People: Key addition to Grant Thornton team; New recruits and promotions boost property firm’s northern teams; and more

PROPERTY consultant Eddisons has boosted its Yorkshire and Manchester teams with two appointments and three promotions.

In the firm’s Manchester valuations division, Philip Deakin has been appointed as director. Joining the firm from property agent JLL, where he specialised in mid-to-large commercial property assets, he has acted on behalf of all major UK lenders and for large property companies and funds including Hunter Real Estate Investment Management, ING, Valad, Peel Holdings and HIMOR. He has valued some high profile North West properties, among them Port Salford, Carrington Business Park, Ship Canal House and Exchange Quay.

Joining Eddisons is Ian Appleby, who has spent the past 40 years at RBS in Eddisons’ Leeds office. The newly created role will be to support and develop the firm’s bank relationships across the north.

Within the firm, Steven Jones has been promoted to director in Eddisons’ agency division, while associate director David Cran moves from Manchester to Leeds to help drive bank and private client valuation work across Yorkshire. Kristan Love has also been promoted to associate director in Eddisons’ property management team in Manchester.

“These are exciting times for Eddisons and this raft of new hires and promotions is indicative of our appetite for further growth in the wake of recent acquisitions, including the Pugh & Co auction business in June,” said Richard Roe, managing director of Eddisons.

“I’m really pleased to welcome Phil Deakin and Ian Appleby, who are both high profile individuals and very well known in their fields, and it’s satisfying to see Eddisons attracting senior staff from some big firms.

“Steve Jones’ promotion to director reflects the recent success of our agency division and the high volume of deals that we are completing on behalf of a range of clients, from high net worth individuals, occupiers, and plcs to regional property companies, banks and investors.”

:::

GRANT THORNTON has added to its Sheffield team with the appointment of Becky Black as marketing and business development manager.

Ms Black, who joins from business network The Yorkshire Mafia, is working closely with the senior leadership team for Yorkshire, as well as the national marketing and business development teams, to support Grant Thornton in delivering a dynamic and vibrant economy for business growth.

She is already playing an instrumental role in driving forward Grant Thornton’s ambition to be the ‘go to firm for growth’ by 2020, leading the firm’s #VibrantSheffield activity. Through this initiative, Grant Thornton is bringing together city stakeholders and businesses to work collaboratively to drive growth and put Sheffield on the map.  

Ms Black said: “As a business, Grant Thornton is on an exciting journey, moving away from its traditional professional services image and doing something really different. I’m delighted to be joining at the beginning of a new era for the business and look forward to making sure that Sheffield, and the wider Yorkshire region, is at the centre of the UK’s vibrant economy.”

:::

COMMERCIAL Property Partners (CPP) has welcomed Max Pickering on board as an assistant surveyor, the company’s first apprentice appointment.

He was selected from over 20 candidates shortlisted for the role earlier in the year, and will be assisting the CPP team across the business on a number of upcoming deals while managing a four-year distance learning RICS accredited degree course at the College of Estates Management, and his Assessment of Professional Competence.

CPP Partner Roger Haworth said: “The traditional routes are not necessarily always the best ways of finding outstanding candidates. Apprenticeships offer businesses from across many sectors a route to harness fresh new talent.

“We interviewed a number of students from schools across Sheffield and Max really stood out for us. He will be learning on the job, building up knowledge and skills from the team and across industry. We are delighted to have him on board and look forward to a bright future with him.”