Businesses based all over the North West have announced a series of new top hires and promotions over the last seven days.
The likes of CBRE, BDO, Meet & Potato and Glaisyers ETL have made high-profile moves as well as Total Fitness, Flowd, Miller Homes and Blackpool Pleasure Beach.
Below, we round up the 22 latest hires and promotions from across the North West that we feel you should not miss.
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Glaisyers ETL
Gareth Farrelly, who scored to save Everton from relegation and again to promote Bolton Wanderers to the Premier League, has secured a new job.
The former Republic of Ireland footballer has joined the litigation and sports law team at Glaisyers ETL's Liverpool office.
Before starting a new career, Mr Farrelly spent five years playing for Aston Villa but is best known in the North West for his time at Everton and Bolton Wanderers.
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Meet & Potato
Liverpool-based creative events company Meet & Potato (M&P) has announced Karen Clarkson as its new managing director, with founder Jon Kelly moving to CEO.
Having worked for the company for up to 10 years, her new role will see her manage the ongoing relationships of all clients and have a broader, more strategic role in the direction of the business.
Mr Kelly will remain in the business, with a core strategic focus on attracting new business across all sectors, with a particular focus on retail and automotive.
BDO LLP
Accountancy and business advisory firm BDO LLP has added to its North West team with the appointment of Danny Wilbourn.
He joins the audit team as partner and brings more than 15 years' experience to the firm.
Mr Wilbourn said: "I'm delighted to be joining such a highly reputable firm – one that has a clear vision and growth ambitions to achieve long-term and sustainable success, while continuing to invest significantly in people, technology, and audit quality."
PMJ Capital
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North West-based specialist funding provider PMJ Capital has appointed Damian Ainsley as investment director.
Mr Ainsley, who joins the Bolton-based funding provider from Tatton Investment Management, will be working with investment advisors to secure private market investment opportunities in the property sector for high-net worth individuals across the country.
PMJ, provides property funding loans for SME developers and entrepreneurs with facilities from £26,000 to £2m.
Flowd
Dominic McGregor, who co-founded Social Chain and Fearless Adventures, has joined the board of Manchester-based Flowd.
Flowd, is a sales prospecting service that works with clients including JustEat, Veed and Axonify.
The company has recently grown from 15 to 25 staff members and is aiming for a revenue of £4m by 2024.
Ward Hadaway
Manchester-based law firm Ward Hadaway has made a new appointment to its intellectual property team.
Sonia Burgess joins the team at Ward Hadaway's office in Chapel Walks, Manchester.
Bill Goodwin, head of IT/IP, said: "Sonia's appointment represents a significant milestone for Ward Hadaway's trademark legal services, building on a 20-year legacy.
"Bringing her into the fold will enable the firm to rapidly expand the scope and enhance the complexity of its offerings in this specialist area of law, especially in the North West."
Miller Homes
Miller Homes has appointed John Hardy as the new land director and Matthew Paul as the commercial director for the North West.
Mr Hardy said: "I am thrilled to join the Miller Homes team, they have an outstanding reputation for delivering quality homes and five-star customer service, and I am excited to contribute my experience to further enhance the company's success."
Mr Paul added: "I look forward to leading the team and contributing to the company's ongoing and future projects."
Royal Northern College of Music
Mills & Reeve construction lawyer Catherine Kay has joined the development board of the Royal Northern College of Music (RNCM).
She has advised RNCM for more than 20 years and has acted on several high-profile projects including the £4m revamp of its student social space and the £4.5m redevelopment of its main theatre.
Rhiannon McKay-Smith, RNCM director of development, said: "We are pleased to have Catherine as part of our development board, further extending the longstanding partnership between RNCM and Mills & Reeve."
Leep Utilities
Salford-headquartered Leep Utilities has appointed Richard Long as director of heat.
In this newly created role, he will lead the development of Leep's heat business.
He has also played a role in the development of the company's heat strategy, and the direction and recent publication of its Heat Solutions brochure.
CBRE
CBRE's planning and development team has named Hannah Blunstone as its new director to join the Northern business.
She has been with CBRE for more than a decade and was previously a director in the London and South East team.
She will be based out of both Manchester and Leeds, with a focus on identified growth sectors across the region.
Excello Law
Excello Law has hired Robin Gill as a partner in Chester.
He said: "While I have always been focused on my clients first and foremost, Excello truly offers something that most law firms can’t: freedom to deliver exceptional service without the many additional factors and distractions that can inevitably be part of traditional law firms, and which can often compromise client service and lawyer job satisfaction."
Begbies Traynor
Begbies Traynor has promoted Keeley Lord to the position of director at its office in Preston.
She joined Begbies Traynor in 2009, qualified as a chartered certified accountant in 2014 and became a licensed insolvency practitioner in July 2023.
In her new role as director, she will play a role in supporting the strategy of the firm across Lancashire, supporting its growth initiatives in the region, and providing expert guidance for business owners as well as other professional advisers.
Blackpool Pleasure Beach
Blackpool Pleasure Beach has added its director of marketing, sales and PR to join its board of directors.
James Cox first joined the company in 2013 as a digital marketing executive who was responsible for improving the social media platform and transitioning the business to online advertising.
He said: "It’s an honour to be appointed to an exceptional board of directors. I look forward to be able to continue to support the business as it develops and grows in the future. Being local myself, I feel incredibly proud to be able to continue to contribute to a family-run world leading amusement park."
Total Fitness
Total Fitness has announced the appointment of Kerry Curtis as brand development director.
She first joined the company in September 2018 as head of marketing.
She said: "I am excited to take on the role of brand development director, a sector first executive role."
Aibytech
Tech entrepreneur and investor Luke Pilfold-Thomas has joined the board at Manchester-based Aibytech.
He said: "In a market that is stagnating from a lack of innovation, Aibytech is setting the standard when it comes to digitisation in the infant and baby sector.
"As a tech entrepreneur, and new dad, I saw huge potential in Aibytech’s product roadmap and vision and am therefore delighted to be joining the board at what is a crucial time in the firm’s growth journey."
H&H Land & Estates
Land and property agency H&H Land & Estates has added to its team with Mark Barrow as director in the South Lakes
Managing director Mark Johnson said: "It is a great pleasure to welcome Mark back as director for our South Lakes Area.
"He will lead our South Lakes team from our new offices in Staveley, near Kendal, and his comprehensive understanding of rural matters, property and land services will play a pivotal role in driving growth not just within the South Lakes area, but across the entire company."
DF Capital
Manchester-based DF Capital has announced the appointment of Goi Ashmore as its new chief risk officer.
He will replace Tomas Oliveira da Silva, who has decided to relocate back to Portugal after four years.
He joins from Metro Bank where he held the position of prudential risk director. He also previously worked at Bank North as both treasurer and chief risk officer.
RSA Insurance
RSA Insurance has announced the appointment Michael Jensen as senior specialist underwriter.
He will be based in Manchester and responsible for helping to drive the growth of A&H in the regions.
Mr Jensen started his insurance career at RSA in 2013, working in both A&H and schemes. In the time since he left RSA, he has worked in A&H underwriting and senior underwriting roles at both Chubb and Aviva. He joins RSA from Howden.
Harrison Drury
Law firm Harrison Drury has added to its commercial property team with the appointment of senior associate solicitor Sam Jones.
he joins from Freeths LLP where he spent a year working as a senior associate in the real estate team.
Before this, he worked for Knights PLC in Manchester as a real estate associate solicitor for three years.
Planit-IE
Planit-IE has announced a series of promotions across several studios.
At the Liverpool studio, landscape architect Danny Marsh has been appointed to the role of studio director.
In Altrincham, Rob Moore will also take on the role of studio director.