Here is the regular BusinessLive round-up of appointments, promotions and other employment changes at some of the most prominent firms in the East Midlands:
Integrity Group
A well-known face on the regional banking scene has joined a Leicester-based debt advisory, mergers and acquisitions specialist.
Keith Ross, who has held senior positions for Barclays Corporate Banker over the past decade including most recently head of mid-corporate for the Midlands, has joined Integrity Group.
The business was founded in 2020 and is based on Meridian Business Park in Leicester. Since its formation, it lead several acquisitions and disposals, across the 海角视频 and internationally and the debt advisory side of the business has also been growing, supporting businesses with funding.
Keith said 鈥淚 am delighted to join Integrity, after observing their continued success from the side lines.
鈥淭he culture of the business is completely client centric and focussed on adding tangible value, which aligns with my own values and approach.鈥
Integrity fellow director Elliott Watts 鈥 who also had a background in banking 鈥 said 鈥淥ur business has expanded rapidly since formation, and we continue to disrupt the debt advisory and M&A sector.
鈥淲e have been searching the market for someone with the right calibre to support our own growth aspirations, while we continue to maintain our client service levels, which are largely attributable to our success.
鈥淜eith has diverse experience having been both a managing director of a business and a senior leader within the commercial and corporate banking sector for the last 9 years, his 20 years banking experience will be invaluable.鈥
RedTree PR
Nottingham PR agency RedTree PR has had a double celebration after opening its new Regent Street office and appointing a new account director following a period of growth.
The move into its new office lays the foundations for the future growth of the business, which was established by managing director Chris Mitchell in 2013. Since then, the firm has grown to work with a range of clients across the 海角视频, primarily in the education, finance, property and construction sectors.
To support its client base, the company has appointed Sarah Wilkinson as an account director, responsible for developing and delivering client PR and content strategies.
Sarah joins the business from her previous role as PR & content marketing specialist at Mortgage Advice Bureau, and brings with her a wealth of marketing experience from numerous different industries, including travel and tourism, software development and financial services.
Chris Mitchell said: 鈥淪arah has significant experience that will be perfect for our current clients, future clients and the business as a whole.
鈥淚 am delighted to welcome Sarah to RedTree and I am looking forward to her becoming an integral part of the company over the coming years.鈥
Sarah said: 鈥淗aving worked as part of an in-house Marketing team for the past five years, I am delighted to join the RedTree team and very much look forward to rediscovering my agency roots.
鈥淩edTree is held in very high regard by its broad portfolio of clients so I鈥檓 excited to get stuck in and deliver results for our clients and drive the growth of RedTree.
The company has recently started working with IMA Architects and construction company Enrok Construction, and has also been retained by its established clients.
Shakespeare Martineau
Law firm Shakespeare Martineau has welcomed 11 trainees 鈥 its largest ever cohort 鈥 including four in the East Midlands.
Abigail Lynch, Sarah Johnson, Tait Grundy and Sophie Plant have joined the firm in the East Midlands and will be based in its Nottingham and Leicester hubs.
Kiran Kaushal, Katie Parker, Helen Rowland, Lucy Feghhi and Sophie Roberts will be based in the West Midlands, primarily in Birmingham.
Camilla Uppal will be working from Shakespeare Martineau鈥檚 London hub, while Joseph Shields is the firm鈥檚 first Scottish trainee and will be based in Edinburgh.
The trainees will undertake four six-month seats in a variety of specialist practice areas across the firm, including real estate finance, commercial property, education, social housing and litigation.
Many of Shakespeare Martineau鈥檚 current partners and lawyers qualified through its training contract programme, including partners Lisa Botterill and Andrew Wilkinson, who started as trainees in the 2000s when the firm was known as Harvey Ingram.
Corporate partner Lisa said: 鈥淚 grew up in Leicester always knowing the firm was the best in the city. I was lucky enough to transfer my training contract halfway through and spent 14 months of my two years training with the firm.
鈥淚 received a very good grounding in the area that I wanted to qualify into and have never looked back since I qualified.
鈥淲e have always done a really wide range of interesting work, which has provided me with a varied career and, 21 years later, I am delighted to still be working for some of the same clients I was working for all those years ago.鈥
First-year trainees based outside London currently start on 拢30,750, rising to 拢33,000 in their second year. Their peers in the capital start on 拢40,000, rising to 拢43,000 in their second year.
Light Science Technologies
Derby AgTech specialist Light Science Technologies (LST) has announced two new appointments to its team to continue advancing its strategy of growth.
New recruit Jessica Browne joins as electronics engineer, having previously worked as an engineer at various companies including GeoSLAM and Microlise. With a wealth of technical knowledge, she brings her 25 years鈥 experience specialising in designing and developing microcontroller-based products. Her new position will see her take on an R&D function, where she will be responsible for the design of electronics for LST鈥檚 burgeoning grow lighting and sensor product portfolio, as well as having input into type approvals, software and firmware design.
James Swords also joins as new project manager, with more than 15 years鈥 experience at large aerospace companies, starting off as a technical apprentice straight from school.
鈥淧reviously he worked at established hydraulics and energy absorption device firm TA Savery & Co Ltd / Oleo International as development manager, taking on the operational lead for the expanding 海角视频AS accredited test laboratory for rail and elevator products.
In a newly created role at LST, among other responsibilities he will be tasked with overseeing new projects and implementing efficient processes to actively manage and communicate resource.
LoyalFree
Loyalty scheme business LoyalFree has appointed a new managing director and two new members of its board, following a buy-in from Equable Partners five years after it was founded.
LoyalFree was founded in Leicestershire in 2016 and provides a mobile phone app promoting high street businesses through deals, loyalty schemes, competitions, event listings, tourism information and interactive tours and trails.
It LoyalFree works with 65+ towns and cities in the 海角视频 and aims to improve the overall digital presence of the struggling high streets. Two of the first partnerships of the business were with Love Loughborough and BID Leicester.
It was founded by Sophie Hainsworth and Jason Nesbitt 鈥 who will assume the roles of commercial director and technical director respectively under the changes 鈥 and operates from the LCB Depot in Leicester.
Henry Jinman will assume the role of Managing Director to steer the business through its next phase of growth.
He said: 鈥淟oyalFree is an important business in the present moment with the cost of living and mental health crises in our nation.
鈥淏y offering affordable experiences for people in their local communities with trails, and discounts for spending locally, LoyalFree鈥檚 app is a vital tool for our nation鈥檚 businesses.鈥
Equable Partners鈥 Simon Hook and Matt Duckhouse will join the LoyalFree board as non-executive directors. Equable brings extensive experience in building enterprise-grade software platforms and growing software businesses.
John Pye
After a 12-month term as vice president, Trevor Palethorpe, joint head of John Pye Business & Property has been elected as President by NAVA, an auctioneering & valuing association which is part of the Propertymark professional body for the property sector.
Taking up the role last month Trevor aims to guide the organisation in re-engaging with its members and hopes to encourage the next generation of auctioneers.
Currently, Trevor jointly heads up the business assets and property divisions of John Pye and has been in the auctions industry since his teens.
Originally aspiring to be a history teacher when leaving school, a chance meeting with Adam Pye saw Trevor starting work in the salesrooms at Nottingham鈥檚 Cattle Market on Friday nights and it changed the course of his career.
Trevor said: 鈥淚 genuinely love the profession which I鈥檝e been part of now for over 25 years, so to be elected President of NAVA Propertymark is really a great honour.
鈥淚 grew up in auctions and have amassed experience that spans business assets through to property and fine art, plus everything in between. I鈥檓 looking forward to sharing this knowledge and experience with other colleagues and industry professionals.鈥
