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WestBridge

Private equity house WestBridge has appointed a new investment director to open its new Manchester office and lead investments across the North of England.

Peter Barkley joins WestBridge from Dow Schofield Watts, where he spent four years in the lead advisory team and where he supported WestBridge with its MBO of Stockport headquartered environmental consultancy APEM in March.

Barkley will work closely with the existing team to originate and execute new investments and support existing portfolio companies, including APEM, through to exit.

Barkley said: 鈥淚n recent years, my role has been to advise investors on the merits of a deal but I鈥檝e become increasingly keen to take a more active role in supporting the investee companies themselves. Joining WestBridge enables me to do just that, while also leveraging my regional knowledge and contacts

鈥淚 advised WestBridge on the 拢15m MBO of APEM and have been impressed with their approach.

鈥淭he senior team are all experienced investors, who demonstrate sound judgement when selecting investee companies. They have a strong reputation and have realised some excellent returns.

鈥淗aving recently closed WestBridge II at 拢140m, it鈥檚 an exciting time to join. The business is committed to developing a lasting presence in the North and I am looking forward to leading this initiative.鈥�

NorthEdge

NorthEdge Capital has announced the promotion of Phil Frame to Head of North West and the appointment of Lucie Mills to Head of Business Transformation, as the firm continues to strengthen its presence across the regional private equity market.

Phil joined NorthEdge in 2012 and has been involved in the majority of the firm鈥檚 new investment activity in the region, including video games developer Sumo Digital, luxury tour operator Inspiring Travel Company and commercial fleet management provider Prohire.

In his new role, Phil will lead the new business team at the firm鈥檚 Manchester office.

He will be responsible for sourcing investment opportunities, managing key intermediaries and leading the firm鈥檚 investment operations across the North West.

Lucie joins NorthEdge鈥檚 Manchester office with eight years鈥� experience at a private equity-backed business, JLA, where she worked closely with Hg, the incumbent investor, Cinven, and the company鈥檚 senior leadership team, delivering strategic transformation projects to maximise shareholder value. The sale of JLA to Cinven in May 2018 delivered a 4.9x return on investment for Hg.

At NorthEdge, Lucie will work as part of the portfolio team to add value across the firm鈥檚 19-strong portfolio of investments. Lucie will be a key link between NorthEdge and the portfolio, promoting knowledge transfer and strengthening processes to deliver growth within the portfolio and maximise values at exit.

Pannone Corporate

Pannone Corporate has made several promotions following a year of growth at the firm.

Gareth Birch and Emma Judge have been promoted to Associate Partners.

Gareth is an experienced real estate lawyer and advises retail, investor and developer clients on the full range of commercial property matters. Emma acts for employers, developers, purchasers and contractors on all aspects of construction and engineering law.

Sarah Bazaraa has been promoted to Director in the dispute resolution team. Sarah specialises in intellectual property and contracts disputes across all sectors. She also advises clients on reputation management.

Alexandria Winstanley is promoted to Senior Associate within the dispute resolution team.

Alexandria advises clients on disputes involving commercial contracts, IP, IT, and professional negligence.

Elsewhere, Helen Porter (real estate), Andrew Walsh (corporate) and Chloe Pugh (employment) have been promoted to Associate.

Brother 海角视频

Tameside-based business technology solutions provider Brother 海角视频, has appointed a sustainable development coordinator to a new full-time role supporting customers that are working to reduce their environmental impact.

Gemmer Crozier will work with the firm鈥檚 partners and their respective customers to improve their knowledge of how Brother solutions and services can support a greener business, as well as raise awareness of Brother 海角视频鈥檚 award-winning approach to sustainability.

She takes-up the new post after originally joining Brother as an apprentice following her college studies.

The new role is central to Brother 海角视频鈥檚 sustainability strategy, which this year saw it become the North West鈥檚 only business to receive an industry-leading independent certification for zero waste to landfill

The position will also involve听collaborating with Brother鈥檚 recycling facility in Ruabon, Wales, to encourage more of Brother 海角视频鈥檚 business customers to use and recycle Brother print cartridges.v

Simpson Millar

Law firm Simpson Millar has further bolstered its expansive national Court of Protection (CoP) health and welfare department with the appointment of Melanie Varey as a senior associate in its Manchester office.

Joining the 20-strong team earlier this month and bringing over a decade of experience in community care, judicial review and court of protection health and welfare cases, she joins from Stephenson鈥檚 Solicitors where she was Department Manager.

Also on the board of the National division of the Court of Protection Practitioners Association (CoPPA) and having worked in both the crime and housing departments, Mel鈥檚 appointment adds to Simpson Millar鈥檚 Court of Protection presence across the North of England 鈥� with lawyers now situated in the firm鈥檚 Lancaster, Manchester and Leeds offices.

The team听is headed up by Partner Zena Soormally Bolwig, and forms part of its wider Public Law division which has a presence in the firm鈥檚 11 offices and is overseen by Senior Management Team member and Partner Imogen Jolley.

B-North

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Manchester-based听SME lending provider B-North has appointed Ron Emerson CBE as its chairman, effective September 16.

Mr Emerson was founding Chairman of the British Business Bank (BBB), the 海角视频 government's economic development bank aimed at improving access to finance for the small and mid-sized business sector.

Jonathan Thompson, Co-Founder,听B-North, said:听鈥淲e鈥檙e thrilled that Ron鈥檚 joining听B-North听as our new Chair, to lead our mission to deliver essential lending solutions for SMEs across the 海角视频.

鈥淗is impressive track record and extensive board experience is invaluable as听B-North听enters the next exciting stage of its development 鈥� a banking licence and establishing localised lending pods around the 海角视频.鈥�

Mr Emerson added:听鈥淭he success of SMEs relies heavily on having access to efficient funding, something which can all too often be lost due to the centralised legacy systems operated by traditional lenders.听B-North aims to be there for SMEs at the crucial point in their development.

鈥淚 am delighted to have the opportunity as Chair to work with Jonathan and the team to make sure SMEs in Manchester, and across the 海角视频, can thrive.鈥�

Fletchers Solicitors

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Fletchers Solicitors, which has offices in Southport and Manchester, has appointed听a director of digital and disruption to lead a major digital transformation of the business.

James Alexander will lead team of developers, designers, and digital innovators in the newly-created role to build a 'disruption lab' working in St James鈥� Tower, Manchester.

He will also aim to improve the solicitor's digital customer experience and explore how the business can start monetising digital innovation in its own right.

Ed Fletcher, CEO of Fletchers Solicitors, said: 鈥淭oday, it is crucial for law firms to deliver an exceptional tech and customer proposition. With that in mind, we are investing in a dedicated team to continually devise such ideas and ensure they are seamlessly delivered.

鈥淚 am in no doubt James鈥檚 team will be instrumental in taking the firm forwards as we grow over the next five years.鈥�