Member Article

Yorkshire appointments this week

James Yates, GVA property consultants

Independent commercial property consultancy GVA has strengthened its Leeds valuation consultancy division with a new appointment, as demand for its services continues to grow.

James Yates will join the valuation consultancy team next month, having spent five years working in the bank restructuring and recovery division, also based in Leeds.

James will work from GVA’s Leeds city centre office, where he’ll join a team of eight employees, making it one of the largest pure ‘good book’ valuation teams in the Yorkshire region.

Bruce Allan, director of valuation consultancy, Leeds, said: “Having worked for the business for five years, James’s move internally is a testament to the excellent culture and work ethic here at GVA and we’re delighted to welcome him to our division.

“The growth of the team is to meet the increasing demand from banks for new lending and re-financing. Over the past few months in particular, we’ve witnessed an increase in demand for our services such as surveying on existing and new premises, educational valuations and expert witness cases.

“The market is buoyant and we’re delighted to be expanding our team to allow us to take on this new work.

Nick Hancox and Danny Greenwood, Approach PR

Public relations consultancy Approach PR is continuing to provide opportunities to young graduates in the Bradford area thanks to a new scheme introduced by Bradford Council’s Employment and Enterprise Team.

Recent graduates Nick Hancox and Danny Greenwood have joined the team voted Graduate Employer of the Year 2012 following the completion of their BSc (Hons) Marketing and BA (Hons) Advertising and Design degrees respectively.

The scheme set up by Bradford Council aims to help graduates in the Bradford district who are unemployed or underemployed to develop their skills and experience within an organisation that offers a high level of mentoring and expertise.

Since joining,Nick is working closely with the team on accounts such as Distinction Doors, Acorn Stairlifts and Bradford’s Rising Stars programme while Danny has used his design talents on clients including Finlux and contributed significantly to Approach PR’s marketing materials and new business drives.

Nick, who graduated from the Bradford University School of Management,said:“As a graduate it can become a very frustrating and demoralising cycle where nobody offers you the experience until you have experience.

“Fortunately Approach PR was able to provide this position which has put my career back on track. It is encouraging to see just how enthusiastic the team is to help my development.”

Suzanne Johns, founder and Managing Director of Approach PR which recently won Gold for Regional Campaign of the Year 2013 at the PR industry’s PRide awards, said this is the first time the company has brought two interns simultaneously into the business.

“We are great believers in bringing opportunity and experience to the next generation of communications experts and Nick and Danny have brought additional energy, ideas and enthusiasm into our already experienced team.

“We are delighted with the fit of the placements and cannot praise the Bradford Council Employment and Enterprise scheme highly enough for matching good quality candidates with the right business and bringing opportunities that are beneficial to all concerned.”

In addition to welcoming both Nick and Danny to the team, Approach is delighted to announce that Anisha Mistry, 23, has been promoted to Account Executive.

Joining the team in May 2013 following her graduation, Anisha contributes to Approach PR’s accounts includingServis, Country Living Fairs and Acorn Stairlifts.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Clare Burnett .