Member Article

This week’s North East appointments

Alex Hunter, Ian Gibson and Rhiannon Griffiths, Andrew Thirlwall, Muckle LLP

Newcastle commercial law firm Muckle LLP has made four new appointments into its real estate team.

Solicitors Alex Hunter, Ian Gibson and Rhiannon Griffiths have joined the firm and solicitor Andrew Thirlwall has qualified into the team, after spending two years as a trainee.

Solicitor Rhiannon has eight years’ experience in advising leading UK financial services institutions on a broad range of real estate and finance transactions.

Alex Hunter has more than nine years’ experience of real estate work, including landlord and tenant matters, property finance, freehold and leasehold acquisitions, disposals and development projects.

Ian Gibson has four years’ experience of acting for commercial developers and the public sector on a variety of real estate matters across the North East.

Jonathan Combe, partner and head of the Real Estate team at the firm, said: “We have invested heavily in our team and these new appointments will help to significantly strengthen the breadth and depth of the advice and service that we can offer to our clients.

Ian said: “I am delighted to have joined Muckle where the quality of the work on offer is fantastic. It’s great to be part of something that is growing and to be at a firm which makes such a significant contribution to the local community.”

Neil Large & Kim Teague, BHP Law

Corporate, banking, private equity and restructuring lawyer Neil Large has been appointed to BHP Law along with and para-legal Kim Teague at the firm’s Newcastle office.

Neil, who qualified as an in-house lawyer with Northern Rock after completing his law degree at London University and finals at Northumbria University, has joined as an associate.

Neil said: “Running a firm with a partner give me an insight into the other side of the profession and experience and understanding I can draw on in supporting clients,”

Paralegal Kim Teague, who is from Durham, began her working life as an apprentice jockey at stables in North Yorkshire and has had a rich and varied career ranging from interior design in Belgium and estate agency to painting miniature cottages, before entering the legal profession.

Kim said: “I worked with Neil and James at another practice and got a taste for company law.

“I am really enjoying it at BHP being part of a great team handling such a varied portfolio of work.”

Angela Hall, AYO Digital

Newcastle technology firm AYO Digital has appointed Angel Hall as head of strategy. Angela has served senior management roles within Grainger plc, NRG plc and Sage.

Angela said: “Working in an innovative, dynamic and technology driven business is a new and stimulating challenge for me.

“I’ve never worked with a company who can solve so many business issues with such efficiency and effectiveness.

“These vary from large business delivery solutions to hardware integration, such as the chip timing software for the Great North Run. This gives me an excellent opportunity to help AYO grow into one of the UK’s leading technology companies.”

Paul Foy, The Gateshead Housing Company

Paul Foy has been appointed as Board Chair of The Gateshead Housing Company. Paul is a Gateshead Councillor for the Birtley area of Gateshead.

Barbara Dennis OBE DL, Board Chair of The Gateshead Housing Company, left the role after the company’s recent AGM, after a highly successful ten years, eight of them as Chair.

Paul is also Vice Chair of Gateshead Council’s Corporate Resources Overview and Scrutiny Committee, a member of the Planning and Development Committee and a Board Member of Keelman Homes.

He said: “I am delighted to take up the role of Board Chair at such an important time for the company and for the people of Gateshead as we look to keep our high standard of housing services and build new affordable homes across the borough.

“I intend to build on the good work that Barbara did during her time in the role and keep on working to improve the services that thousands of local people receive every day from us.”

Alison Crake, National Association of Funeral Directors (NAFD)

Alison Crake, co-founder of Stockton-on-Tees-based family firm Crake and Mallon, has been appointed as the new Chair of the National Association of Funeral Directors (NAFD) Committee for Professional Development (CPD).

The CPD exists to develop, co-ordinate, maintain and deliver educational qualifications and courses for corporate and individual development within the funeral profession and to effectively disseminate information relevant to members’ businesses on matters of education.

Alison also sits on the NAFD executive committee and has been involved in the recent review of the Code of Practice.

Alison said: “I have been a member of the CPD since 2010, and, as somebody who has always been pro-education I have thoroughly enjoyed playing my part.”

“Becoming chair of the CPD is a real challenge. We all get on very well as a team and are united in our objective of getting the message out within the industry that having professional qualifications gives value not only to the employee but to their employer as well.

“Ours is an unregulated industry and having respected qualifications supports the NAFD’s core objective of maintaining high standards and building trust with bereaved families.”

Keith Nicholson, Newcastle United Foundation

Newcastle United Foundation has recruited Keith Nicholson into the newly created post of Programme Manager.

Keith has been appointed to ensure the high performance and sustainability of the Foundation’s externally funded projects.

He joins the Senior Management Team, contributing towards the leadership, strategy and priorities of the organisation and will assist with new business development.

Keith has worked for over 10 years in senior roles in the sector, as part of the senior team at Changing Lives, as Head of Neonatal Charity, Tiny Lives and most recently leading on the setup of the Newcastle Voluntary Sector Consortium.

Keith said: “I am delighted to be joining such a prestigious organisation at a key moment in its history.

“Newcastle United Foundation is a very new charity and yet has made such a significant impact in such a short time.

“The staff team, under the stewardship of Kate Bradley, is well known across the city for delivering excellent work to some very vulnerable groups and the charity is viewed as an exemplar in many ways by others in the sector.

“It is a privilege to be a part of the team and I am very excited about the future of the foundation.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ellen Forster .