Here are the latest appointments and promotions from across the BusinessLive East Midlands area:
Anthony James
Nela Cooper has joined Leicestershire insurance broker Anthony James as its new head of private clients to help grow its first personal insurance offering for high net worth individuals.
Ms Cooper has more than 15 years’ experience in the private client insurance industry, joins Anthony James to head up its new venture, Aura.
Her role will focus on supporting clients whose “homes, possessions and assets fall outside of the ordinary”.
The launch of Aura follows a successful period for Anthony James, with the firm achieving 30 per cent year-on-year growth.
It now employs 30 people at its Loughborough office, which has recently undergone a refurbishment.
Ms Cooper said: “I’m really excited to join Anthony James during a time when the company is growing rapidly.
“The team is continuously investing in different projects as well as its people to improve the client experience and position itself as a credible leader in the insurance industry.
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“I’m really looking forward to being a part of this journey and being able to bring my expertise to help take Aura to market.”
Whiz Kids Day Nursery
Leicestershire apprentice Simon Toseland is fulfilling his dream after overcoming an autistic disorder to obtain a job at a nursery, helped by Eurosource Solutions.
Mr Toseland, who is working as an apprentice at the newly opened Whiz Kids Day Nursery in Ibstock, was diagnosed with Asperger Syndrome as a teenager, having previously been labelled a "naughty child".
Now, aged 36, he has been taken on by the nursery and working on an Early Years Educator childcare apprenticeship.
Eurosource Solutions, part of the BCTG group, which specialises in the childcare sector, runs the Level 3 EYE course.
Mr Toseland, who lives in Market Bosworth, obtained a Level 2 qualification from a college in Nuneaton nearly 20 years ago, enabling him to work with children in a voluntary capacity while employed at his father’s business.
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He said: "I have always wanted to work with children and have 18 years’ experience, all voluntary, including 10 years in a nursery and helping primary school children with their reading.
“But I couldn't do that last year because of the pandemic which really upset me."
He said he had a "brainwave" by volunteering with his local cubs’ group, but then his dream became a reality when Whiz Kids announced it was opening a new day nursery in Ibstock in May.
He was given an extra boost when nursery manager Kelly Dale put him forward for the Level 3 EYE childcare apprenticeship to obtain the further qualification he needed.
He said: "I've always dreamed of a job working with children and I couldn't hold back the tears, happy tears, when I was told I'd got it.
“I didn't have the right qualification when I applied for the job but Kelly told me about the apprenticeship, and I am getting on the job training before the course starts. I love it."
The support he has been receiving from the nursery and Eurosource has been tailored to his Asperger’s, an autism spectrum disorder.
He said: "My primary school just thought I was a naughty child, but then I was diagnosed when I was 14.
“It's only very mild and doesn't affect me when I’m engaged in things, but sometimes things have to be explained to me more than once."
Kelly Dale, nursery manager at Whiz Kids in Ibstock, said: “As a learner, he’s doing everything the staff do, such as learning to plan activities and experiences for the children and building strong relationships with their families.
“But the difference is that he has full support from the staff.
"He was really excited from the start and is very enthusiastic. He's really getting stuck in and has a good bond with the children. He's getting on really well with them."
WatchPilot
Ecommerce watch specialist WatchPilot has expanded its Nottingham office with Jack Biggs joining as its social media and content specialist.
Prior to joining WatchPilot, Mr Biggs was a freelance content creator, filming social media influencers and major brands - he also produces daily hip hop dance videos on TikTok, having gained over 90,000 followers and 2 million likes.
He said: “Throughout my career, I’ve worked with established brands such as BoohooMAN, Universal Music and other record labels.
“As part of my new role, I produce social media content for WatchPilot, from the planning stages, through to filming, editing and being in front of the camera.
“Since joining WatchPilot, no day is the same and I’m really excited to expand on our content offering across all social media platforms such as YouTube, Instagram and Facebook.”
Tim Harrison, co-founder and director at WatchPilot, said: “After a successful year of trading, we’re excited to expand our Nottingham head office and to further enhance our current content offering.
“Social media is a very important area of our future business strategy and Jack is a perfect fit.”
Barclays
Barclays has welcomed Jon Corbett to the Midlands as the new head of SMEs for the Central England Region, with responsibility for businesses with a turnover up to £10 million.
Mr Corbett, who has worked at Barclays for 33 years, has experience across both corporate and business banking and previously led teams within both the mid and large corporate arena.
More recently he led a team working with SME businesses across the South East Midlands and Cambridgeshire region.
He said: “I am incredibly proud of the opportunity to help Midlands small and medium businesses grow and thrive across the region I am so passionate about.
“Having been predominantly based in the South East Midlands for a number of years, I look forward to getting to know the regional business community across the wider Midlands region in the coming months.”
The Central England SME team has 94 members with office locations across the East Midlands, West Midlands, Black Country, Staffordshire and Shropshire.
Cite
Cite, the Leicester-based digital agency, has appointed a new senior account manager and digital designer to join its team of 21 staff.
Following steady business growth throughout the pandemic and a recent merger, it has brought in Lucy Bunting as a senior account manager and Ahmed Abdul as a digital designer.
Ms Bunting brings industry experience following roles with London agencies as well as in-house roles.
She will support the account management team to deliver creative and effective projects for clients such as Everbuild and Neville Holt Opera.
She previously worked for J Walter Thompson in account management where she worked on campaigns for major brands such as Nestle, and Toni & Guy.
She has also worked in pre-production and post-production for London agencies Animated Storyboards and UNIT, respectively, where she was involved in sales, management, client relationship, marketing and PR roles.
Ahmed Abdul will work alongside Cite’s senior designers and creatives, and help deliver design, branding and campaign work.
Cite Director, Dafydd Prichard said: “As part of our growth strategy, we have plans for more roles in the future which will not only bring jobs to the region but will build on our expertise and ability to help clients achieve success through digital platforms and campaigns.”
Cite recently joined forces with Well & Truly and the new, bigger company will retain the Cite name prior to a re-branding later in 2021.
Serco 海角视频
Leicester-based Serco Leisure has appointed Simon Lane as its new director of leisure.
Mr Lane has previously worked at LEGOLAND, Windsor and the Arena Racing Company and will be in charge of the day to day running of Serco Leisure’s health and fitness contracts - including boutique gyms like More Fitness – Harborough, council leisure centres and national sports centres such as Bisham Abbey, Lilleshall and Stoke Mandeville Stadium, birthplace of the Paralympic movement.
This move will allow the company’s current managing director Simon Bailey to assume a more strategic role and take on new business priorities within Serco, whose leisure contracts include cycle hire schemes in London, Edinburgh and the West Midlands and more than 40 gyms and swimming pools in the 海角视频.
During three years with Merlin Entertainments, based out of LEGOLAND in Windsor, Mr Lane oversaw a workforce of more than 2,000 employees and a business which hosted more than 2.4 million visitors a year.
Hallam
Nottingham digital marketing agency Hallam has welcomed Kier Humphreys as its new experience director.
Mr Humphreys brings more than 14 years of agency experience to the role having worked with national and international brands across various sectors, from global professional services giant PwC to Virgin’s Formula E racing team.
He said: “I’m delighted to join Hallam - there are some seriously talented people here, including people who care about the way they work and their impact on the world.
“My new role ensures we deliver exceptional creative, customer experiences that combine solid research with design flair, and, ultimately, empowers our teams so they can produce the work that will underpin Hallam’s future growth.”
Living in Kent, Kier’s appointment is an example of Nottingham-based Hallam’s new policy of “location equity” - an approach that allows the company to employ people, wherever they choose to live.
Melton Building Society
The Melton Building Society has appointed Andy Lumby as chief financial officer.
Mr Lumby has more than 17 years’ experience in financial services having held senior finance positions, including head of finance at Nottingham Building Society and most recently finance director at Tipton & Coseley Building Society.
He is a chartered accountant and started his career with PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) before moving into the mutual sector.
Melton chief executive Simon Taylor said: “Andy’s range of skills and experience will be an extremely valuable addition to the society to help us continue to drive our strategy and build on our growth and performance to create a modern mutual.
“We very much look forward to welcoming Andy to the team.”
Monkey Vs Owl
Fast-growing lettings company Monkey vs Owl has appointed Hollie Clayton as residential lettings manager to drive forward its service expansion.
The company, which has offices in Derby and Loughborough, launched in 2017 and specialises in letting and managing houses in multiple occupation – particularly for students and young professionals.
Ms Clayton has joined the company from Hannells with a brief to broaden the property portfolio to the wider residential lettings market, focused initially on Derby and the surrounding area.
Originally from Milford, she has worked in residential lettings for seven years.
She said: “I was attracted to Monkey vs Owl because of their fresh approach to lettings.
“The strength of the digital platform greatly simplifies the whole process for both landlords and tenants and enables us to focus on providing a personal and friendly service.”
Managing Director Chris Monk added: “Having made a great impact on the HMO market, Hollie’s proven track record in residential lettings really strengthens the team and broadens our scope immensely.”