This week’s Yorkshire appointments

Ilkley-headquartered NG Bailey, the independent engineering, IT and facilities services business, has appointed Mike Porter, as its new chief financial officer.

Mike joins the business from Shepherd Building Group, where he held the position of finance director for its Built Environment division, comprising construction, engineering services, facilities management and residential house building, as well as a seat on its executive board.

During his successful six-year tenure Mike was responsible for leading the finance, ICT, business assurance and operational hire centre functions.

Prior to joining Shepherd he held senior positions for companies including United Utilities plc and PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Mike’s position as chief financial officer will see him responsible for supporting the on-going development and delivery of our corporate strategy, as well as the financial infrastructure of the business. As part of his role, finance, ICT, leasing, property and secretariat will report directly to him.

Working with David Hurcomb the company’s CEO and, alongside seven other executive colleagues, he will form part of the group’s operating executive team and will also be appointed on to our main board.

David Hurcomb, NG Bailey’s CEO, added: “As we move firmly back into growth mode the role of our CFO is of paramount importance.

“Mike brings with him a wealth of expertise and I have no doubt he will be an asset both to the executive team and the rest of the business.”

Amy Au, Julia Caiger and Tom Stephens, Irwin Mitchell

The Leeds office of national law firm, Irwin Mitchell, has appointed three Solicitors into its business division as part of its on-going drive to expand its commercial offering to clients across Yorkshire.

Intellectual Property (IP) litigation solicitor, Amy Au, joins the Commercial Litigation department headed up by Steve Bate. Amy specialises in IP and deals with all types of disputes relating to patents, design rights, trade marks, copyright and passing off. She will be working closely with Alex Newman, an expert in IP and Emma Yates. Amy joins from 3volution where she worked for two years. Before that she trained at Walker Morris.

Julia Caiger has been recruited to join Irwin Mitchell’s Corporate and Commercial department. Moving from Watson Burton where she trained and qualified, Julia specialises in all areas of corporate legal work, including M&A and private equity investment. She will work alongside a team of Partners, including recently recruited Philip Goldsborough who moved to Irwin Mitchell’s Leeds office from Pinsent Masons.

Amy and Julia are joined by Tom Stephens who will also work in the Corporate & Commercial team. Tom trained at Bradford Metropolitan District Council and now at Irwin Mitchell, he will work in the specialist commercial and technology team, advising businesses in relation to information technology, IP and general commercial matters. He also advises organisations on data protection issues and will work in Joanne Bone’s team.

The three appointments follow a busy month for the firm in which it revealed that following a competitive pitch, it had secured a place on National Grid’s high profile legal panel.

The firm also recently announced that its turnover for the 2014/15 financial year increased by 3.9% to £210.6m.

Kate Hainsworth, Leeds Community Foundation

Leeds Community Foundation (LCF) has appointed Kate Hainsworth as its new Development Director, to help them encourage and enable more donors to provide vital community investment and support across Leeds.

Since its launch in 2005, LCF has distributed over £25m in grants to local community groups who support vulnerable and disadvantaged people across the city.

As philanthropy advisors, the Foundation’s role is to connect individuals and organisations who wish to invest in a better future for our city with the community groups who can make a tangible difference.

Kate joins LCF from Opera North, where her Development Director role provided her with a strong understanding of the Leeds business sector and community issues across the city. Born and raised in Yorkshire, Kate’s career has included a wide variety of strategic marketing and development roles, working in the arts and the third sector across Europe.

Sally-Anne Greenfield, chief executive of LCF, said: “We have ambitious plans for the future, as we strengthen the team and focus our efforts on increasing private investment to address key needs across the city. We are thrilled to welcome Kate on board, as she brings a wealth of experience which will help us to reach this objective and drive the Foundation forward. “

Floss Clifford-Loynes, Tom Baines and Katie Ramsden, Simply Better

Live events specialist Simply Better has awarded promotions to three talented team members.

Senior project manager Floss Clifford-Loynes is promoted to creative lead while project managers Tom Baines and Katie Ramsden become account managers.

Simply Better is a family business that organises and produces corporate conferences and staff events for some of the biggest brands in the North of England. Clients include Maplin, Skipton Building Society and Provident Financial.

The Keighley-based firm combines the skills of an audio-visual company and a creative agency to deliver results-led events. An in-house creative team produces concepts, design, and content based on a full understanding of the client brief.

Rob Woodhead, director, said: “Floss, Tom and Katie fully deserve these promotions. Their experience and creativity enables them to fully engage with clients and deliver memorable events that achieve their communication needs.”

Julie Davis, LCF Residential

Julie Davis has been promoted to a Director at LCF Residential - the conveyancing arm of leading Yorkshire law firm LCF Law.

Julie joined the firm in 2013 as Head of Residential Property and over the last two years she has initiated an impressive expansion programme that has seen LCF Residential double in size. She now manages a team of 20 residential property lawyers who provide a full range of conveyancing services to people buying, selling and re-mortgaging property.

Julie, who has worked in conveyancing for more than 30 years, said: “It’s fantastic to have my efforts recognised with this promotion. Buying or selling a home can be a very stressful time but we strive to make the process as simple and personal as possible, and this has been key to our ongoing success in the conveyancing industry.

“The growth of the UK’s residential property market has also contributed to the expansion of our business and as it continues to recover from the recession, it will be a very exciting and productive time for LCF Residential.”

Simon Stell, managing partner at LCF Law, added: “Julie’s property experience and knowledge of the conveyancing market is second to none and she leads a hugely successful team that is continually growing, so she thoroughly deserves this promotion.”

LCF Residential is part of LCF Law which is a leading commercial law firm that works with both businesses and private individuals. The long-established firm employs more than 120 people across offices in Leeds, Bradford, Harrogate and Ilkley.

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