KPMG has appointed Chris Stott as head of deal advisory for the north of England.
In the role, he leads the business advisory firm鈥檚 corporate finance, transaction services and restructuring practices across the region.
Mr Stott has more than 20 years鈥 M&A experience advising on some of the region鈥檚 most prominent deals and has led transaction services in the North since 2010 when he joined the partnership. He is also KPMG鈥檚 national head of food and drink.
He said: 鈥淏usinesses in this region are exploring buying, selling, partnering, funding or fixing to grow or transform.
鈥淎ll of these processes can be complex and risky so it鈥檚 important that management teams can access specialist advisors who can help them see beyond immediate challenges to future opportunities and provide the confidence needed to make the best decisions.
鈥淲e鈥檙e privileged to have a Deal Advisory team in the region that is bursting with talent and experience. Our recent appointments reflect the incredibly hard work colleagues put in to make KPMG Deal Advisory a great place to work and develop fulfilling careers鈥
Social Chain Media
Social Chain Media, part of social media agency The Social Chain, has announced three new appointments.
Adam Middleton, with experience from LADbible Group and Zenith Media, joins the business as strategy director.听
He said: 鈥淪ocial Chain Media is continually going from strength to strength and I鈥檓 pleased to be working closely with brands and advertisers to take our offering to the next level. I鈥檓 excited to be joining such a forward-thinking company operating some of the most highly engaged communities across social media.鈥
Meanwhile, Tom Whitlow joins as head of podcasting from Global Radio and Richard White as head of gaming from Hill+Knowlton.听
The Social Chain said the flood of recent hires signals its 鈥渃ontinued vision to be at the forefront of social media and ecommerce鈥.
EY
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EY has announced a slew of senior appointments to its people advisory services team in Manchester.
Rachel Akili joins the team as manager in the workforce advisory talent team from Bentley Motors, where she was a lead workforce development specialist, while Iain Chadwick joins as a manager from Deloitte and Louise Lucas takes up a senior consultant role specialising in global mobility and reward.
Jonathan Teoh has been seconded to the Manchester team from EY in London where he will work as a manager in the national minimum wage team.
Two new graduates - Josh Hunter and Robert Paunas - have also joined the firm, taking headcount of the professional advisory services team to more than 50 people.
Cara Heaney, Partner in the people advisory team across the north, said: 鈥淚t鈥檚 fantastic to see the people advisory services team continue to grow here in the north, and I鈥檓 confident each of these new additions will add to the significant talent and experience already within the team.
鈥淭his is an exciting period of growth for advisory services, across the north and this latest investment will further ensure that we are able to meet our clients鈥 growing needs and provide them with the best possible advice.鈥
Grant Thornton
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Business advisory firm Grant Thornton has appointed two industry experts to its Growth 365 team in the north west.
Sharon Kennett joins the firm from agricultural business Frontier, where she was marketing director.
Philip Treanor also joined the team from power distribution and protection equipment manufacturer Mardix before exiting the business following its successful sale to Anord Control Systems in 2018.
Carl Williams, north west managing partner at Grant Thornton, said: 鈥淲e鈥檙e continually adding to the diverse mix of advisers who support the leaders accessing our Growth 365 service.
鈥淪haron鈥檚 expertise in high-level marketing strategy and insight, and Phil鈥檚 blend of commercial experience and corporate deal making, add distinct but complementary skills to an already strong team.
鈥淏oth understand the pain points faced by leaders looking to scale and unlock new market opportunities, and I have no doubt their counsel will be of real value to our clients.鈥
BGF
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Investor in growing businesses BGF has appointed James Marshall to its Manchester investment team.
In the role he will cover the north west region with a continued focus on deal origination, working alongside an investment team to identify entrepreneurs and management teams looking to secure investment.
He joins from Clearwater International and brings more than five years of working on deal origination, having joined the business in 2014.
Neil Inskip, head of BGF鈥檚 north west team, added:听鈥淚t鈥檚 been another positive year for BGF in the North West as we鈥檝e expanded the team and added a number of strong, high-growth businesses to our portfolio.
鈥淗aving James on board as we look ahead to next year will mean we can build on the success of the office to date and expand our reach within the region.鈥
Mobica
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Wilmslow-headquartered software services company听Mobica has appointed technology expert Sean Whitty as head of solutions.
Whitty will be based at the company鈥檚 new Munich office and will oversee Mobica鈥檚 complete technology solutions offering, from chip to cloud.
He joins from Luxoft, an international custom software development company.
Simon Wilkinson, CEO of Mobica, said: 鈥淎s part of our continued growth strategy, we are focused on hiring and nurturing the very best talent so that our customers can successfully leverage enabling technologies such as AI, computer vision and IoT.
鈥淪ean certainly falls into that category. His experience in leading teams of technical engineers and his strong business acumen will make him a valued member of our team as we look to support our customers in the future.鈥
Turley
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National planning and development consultancy Turley has announced a trio of promotions in its Manchester team.
Debbie Clutton has been promoted to associate director in the design team, while Kerrie Melrose has been promoted to associate director in the heritage and townscape team.
Joe Piliero has been promoted to urban designer in the design team.
The firm said the three promotions help further strengthen its credentials across the north.
Head of design, Stephen Taylor said: 鈥淚t鈥檚 been a fantastic year for us in the design team as we continue to go from strength to strength. We鈥檙e working on numerous exciting projects across the region, ranging from town centre masterplans to garden villages.
鈥淥ur people make this possible and these promotions reflect the talent in the team. I鈥檓 delighted that we鈥檙e able to recognise talented designers like Debbie and Joe for their contribution.鈥
Katy Lightbody, director, heritage and townscape, added: 鈥淎s an employee-owned company, we share in our success and are committed to helping people achieve their potential.
鈥淜errie is a key member of the heritage and townscape team and this promotion is testament to her talent.鈥
Glaisyers Solicitors
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Manchester and London-based Glaisyers Solicitors has increasing its total headcount to 75 after with 11 new hires, including a commercial property partner, three solicitors and three paralegals.
Ross Wellman joins as a commercial property partner, while Sarah Milligan joins the commercial property team as solicitor and Emer McMcool joins as a paralegal.
The corporate team welcomes experienced solicitor Niki Polymeridou and the employment team welcomes solicitor Stevi Hoyle who qualified earlier this autumn.
Glaisyers鈥 commercial litigation department has appointed Charles Hughes and Grace Sloan as Paralegals.
Other hires include corporate PA Lisa Walker, front of house Morgan Denham, marketing assistant Lucas Arrona and legal services assistant Jade Dobson.
David Jones, Equity Partner at Glaisyers Solicitors, said: 鈥淎 year ago Glaisyers was a well-respected Manchester practice but we have made massive strides since then and now the firm is taking on instructions from clients based all over Europe and beyond.
鈥淥ur new recruits will have an immediate impact on the teams they have joined but, as the number of paralegal appointments shows, we are also committed to building the next generation of lawyers.
鈥淥ur goal is to become the pre-eminent law firm for privately owned business and that means planning for the future as well as ensuring we can provide a great service right now.鈥
