Member Article

This week’s North West appointments

Katie Allen, Danbro

Katie Allen, 26, has been appointed Group Operations Director of Lytham, Lancashire-based Danbro – two years after joining the award winning firm of accountants as a temp to ‘fill in time’ ahead of a planned move to India.

Helen Broughton, co-founder of Danbro and Director of People and Standards, said: “Katie first joined us in January 2013. Her rise to Group Operations Director has been nothing short of meteoric and no less than she deserves.

“Danbro is one of the fastest growing companies in the North West. We need dynamic individuals of the calibre of Katie who are not only prepared to grow with us – but help lead the way.”

The new group operations director will help spearhead managing director Damian Broughton’s ‘2020 Vision’ to more than double staff, clients and turnover over the next five years.

Katie gained a first class honours degree in International Business at Manchester Met and joined British construction group and global infrastructure giant Balfour Beatty’s graduate scheme.

As Ops manager she managed the mobilisation of the ArcelorMittal Orbit, the impressive spiralling sculpture and observation tower at the heart of the 587-acre Olympic Park for the London 2012 Games. She also oversaw the integration of a 30-office acquisition into Balfour Beatty Plant and Fleet.

Having ‘temped’ as PA to Helen and managing director Damian Broughton for a couple of weeks Katie applied for a permanent role as the improvement and change coordinator working in operations at Danbro, later becoming manager, then head of group operations.

Katie oversaw and managed the company’s move from Whitehills Business Park, Blackpool, to the 66k sq. ft. Jubilee House, on the edge of Lytham Green, and took over management of both the IT and Marketing teams.

As group operations director, current projects include some major systems development and the integration of a recent acquisition based in London – which has brought Danbro’s turnover to £225m and staff numbers to 200. The company has 8000 clients across the UK.

Managing director Damian said: “Strengthening our management team has been our focus over recent years. If we are to remain one of the fore-runners in servicing the accounting needs of the temporary workforce sector we need to prepare for the next phase of our story.”

Paul Brown, HURST

Tax expert Paul Brown has returned to the UK from Australia to join accountancy and business advisory firm HURST as a partner.

Paul, 46, who hails from Wirral, spent more than six years as an executive director at EY in Perth, Western Australia.

He said the opportunity to join HURST was too good to miss.

“The firm already has a strong tax team which punches above its weight, but there is great scope to grow the business, in particular in the international tax advisory arena, and I look forward to playing a part in driving this expansion,” he said.

Paul, who is married with one son, trained as a tax inspector at HM Revenue & Customs before joining KPMG in Liverpool.

He later worked at BASF as its UK tax manager before spending six years at PricewaterhouseCoopers in Manchester and Perth, where he gained extensive international advisory experience as a senior manager.

Paul specialises in advising owner-managed UK businesses on all aspects of tax, with a particular focus on those which are expanding overseas.

HURST partner Rachel Murphy, who heads the firm’s tax team, said: “We’re delighted to attract someone with Paul’s experience to our team. We are increasingly acting for clients with complex tax arrangements, including international requirements, and Paul’s knowhow is a welcome addition to our capabilities.”

Emma Newport, Harrison Pitt Architects

Lancaster-based architecture practice Harrison Pitt Architects has expanded its team with the appointment of Emma Newport.

The 22-year-old, who is originally from Bradford, joins the practice as an architectural assistant after graduating from the University of Huddersfield with a BA honours degree in international architecture.

As part of the year-long industrial placement, she will work alongside the firm’s architects to help deliver projects across a range of sectors including residential, leisure and manufacturing. Emma will provide support in all aspects of architectural administration, including creating technical drawings, making planning applications for new buildings and preparing public consultation boards.

Richard Parker, a director at the firm, added: “Emma joins at a time of steady growth and expansion when we’re seeing an influx in new enquiries, particularly in the manufacturing and leisure sectors. She is a welcome addition to the team.”

After completing her placement year at Harrison Pitt Architects, Emma will study for a further two years to attain a master’s degree in architecture before gaining an additional two years’ experience and taking a final exam to qualify as an architect.

Paul Marsh, Hillyer McKeown

Leading North West law firm Hillyer McKeown has promoted Paul Marsh to its senior management team.

Paul also becomes an equity partner in the firm which has offices in Chester, Wirral and North Wales.

Paul joins Managing Partner Steve Harvey and fellow partners Richard Burnett, Lindsey Kidd and Caroline Jones on the senior management team.

Hillyer McKeown, which already employs 65 people across its three offices, provides clients with a comprehensive range of business and personal legal services.

Steve Harvey, Hillyer McKeown’s Managing Partner, said: “We are delighted that Paul has taken equity in the firm and is also joining our senior management team.

“The firm is growing quickly and we have a number of exciting growth plans we will be rolling out over the coming weeks and months.

“In order to achieve our ambitions, we need the right people at all levels of the business. Paul has made an outstanding contribution as head of our litigation team as well as being a first-class insolvency solicitor.”

Andrew Feeke, CLB Coopers

North West accountancy firm, CLB Coopers, has announced the promotion of Andrew Feeke to Partner.

Andrew joined the firm as a graduate trainee in 1999 and was promoted from Senior Manager to Associate in 2013.

His promotion will see him take the role of Advisory Partner. He will continue to work with a portfolio of North West and wider UK-based owner-managed businesses, SMEs and quoted companies providing audit services and also with CLB Coopers’ corporate finance team on transactions for their portfolio clients.

David Travis, Managing Partner, commented, “Andrew’s hard work and ongoing dedication, not only to the firm, but also to the businesses he works with, mean his promotion is well-earned and is very much a natural progression in Andrew’s career with CLB Coopers.”

Sarah Major, Alison Brown, Pearson Solicitors

A leading Oldham-based law firm has trebled the size of its property team following a year of sustained growth.

Pearson Solicitors, which has three offices in Oldham, Hollinwood and Ashton, is a full-service law firm providing corporate and commercial, employment, property, litigation and debt recovery services.

On the back of a 50 per cent growth in revenue last year, the firm’s property team has grown from 3 to 9 after recruiting additional support and promotions from within the existing team.

Alison Brown, from Heywood, joins Pearson as a commercial property assistant and has nearly a decade of experience working in both commercial and residential conveyancing.

Currently in the process of completing a Council for Licensed Conveyancers (CLC) Qualification, Alison will support the wider property team to service and grow its existing client base.

Meanwhile, recent recruit, Sarah Major, has also graduated from her CILEx course to become a Chartered Legal Executive and is completing the final stage to become a fellow. She will be working on all types of conveyancing matters from Transfer of Equity, re-mortgages, sales, purchases, right to buy and new build.

Michael Pitt, partner and head of commercial property at Pearson, commented: “The past twelve months have been extremely fruitful for the property team, and one of the most successful years in the firm’s history.

“We’ve increased our portfolio of clients and expanded our geographical reach, proving that businesses don’t need to opt for a large city firm to handle their property transactions.

“The appointment of Alison and well-deserved promotion of Sarah will help us to continue growing while always delivering the same level of excellent service for our clients.”

Pearson provides commercial property services for a number of the region’s biggest businesses, including Manchester Cabins, Rowham Steel Products, Hyde Industrial Holdings, Ainscough Strategic Land, Natures Nursery and Brantwood Design and Build.

As a firm, Pearson has steadily grown throughout the economic downturn, with turnover increasing by 20 per cent since 2009 to reach the £3m mark and staff numbers up by 13 per cent over the same period, taking the total number of employees to 54.

Tom Quinn, David Harrison, Bilfinger GVA Bilfinger GVA has further expanded its North West offering with the appointment of David Harrison as Associate in its Property Management Consultancy (PMC) team. David joins the North West PMC team, which has grown from strength to strength, having also appointed Tom Quinn as Property Management Surveyor earlier this year. Tom moved from DTZ, where he worked on the Brightsea portfolio across the North West and Midlands. He is now responsible for a number of instructions in Manchester including Ship Canal House and Pall Mall as well as managing the regional portfolio for Greater Manchester Pension Venture Fund and Swinton Shopping Centre for LPA Receivers. Jacqueline O’Shea, National Director and Regional Head of PMC at Bilfinger GVA, said: “I would like to officially welcome David and Tom into PMC. They are both valuable additions to the team, injecting a further a wealth of experience and knowledge that will help enhance and increase capacity of our firm’s North West offering. “The appointments are announced at a time when the Property Management Consultancy team is seeing a renewed growth in terms of client acquisitions across the region and we are in a strong position to seek out further opportunities.”

Collin Tan, Purple WiFi

Purple WiFi, the cloud-based Social WiFi software company, announced the appointment of Collin Tan as Regional Manager, ASEAN reporting to Allen Pan, VP Asia Pacific.

He will be based in Singapore and will be responsible for all Purple WiFi’s business in the ASEAN region. He will be working to develop the distributors and reseller channels across countries in ASEAN, namely Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Philippines, Vietnam, Brunei, Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar and engage directly with key service providers in these countries.

Allen Pan, VP Asia Pacific, Purple WiFi, comments: “Collin brings the perfect combination of experience and drive to the role and we’re excited to have him onboard. The market in ASEAN is growing quickly and Collin’s in-depth knowledge of the region will allow us to capitalise on the opportunities for Purple WiFi.”

Martine Catton, Catalyst Finance

Selective Invoice Finance (SIF) specialist, Catalyst Finance, has secured the services of Martine Catton, one of the UK’s leading invoice finance business development experts.

Catton will report to Catalyst CEO, Jonathan Willder, who said: “Having Martine as part of the Catalyst team is a major coup for us and for the SIF sector as a whole.

“Because our SIF model is contract-free, when funds are advanced we are judged on the quality of every individual transaction. “Martine clearly has confidence in both our model and the quality of our SIF product and her experience is certain to help us access an increasingly wide range of introducers and clients.”

Richard Wheeldon, Nathan Tipping, Manchester Airport Press Office

The Manchester Airport Press Office has bolstered its team this month ahead of the busiest summer ever at the UK’s third biggest airport.

Richard Wheeldon has joined the team as Press Officer from Amaze PR where he worked on a range of consumer and corporate accounts. Previously he worked for airline BMI.

The Press Office is also set to get its very first Intern, Nathan Tipping, a university student on a summer break, will join at the end of this month and will spend three months supporting the Press Office team. The three month paid position is a first for the Press Office, which handles hundreds of media enquiries each week.

Both Richard and Nathan will get to spend time at Manchester Airports Group’s other airports – London Stansted, East Midlands and Bournemouth – as they immerse themselves in their new roles and the company.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Sophia Taha .