BusinessLive takes a look at recent appointments in the West of England - from internal promotions to external hires
Here's a round-up of the latest movements.
Meade King
Law firm Meade King has appointed Simon Smith as partner to lead the dispute resolution team in Bristol.
Simon, a qualified solicitor advocate, was a sole practitioner in Scotland for nearly 10 years before joining the firm.
He was also managing partner at London law firm Schillings before that, where he specialised in libel and privacy.
“Simon will be a great asset and leader who has accepted the challenge to make Meade King a top ranking firm in the fields of commercial litigation, construction and employment, not just within Bristol but nationwide,” said managing partner James Hawkins.
Lloyds Bank
Lloyds has appointed Aaron Merryweather to its SME team as area director for Gloucestershire.
His new role will be to support and grow the bank’s client base in the region.
Most Read
Aaron has more than 15 years of banking experience, with the last two years spent as area director for Lloyds in North Worcestershire, where he was responsible for helping businesses with lending and working capital needs.
He will oversee a team of seven relationship managers and report into regional director David Beaumont.
David said: “Aaron brings with him incredible knowledge and long-term experience, which will be vital to our team and the businesses we support.”
Hargreaves Lansdown
The Bristol-headquartered financial services firm has hired Susannah Streeter as senior investment and market analyst
Susannah joins the business from the BBC where she has spent the last 15 years presenting business news across various programmes and channels including World Business Report, Business Matters, BBC Breakfast, Newsnight and the BBC Budget programme.
In her role, she will produce analysis and commentary for a broad range of subjects including stocks, financial markets and economics.
She said: “I am really excited to be joining Hargreaves Lansdown, a company that I have watched become such an enormous success in my home city of Bristol.
Don’t miss
“I am looking forward to bringing my expertise in covering financial and economic news as a broadcaster and journalist to this widely respected savings and investment platform.” .
Bevan Brittan
The 海角视频 top-100 law firm has promoted Fran Musselwhite from senior associate to partner in its Bristol office.
The firm has also made four other promotions in Bristol, including Charlotte Scourfield as new legal director in commercial and infrastructure; Angela Lovett, new senior associate in commercial and infrastructure; Roger Caver, associate for litigation, advisory and regulatory; and Miriam Bishop, associate in property.
A member of the Procurement Lawyers’ Association, Fran has previously been named an ‘Associate to watch’ in the field of public procurement by the Chambers 海角视频 legal directory.
Rosemary Jago, head of Bevan Brittan’s Bristol office, said: “I am delighted that we are promoting five lawyers here in Bristol – my congratulations go to them.
“All five are very talented individuals getting the recognition they deserve with these hard earned promotions and I look forward to seeing them grow with us in their new roles.”
Brunelcare
Clare Hall has been appointed the new registered operations manager for South Gloucestershire for Brunelcare’s domiciliary home care division.
Clare started with the charity in July and will be responsible for the day-to-day runnings of the division.
Clare has nearly a decade of experience in the care sector, previously working with adults with disabilities and 23-years in the banking customer service sector.
She said: “When I got the position at Brunelcare I was so thrilled. The job seemed perfect and I’m enjoying every minute of it so far.
"I’m excited to get my teeth into some restructuring around rotas and how we work as a team. I’m keen to also get myself out and about in the community, visiting our clients and introducing myself.”
Smith & Williamson
Business turnaround specialist Tim Sloggett has joined financial and professional services firm Smith & Williamson as a partner in its Bristol-based restructuring and recovery services (RRS) team.
Tim joins from Big Four firm KPMG, where he worked with clients to deliver turnarounds, refinancing, accelerated business sales and formal restructuring processes.
Tim has experience working with local owner-managed businesses through to large corporate global listed corporates, across a wide range of sectors.
His appointment follows the recent announcement of 16 promotions at Smith & Williamson in Bristol, including three new directors and seven associate directors. He will work alongside fellow Bristol-based RRS partner, Gil Lemon.
“Tim is a superb addition to our team in Bristol. His track record in delivering solutions for businesses both as a banker and advisor will be invaluable in supporting businesses in the region as they navigate through these challenging times,” said Nigel Hardy, office managing partner in Bristol.
Pall-Ex
Logistics giant Pall-Ex has appointed a new owned operations director to Intercounty Distribution - its Cornwall-based depot.
Colin Hawkins has been promoted to the newly created position and will oversee all Pall-Ex’s owned operation depots.
In addition to Intercounty, this includes Pall-Ex London in Basildon, Shears Bros (Transport) Ltd in Bournemouth and Cranleigh Distribution Services in Surrey, as well as sitting on the 海角视频 operating board.
Colin previously held the role of general manager at Shears, which was purchased by Pall-Ex in 2017, and has 30 years of logistics industry experience.
He said: “I’m delighted to take up this new role and am looking forward to growing the Pall-Ex name and reputation in the south of England.
“It has been a testing time for everyone working within the haulage industry and keeping essential goods on the move remains our number one focus at this time.”
The Family Law Co
The Family Law Company has appointed chartered legal executive Gemma Rowe.
She joins the team based at Balliol House in Southernhay, Exeter, and will specialise in cases involving children and domestic abuse.
Gemma, from Tiverton, has over 15 years of experience in law. She started as a trainee legal secretary, went on to become a paralegal and became a qualified lawyer in 2012.
Senior associate lawyer Gemma Sparks, who is Gemma’s new team leader, said: “She will provide a compassionate and professional service to all her clients, which fits perfectly with the ethos of the company. We’re delighted to welcome her to the team.”
PKF Francis Clark
PKF Francis Clark has promoted Exeter-based corporate tax specialist Adam Kefford to partner.
Adam has been with the firm since 2005 when he joined as a graduate trainee.
The firm has also promoted 11 members of staff from across a range of specialist services to the role of director.
The newly appointed directors, based in Exeter, Plymouth, Truro, Salisbury, Poole and Torquay, are: Tom Beable (audit); Becky Hayes (VAT); Matt Willmott and Nick Tippett (corporate finance); Scott Campbell (tax advisory service); Dawn Peattie (rural); Nicky Cornish, Ryan Prynne, Ian Hughes, Luke Green and Aaron Lawes (family and owner managed businesses).
Managing partner Andrew Richards said: “It’s fantastic to see talented staff progress within the firm as they develop their skills and gain experience. It’s something we actively encourage, and we always look to promote talent from within.”
GA Solicitors
Plymouth law firm GA Solicitors has re-opened its office following the lockdown with a series of internal promotions.
David Wallis takes over as managing partner having been on the executive management board and full equity partner for a number of years and succeeds Stephen Ramsden in the role.
He has been a partner at GA Solicitors for 10 years and previously headed the multi-award winning residential conveyancing team leading the firm to secure a national award for the best residential conveyancing firm in the 海角视频.
James Walsh, who is currently president of the Plymouth Law Society, has been made a full equity partner and sits on the executive management board.
Want more business news straight to your inbox?
BusinessLive is your home for business news from around the country - and you can stay in touch with all the latest news through our email alerts.
You can sign up to receive morning news bulletins from every region we cover and to weekly email bulletins covering key economic sectors from manufacturing to technology and enterprise. And we'll send out breaking news alerts for any stories we think you can't miss.
Visit our email preference centre to sign up to all the latest news from BusinessLive.
James Peterson, who joined GA in 2006 and is an existing salaried partner, has been promoted to junior equity partner and will continue to head GA’s expanding company commercial department.
Peter Adams, who joined GA in 2016 as the firm’s compliance officer for finance and administration, has taken on the new title of finance director.
David said: “These promotions signify the importance we put on ensuring we have the best people in place to manage the firm and steer us through those challenges and beyond.”
SSG
As SSG Training & Consultancy return to delivering classroom based health, safety and HR training at their head office in Plymouth, they have announced a number of appointments.
Denise Maclean, who has been with the company for more than 16 years, is now development director.
Her new role will involve supporting the long-term growth plans of the organisation,according to SSG.
Dr Julie Hutt has also become operations director and will oversee the service delivery team while managing key business processes and day-to-day operations.
Mark Salmon, managing director of SSG said, “Covid-19 has presented many challenges to us over these past few months, but these new board appointments are an important part of our preparations for a really positive and exciting future.
“Both Denise and Julie are invaluable members of the SSG team and I very much look forward to working with them to ensure that we continue to provide a high standard of health, safety and HR training and consultancy services to those who need them.”
Wildworks
Cornwall-based site-specific theatre company Wildworks has announced the appointment of Myriddin Pharo as its new artistic director three years after the passing of its co-founder Bill Mitchell.
Myriddin, known as ‘Mydd’, is the long-standing production designer and a founding artist of Wildworks, having worked extensively with the company across its 15-year history.
Mydd has worked on every Wildworks’ project, with particular highlights including The Passion in Port Talbot in 2011 and Wolf’s Child in 2015 and 2017.
He has also worked extensively as a key collaborator for other companies including Kneehigh and Nigel and Louise of Shunt and Punchdrunk.
Emma Hogg, Wildworks Executive Director, said, “We’re all pleased that Mydd has agreed to lead the shaping of our work moving forward, building on our reputation for strong, stunning visuals and deep, powerful, personal and place-centred storytelling.
“It was our collective determination when we lost Bill Mitchell in 2017 that we would deliver on his dream for the company to carry on his legacy.”