Big growth at live events firm
Live events specialist On Event Production Co has continued its expansion programme with the creation of five new posts.
The company, which relocated in October from Long Eaton to new purpose-designed premises on the Trent Lane Industrial Estate, Castle Donington, has appointed across all levels of the business.
The appointment of new Production Manager, Jake Moore, is key for the company.
Jake has been in the industry for many years and has a wealth of experience in live events.
He is joined by Production Engineers Jake Roberts, Grant Williams and Chris Thornton-Smith and Production Assistant Dafydd Rees.
The company has laid the foundations for the next phase of its strategic development with two key changes to the Board of Directors.
Adam Dewhurst, one of its longest-serving employees, has been promoted to Production Director, with a new post of Technical Director being created for Chris Vernon-Smith.
A number of other new jobs are set to be created over coming months.
Guy Eaton, Managing Director of On, said: “We are delighted to welcome all the new members of staff to the team at On.
“We have recruited some hugely experienced people, who will help us to reinforce our position as one of the region’s most creative production companies and provide a competitive edge over our rivals.”
On’s growth plans were given a boost last year when it was awarded a loan of £182,000 and a grant of £100,000 from the Derby Enterprise Growth Fund (DEGF), which supports growth and job creation in businesses in Derby and the surrounding area.
The funding enabled the company to carry out the fit-out of its new headquarters and expand its in-house fabrication department at the 15,000sq ft premises.
Ian top deliver sustainable travel
Go Travel Solutions has appointed Dr Ian Murdey as Project Manager.
He will be based at the company’s Midlands office in Leicester.
In his new role, Ian will focus on developing and delivering sustainable travel programmes for private, public and third-sector organisations in the UK.
Prior to joining Go Travel Solutions, Ian Murdey was Transport Co-ordinator at De Montfort University for almost ten years.
He helped the University to achieve major decreases in single occupancy car usage, as well as increasing the number of staff cyclists to almost four times the national average.
With his recent experience as a leading transport co-ordinator with De Montfort University, he will initially help Go Travel Solutions to develop its services to meet the travel planning requirements of higher and further education providers.
Previously, Ian lectured in physiology at Loughborough University, where he also took his PhD in Pubertal Development and Sedentary Behaviours During Adolescence. Before that, he was Head of PE at Crown Hills Community College, a secondary school in Leicester.
Go Travel Solutions is a specialist sustainable travel consultancy, working on a range of major transport projects and networks at locations across the UK including Leicester, Milton Keynes and Stevenage.
These projects are helping to make local travel cheaper, easier and more sustainable for both employers and their staff and also for local communities.
Robin Pointon, Managing Director at Go Travel Solutions, said: “We’re delighted to welcome Ian on board. He brings with him at a strong track record of delivering sustainable travel initiatives that make a real difference for employers and their staff.
“With his combination of transport knowledge and practical experience, he will help Go Travel Solutions to deliver the very best service to current and new customers, and help us to make a positive impact.”
Go Travel Solutions is a specialist sustainable transport consultancy serving businesses, public bodies and transport operators
Martin promoted to Board
The latest promotion at Midlands Chartered Accountants and Business Advisors HSKS Greenhalgh sees another long-standing member of the team join the firm’s Board of Directors.
Following on from tax specialist Martin Tomes’ promotion at the beginning of the year, Martin Gadsby, who has been with the firm for almost ten years, has also become a Director.
Martin, 32, joined HSKS Greenhalgh in 2007 and became a Manager in 2008.
He has played a key role in the successful development of the firm’s specialist agricultural sector group, based in Uttoxeter.
As a Director, Martin will remain part of HSKS Greenhalgh’s agricultural team, as well as heading up the firm’s academy schools specialist sector group.
He will also be spending more time at the firm’s Pride Park, Derby, office.
Martin said: “I am extremely pleased and proud to be made a Director of HSKS Greenhalgh and, having spent the majority of my career at the firm, am looking forward to contributing to the future growth and development of the business.”
HSKS Greenhalgh Director Gary Brockway said: “After working closely with Martin for almost ten years my fellow directors and I are delighted to welcome Martin to the Board. His promotion is well deserved.”
Martin, is married with two young children. He is captain of Uttoxeter Town FC and, as a member of the Club’s committee, has recently helped to secure £150,000 worth of funding for new stands and floodlights at the Club.
Martin’s promotion brings to eight the total number of Directors based across HSKS Greenhalgh’s offices in Derby, Nottingham, Burton and Uttoxeter.
Mayuri joins Grant Thornton
The East Midlands office of financial and business adviser Grant Thornton has strengthened its regional team with the appointment of Mayuri Dhanak as Marketing and Business Development Assistant.
Mayuri, who lives in Leicester, joins the firm after more than three years as marketing and member services coordinator at the British Precast Concrete Federation, where she led the organisation’s marketing activities and organised its national programme of events, exhibitions, conferences and seminars.
A marketing graduate, she has held a number of specialist marketing roles including marketing assistant at Leicester’s Abbey Business School, and events and communication coordinator at Aston Business School.
In the new role at Grant Thornton, in Leicester, Mayuri is working with the firm’s central region and national PR, marketing and business development teams, supporting the Leicester team and its work with dynamic businesses and individuals across the East Midlands.
The firm has also announced the promotion of sector specialist Mark Stocks to Partner.
Markjoined Grant Thornton in 2012 from the Audit Commission and has over 25 years’ experience working with public sector bodies, specialising in health and local government.
He is head of the firm’s 70-strong public sector assurance practice in the Midlands and leads Grant Thornton’s health group nationally.
Chris Frostwick, Practice Leader for Grant Thornton, in Leicester, added: “Mark’s promotion to partner is well-deserved and reinforces our continued commitment to our growing portfolio of public sector clients across the region.
Senior appointments ‘good for growth’
Law firm Roythornes has completed a phase of senior level appointments as part of its ambitious growth programme.
Four new Partners bring the total at Roythornes to 26, making it one of the largest firms in the region.
Peter Cusick joins the agriculture and food law specialist firm in its litigation team.
He was previously Head of Agriculture and Food at a firm in the south of England and brings with him extensive experience of the agri-food sector.
Shruti Trivedi joins the Commercial Property team, where she will focus on providing technical planning advice to current and new clients.
She joins from a large national practice and has had considerable experience of a wide range of projects including very complex inquiry and High Court work as well as strategic residential, commercial and energy schemes.
Sarah Banner is a new member of Roythornes private client team, which advises clients on tax and wealth planning issues, together with wills, powers of attorney and Court of Protection work.
She also advises a number of trusts on the organisation and protection of their trust assets.
Partner Peter Seary joined the Corporate and Commercial team.
Peter has extensive experience of corporate transactions, especially in the food and manufacturing sectors, often with cross border aspects.
Speaking about the appointments, Managing Director Vember Mortlock said: “We’re delighted to welcome the new Partners to the firm.
“They are all incredibly experienced and will be a great asset to the firm and the clients we work for.”
Roythornes is a top 200 law firm that employs over 170 people. Last year saw the firm grow its revenue by 14%.
Motors specialist takes senior role
Chartered accountant and motor trade specialist Rob Bray has joined Chesterfield-based Mitchells chartered accountants and business advisers.
Rob, 31, from Walton, Chesterfield, is the latest in a series of senior appointments to join Mitchells following its growth of the past 12 months.
He joins from a local accountancy firm and brings considerable experience in the motor trade to his new Senior Corporate Manager role.
He has worked in the motor industry himself as well as advising garages and dealerships, on finance, industry regulations and commission structures.
In addition to the motor trade, Rob brings extensive knowledge of business in the local area, having worked closely with firms throughout Chesterfield, Derbyshire and South Yorkshire for more than ten years.
He commented: “I am delighted to join the team at Mitchells. The firm has excellent relationships with the big finance houses, which is critical for motor traders and businesses looking to grow.
“Cars are my passion, so I am particularly pleased that I will be working so closely with existing and new motor trade clients, as well as those across the board, helping them operate more efficiently and competitively.”
Rob joins Mitchells’ 40-strong team of professionals.
His appointment follows shortly after that of Hari Mehta who joined at the end of last year as the firm’s auto enrolment expert.
Richard Trueman, Managing Partner, said: “I am delighted to welcome Rob on board. He represents a significant step forward in our drive to further strengthen our senior corporate management team.”
Niche bank builds asset finance team
The niche bank Cambridge & Counties’ asset finance team is now ten-strong and shaping up for growth in 2016.
Cambridge & Counties launched into asset finance in summer 2015 and has substantially expanded the team to increase the number of brokers it can work with and the companies for which it can provide finance.
Heading up the team is Mike Oxby, Director of Asset Finance. Mike said: “We’ve built up a team with great experience that is well connected to brokers who we will work with to create a growing, sustainable business.”
Mike was Managing Director of Santander’s UK asset-based finance business from 2009 to 2014, building a new business providing £1.6bn of financing to SMEs.
Working alongside Mike are Business Development Managers Don Smith and Geoff Delvaux-Lunn.
Don is highly experienced in asset finance with more than 30 years of working with brokers for Bank of Scotland, RBS and Lombard. He was most recently at Metro Bank.
Geoff has always worked in asset finance, notably in business development, credit underwriting and portfolio management for the commercial transportation, shipping and heavy plant sectors.
Mike said: “Cambridge & Counties has achieved much since launching in 2012 to serve the SME market. By taking a personal and flexible approach to borrowing by understanding the business and people behind the application it has grown loan commitments exceeding £500m.
“We believe we can replicate in asset finance what the bank has achieved in property lending by working with brokers using a prudent but commercial approach and understanding the specific circumstances of each potential customer.”
Headquartered in Leicester, Cambridge & Counties also has offices in Cambridge, Bristol, Sheffield and Birmingham. It offers asset finance through hire purchase, finance leases and chattel mortgages.
Paul builds career in commercial property
Nottingham’s Nelsons Solicitors has strengthened its commercial property team with the appointment of solicitor Paul Hinchliffe.
Paul joins Nelsons after gaining his qualifications at Burton & Co. in Lincoln.
Paul, who has moved from Lincoln to Nottingham as he starts his new job at Nelsons, said: “I’m looking forward to working on bigger and more complex deals and Nottingham’s commercial property market is different from that of Lincoln, so I’m keen to learn as much as possible from my new colleagues and gain experience across a range of different client portfolios and add value to the existing skills set of the team.”
In his previous role, Paul worked across a wide variety of disciplines, from boundary disputes to tribunals and social housing work to residential conveyancing – but knew from an early stage that commercial property was where his main interest lay.
He added: “During my training period I began to develop expertise in business leases, acquisitions and disposals of freehold, commercial mortgages and adverse possession – so when I saw the opportunity to move to a larger, progressive firm with the opportunity to work on larger and more complex transactions, I was very keen.”
The commercial property team at Nelsons now stands at 17, comprising three partners, four associates, four solicitors, three trainee solicitors and three paralegals across the firm’s offices in Nottingham, Leicester and Derby.
Riaz Dudhia, Partner in the team at the Nottingham office, said: “Paul is a great addition to our growing department. His varied experience will strengthen the team’s offering and we look forward to seeing him flourish in his new role.”
Phil joins as Director at FHP
Phil Daniels has joined FHP Property Consultants as a Director working from its Nottingham office.
His recent experience includes running his own property consultancy as well as two-and-a-half years at senior level in local government, including positions as Head of Property Development at Nottingham City Council and Head of Asset Management at Newark and Sherwood District Council.
He has extensive knowledge and experience of dealing with publicly-owned property assets in Nottingham and the wider East Midlands area.
His knowledge of the workings of local government will be invaluable to private sector property owners dealing with the public sector.
At FHP he will work closely with Founding Director, David Hargreaves, on agency, investment and development sector work across property categories including retail, leisure, residential and mixed use.
His previous work in the East Midlands including a period as a Development Director at Henry Davidson Developments has given Phil extensive experience closely aligned to FHP's niche insight into the local area.
Phil is known to FHP, having established its Derby office in 2004.
David Hargreaves said: "FHP has a number of local authority clients, so Phil’s knowledge of the workings of local government will be a major bonus for us and our clients.
“However, Phil brings far more than that to the FHP table. He has been a developer and he has been an agent in Birmingham and Derby and I cannot think of any surveyor with such a wide-ranging and quality CV.
“Having worked for us eight years ago it is a ‘coming home’ for him.”
London agent Lee joins FHP
Nottingham estate agency FHP Living has appointed Lee Mathews, who previously worked for a London estate agent and has 15 years’ experience of property sales, to cover the Mapperley Park area.
Lee has co-ordinated deals of up to £5m.
In his role, Lee will be solely responsible for property sales in Mapperley Park and is eager to get to know the area.
He said: “I can’t wait to explore every inch of Mapperley Park and help more people buy and sell in this incredibly popular area.”
David Hargreaves, Founding Director at FHP and FHP Living, said: “We are so pleased that Lee has joined our city centre team.”
Daniel to manage portfilio
A new Property Management Facilities Administrator has been appointed to FHP’s Property Management Department.
Daniel Clifton will oversee contractors across the property portfolio, which will not only streamline the services further for their existing clients but also facilitate the expansion of the department.
He has over four years’ experience in the property sector managing contract-led projects, which is both directly related to the new role and the region that he will be working in, having lived and worked in Nottingham all of his life.
Daniel’s experience will be put into practice to further develop the operations of the department, which now manages in excess of 200 properties nationally, administrating and collecting over £26m of rent annually and providing landlord’s services on managed assets with an annual spend in excess of £3m.
PwC makes two new appointments
Professional services firm PwC has strengthened its Midlands tax practice with two new appointments.
With 18 years’ experience specialising in employment taxes, reward and pensions, Chris Bulleyment has been appointed Director.
Nina Morrell comes on board as a Senior Associate in the team, with over five years’ experience in the industry.
Now called ‘People and Organisation’ (P&O), the team is made up of 93 experts who support clients on issues such as employment tax, human resource management and pensions.
Commenting on his appointment as director at PwC in the Midlands, Chris Bulleyment, who has previously worked in PwC's financial services practice in London, said: "I am really excited about joining the Midlands practice and working alongside such a dedicated and knowledgeable team. This investment will allow us to help businesses in the region navigate through the ever-changing challenges they are facing around tax compliance, employee reward and pensions.”
David Wignall, Partner and Head of P&O at PwC in the Midlands, said: “We are delighted to make such a significant investment in this area of the practice.
“Chris and his colleagues have been out and about meeting clients and contacts, sharing insights and have already started to add huge value to the HR agenda of our local businesses.”
Qdos appoints new BDM
As part of its businesses growth strategy, Chamber patron Qdos Consulting has appointed Will Musson to the post of Business Development Manager.
Will has worked in a range of businesses from training providers, large accountancy practices and local authorities to international charities plus small retail stores.
Will is looking forward to a new challenge with Qdos and said he is “highly pleased to be, part of a company with a passion for business support and growth as well as a commitment to excellence”.
Toni Robinson, Director at Qdos Consulting, said: “Will brings with him great experience and tremendous knowledge in employee engagement as well as in learning and development, he will be a great asset to the team.”
Hardy updates digital signage line-up
Hardy Signs and Digital has offered a full time position to digital signage apprentice Ben White who becomes a Digital Signage Technician in the firm’s technical support team.
He started at Hardy Digital in August last year after winning a design award at BSDC, sponsored by Hardy Signs.
Ben completed his BTEC diploma in Graphic Design and Interactive Media at Burton and South Derbyshire College (BSDC). Hardy Signs and Digital is helping BSDC to set up a new sign academy.
Nik Hardy, Managing Director, Hardy Signs and Digital, said: “The demand for digital signage is at an all-time high. Adding another full-time member will strengthen our sales and technical support team.”
Lawson-West strengthens marketing
Leicestershire law firm Lawson-West has strengthened its marketing team with the appointment of Marketing Assistant Joanne Hancock.
Joanne, who has a degree in English and Media Studies from De Montfort University, joins the practice from the Learning Support Centre, in Leicester, where she was Communications and Services Officer.
In her new role Joanne will assist marketing manager Kathryn Greaves with all aspects of Lawson-West’s marketing and events activity.
Kathryn said: “Joanne’s appointment reflects the general expansion of the firm and the need for a bigger marketing department to underpin Lawson-West’s continued growth.”
Joanne will divide her time between Uppingham Road office and Lawson-West’s new office in Market Harborough.
Tank boosts digital team
Nottingham PR agency Tank has strengthened its growing digital team with the appointment of a Digital Executive Dave Endsor.
Dave joins Tank to focus on clients’ social media campaigns, search engine optimisation, content marketing and online advertising.
Tank has enjoyed year-on-year growth since its launch in 2010, working for clients such as Ipsos Retail Performance, design consultancy 20.20 and Red Hot World Buffet.
Dave said: “Marketing in general has always fascinated me but I have wanted to specialise in SEO and social media for some time.
“I have known Tank’s owner, Trevor Palmer, for many years so when this opportunity came up I did not hesitate.”
Savills expands rural team
Matt Smith has joined Savills Nottingham as a Graduate Surveyor in the rural department.
His appointment continues the growth of the rural team at the international real estate adviser.
Matt, 23, attained a 2:1 in Rural Enterprise & Land Management at Harper Adams University and is now working towards Chartered Membership of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors.
Matt said: “The Savills graduate scheme has a fantastic reputation, and having the opportunity to gain a wide range of experience within the rural sector is invaluable.”
Neil Fraser, Associate Director in the rural department at Savills Nottingham said: “Matt is a valuable addition to our team.
“Developing talent is fundamental to our growth and development. Our graduates are highly valued and have the opportunity to take significant levels of responsibility on real-life projects.”
Six of the best exam success
Leicester accountancy business Mark J Rees celebrated an outstanding set of professional exam results by six of its staff.
The six, who all joined the Granville Road business in the past five years, have made great progress in developing their careers.
Ruth Taylor and Laura Bolter, both 25 and at the firm since 2012, scored “extremely high marks” on the case study examination, the final test on the way to being a chartered accountant.
The Assistant Managers are now applying to use the letters ACA (Association of Chartered Accountants) after their names.
Giles More, 41, a paraplanner at MJR Wealth Management, has passed the Diploma in Financial Advice. Giles, who joined Mark J Rees in 2014, will now study for the award in pension transfers.
Elena Pallas, 21, Mark Corby, 22, and Abigail Barnett-Mobbs, 19, have all passed the advanced Level 4 of the AAT (Association of Accounting Technicians) qualification and can now use the MAAT title.
Andy Turner, Partner at Mark J Rees, said: “Congratulations to our six stars who have put in incredible amounts of hard work to pass with flying colours. As a firm we believe in the professional development of all our staff helps them and the business to better serve our clients.”