Member Article

This week’s Yorkshire appointments

Shackleton PR, Kate Dixon

Leeds-based Shackleton PR has appointed Kate Dixon as client services director, as the agency gears up for the next stage of its ambitious growth strategy.

Kate joins from leading Manchester PR agency, Tangerine, where she was deputy managing director of the agency’s corporate and business-to- business division.

Commenting on her appointment, Kate said: “Shackleton PR offers a completely unique proposition to clients, delivering real integration between digital, social and traditional communications channels in a truly creative way. This is a really exciting time for the industry and it’s exciting to be part of an agency that’s genuinely leading the way.”

Robin Skidmore, CEO of Shackleton PR, commented: “Recruiting a senior team member of Kate’s calibre is a measure of how far Shackleton has grown in the last 18 months.

“She adds big brand experience and proven strategic expertise to our credentials and will ensure we’re able to meet the increasing demand for our creative and results-driven approach to social media and public relations.”

Kate will be joined on the board of Shackleton PR by Chris Hughes who has been promoted to commercial director, having previously held the role of head of PR and social at the agency since its inception.

Robin concluded: “Chris has been an instrumental part of our success story to date. Together with Kate, I’m confident that we now have a senior team that can deliver our vision of providing clients with a new means of targeting audiences and delivering truly measurable results.”

Clarion, Andrew McAulay

Andrew McAulay, who trained with Clarion and heads its costs and litigation funding team, has been promoted to partner.

Andrew has worked in legal costs claims for 13 years having joined Clarion as a trainee law costs draftsman in 2001. In 2008 he became head of costs and litigation funding at the firm, leading its six-strong team on a portfolio of nationwide clients.

Mark Burns, managing partner at Clarion said: “Over the last five years, Andrew has taken an internal non-profit making team and turned it into one of the most profitable teams in the practice and he has ambitious plans for its continued growth.”

“Andrew has helped to establish a reputation for the practice as one of the best in the region; as well as his impressive technical knowledge, he is relied on by clients to always provide honest and commercial advice.

“His promotion is a well-deserved recognition of the huge contribution he has made to our success and the outstanding service his team provides in this niche area. “

S Harrison, Steve McManaman

Steve McManaman has joined York-based property and development company S Harrison to further strengthen its development delivery team.

The company posted excellent results for 2013 and has seen a significant upturn in business in 2014. It recently announced its first site acquisition in Scotland and is scheduled to bring forward major new schemes in York, Leeds, Stratford and Whitby later this year.

Steve joins Harrison from Miller Construction where he was area director for the Yorkshire region. During his career he has been responsible for over £350 million of construction projects across all sectors including, health, education, retail, rail and leisure.

S Harrison MD Ann Scott said: “Steve is a hugely respected figure in the Yorkshire construction industry and he is no stranger to Harrison, having worked with us on a number of major schemes in recent years.

“The complementary skills that he brings to our already strong professional team will ensure that we continue to enhance our reputation for high quality, on time, on budget delivery of development schemes across the UK.”

Clough & Company

West Yorkshire based chartered accountancy firm Clough & Company has made five high profile promotions across its audit and taxation departments.

Ann Brown has been promoted from to director of Clough & Company and former senior tax manager, Dean Pearson is now director of Clough Taxation Solutions.

In addition Lucy Foxall is now assistant tax manager, Claire Robinson is assistant audit manager and Neil Baldwin has been promoted to audit manager and is now responsible for overseeing audits in schools, academies and not for profit organisations.

Nigel Bullas, managing Partner at Clough & Company, explains: “Ann and Dean are vastly experienced with superb track-records in their respective departments and continually receive glowing testimonials from clients across all industries.

“Both Claire and Lucy joined our graduate training scheme in 2010 and are now integral members of our team, with extremely promising careers ahead of them. Neil is quickly establishing an enviable reputation for his work with education establishments and not for profit organisations so all of these promotions are thoroughly deserved.”

Benenden Group, Jason Hogan

York-based not-for-profit healthcare provider, Benenden Group, has announced the appointment of a new Group Head of Strategy, Jason Hogan.

Jason will assist in the development and implementation of strategy across the business, with a particular focus on bringing consistency, coherence and granularity to the Benenden strategic vision of becoming the leading health and wellbeing mutual community in the UK.

Commenting on his appointment Jason said: “It’s a very exciting time to join the Benenden Group as the organisation looks set to expand over the next few years and diversify its offering.

“We have ambitious plans for the business and I’m looking forward to working closely with the wider management team on developing these plans and looking at how we can implement the vision and goals for the organisation.”

LCF Law (Bradford), Andrew Langton

Debt recovery specialist Andrew Langton has been appointed as the new head of debt collection at LCF Law in Bradford. He will lead the firm’s existing debt recovery team acting for a wide range of clients across the North of England.

Recruited from Fieldfisher (formerly Heatons) in Manchester, Andrew has previously worked for and led teams at law firms DLA, Hammonds, Drydens and Lupton Fawcett.

LCF Law provides a bespoke service tailored to clients’ needs. Clients range from PLCs to individuals. LCF Law deals with the total debt recovery process from initial claim to all related insolvency issues.

Charles Abraham, head of disputes at LCF Law, says: “We are delighted to welcome Andrew, who brings with him a wealth of experience, as well as an extensive client following.

“Cash management is the lifeblood of all businesses, and if our clients are owed money, they want to recover it quickly.

“Having Andrew and the LCF Law team on their side will no doubt increase our clients’ chances of a 100% recovery.”

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