goods and services to the education sector.

Simon Hill said: “It is a privilege to be elected to the BESA Executive Council. The association does some fantastic work in supporting educational suppliers in the UK, and I look forward to contributing to the success of the association over the coming years.”

Diane Webster, head of sales and marketing at YPO, has been elected to the BESA Marketing Committee for a two year term.

YPO supplies public sector organisations with products and frameworks, and is 100% publicly owned, meaning that all profits are returned to YPO customers and member authorities.

The organisation’s range includes over 30,000 products and 80 frameworks.