This week’s North West appointments

Eleanor Aguirre, Laura Guillon and Alice Couriel, Hall Brown Family Law

Hall Brown Family Law has welcomed three newcomers to its growing team just weeks after launching on King Street in Manchester.

Senior associate Eleanor Aguirre, associate Laura Guillon and solicitor Alice Couriel were part of the family team put together by the law firm’s founders, Sam Hall and James Brown, while at JMW Solicitors.

Eleanor, who is fluent in Japanese, has over five years’ experience in all aspects of family law and particular expertise in international relocation, complex contract disputes, allegations of harm toward children and drug and alcohol-related concerns.

She commented: “Like Sam and James, I believe it’s more important to invest time with clients, and offer empathy and a quality service, rather than have a high volume of cases.

“It’s exciting to be invited to join a firm with such respected individuals, a strong shared ethos and be involved in its development.”

Laura, meanwhile, has experience working with high-profile private clients and cases involving complex trust assets, in addition to pre-marriage issues and overseas property.

Laura, who is half French and bilingual, said: “Having previously worked with Sam and James for two years, I am delighted to be reunited and join Hall Brown Family Law.

“I am a huge fan of straight-talking and cutting through corporate legal jargon, and strongly believe clients appreciate honest answers from professional and empathetic advisors – that’s why they recommend lawyers they trust.”

Lastly, Hall Brown’s newest solicitor Alice Couriel trained under Sam and James while at JMW and has worked on a range of family law disputes, covering issues such as private children law proceedings and high-value financial settlements.

Commenting on her new role, Alice said: “It is particularly exciting to be involved with a new firm so early on in its evolution.

“And to know, trust and admire your colleagues creates such a positive, mutually respectful and optimistic atmosphere. The future looks bright.”

Discussing the string of appointments, the firm’s co-founders Sam and James said in a joint statement: “We are delighted to get the old team back together.

“Ele, Laura and Alice are excellent lawyers and are committed to delivering the service that our clients deserve and expect.”

They added: “We could not have asked for a better start for the firm. As well as the clients who followed us, we have had a record number of new clients in the first few weeks of trading and, as a result, require several other members of staff which is very exciting.”

Paul Wilson, Avalon

Pre-paid funeral plan provider Avalon has appointed Paul Wilson as its new permanent CEO.

Paul, who has served as the Wilmslow-based company’s CEO on an interim basis since February this year, joined Avalon from over-50s advisory business Key Retirement where he was a co-founder and managing director.

Commenting on his new role with Avalon, Paul said the firm is a “powerful and trusted brand in its market on the way up”.

He continued: “To lead the business and help it grow, supported by a strong executive team and backed by a pragmatic investor in Lonsdale Partners, was an opportunity not to be missed.

“The business is in a solid position and with the mission and strategy we have in place we are in a very strong position to achieve our growth objectives and become the number one in the UK and Europe.”

Avalon chairman Hugh Mullan said Paul’s appointment reflects the firm’s ongoing commitment to its expansion across the UK and Europe.

He added: “[Paul has] helped many businesses in the later life sector grow and succeed and we are hugely confident he will achieve the same results at Avalon.”

Ian Strettle, Liverpool BID

Former paratrooper and Falklands War veteran Ian Strettle has been chosen as the new chairman for Liverpool’s City Central Business Improvement District (BID).

Ian, who received the British Empire Medal for re-opening a police station just six weeks after it was bombed, swapped army life for a career in retail management 15 years ago and today runs Liverpool’s busy Clayton Square Shopping Centre.

An ex-sergeant major, Ian has been on the BID’s operating board for seven years. In his new role he will succeed Ian Ward, the former manager of St Johns Shopping Centre.

Ian commented: “Liverpool city centre needs a strong, professional BID and I will be doing my utmost to ensure the Operating Board and BID team represents its members in the best possible way.

’‘I want to see better collaboration between the many different organisations in the city centre to ensure we can create a consistently clean and safe destination, so shoppers and visitors will return again and again.’’

Established in 2003, City Central BID covers an area representing over 620 businesses and invests almost £700k every year.

The chief executive of Liverpool BID Company, Bill Addy, commented: “I’m delighted Ian accepted the offer to be the new City Central Chairman as he brings continuity to the position alongside a new energy to ensure the BID reflects the needs of our members and city centre.

’‘He has a brilliant track record of delivering results and fostering great teamwork. Under his stewardship I’m sure the BID Company will further improve its services and continue to demonstrate excellent value for money.’’

Sarah Shingler, Acumen

West Lancashire-based Acumen Financial Partnership has taken on Sara Shingler in the role of financial planning coordinator.

Sarah Shingler has joined the company from the Liverpool office of business process services provider Diligenta, where she worked as a corporate incidents administrator across the firm’s pensions, life assurance and annuities portfolio.

Acumen’s director, Jon Landy, said: “We’ve been giving straightforward financial advice to clients and steadily building our team for 10 years.

“We’re pleased to have added a new member of staff with experience and a genuine interest in expanding her knowledge and skills.”

He added: “Recruiting Sarah to the Acumen team shows that we’re a growing business that is attractive to young, ambitious people within the sector.”

Chris Logan, NatWest

Chris Logan has been announced as NatWest’s new regional director of commercial and corporate banking across Merseyside, Cheshire and North Wales.

In his new role with the bank, Chris will lead a 30-strong team of directors and relationship managers as they offer support and funding to family-run companies, SMEs and large corporates across the three areas.

Chris joined NatWest’s sister bank, the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), back in 2002, prior to which he trained as a chartered accountant and licensed insolvency practitioner with the Manchester office of a national accountancy firm.

So far, his banking career has included various positions across RBS. More recently, he worked as a relationship director serving mid-market businesses and large corporate clients across a number of sectors, with a particular focus on manufacturing and finance.

Richard Chambers, Royal Bank of Scotland

Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has bolstered its Manchester-based corporate transactions team with the appointment of Richard Chambers in the role of director.

Richard, whose banking career spans 14 years, previously worked within the leveraged finance team at HSBC.

Bringing “extensive transactional experience” to the role, according to RBS, Richard has spent much of his career specialising in leveraged finance for private equity-backed companies and corporate clients across the North.

In his new role, Richard will focus on supporting customers with event-driven acquisition finance and debt requirements.

The head of the corporate transactions team, Peter Talbot, said: “2016 has started well for the team with early momentum building and a strong pipeline of deals.

“I extend a warm welcome to Richard and look forward to leveraging his experience in the corporate finance market that will undoubtedly help us in continuing to grow our business across the North West.”

Richard commented: “Moving to the corporate transactions team is a really exciting step and I am looking forward to working with the team in Manchester.

“My role at HSBC focussed predominantly on the private equity market and large complex deals so I am looking forward to transferring these skills to work across a broader spectrum of customers to assist their growth.”

Barry Redfern, Lindsay Edwards, Daniel Thorpe and Paul Smith, Wealthcare

Financial advisory business Wealthcare has added new faces to all of its divisions with the recruitment of four new members of staff.

Paul Smith has been appointed as a consultant within Wealthcare’s employee benefits and healthcare division, while Barry Redfern has taken on the role of mortgage administrator, Lindsay Edwards as client services executive and Dan Thorpe as employee benefits executive.

Following the recruitment drive, Bury-headquartered Wealthcare now employs a team of 18.

Stephen Cainer, Wealthcare’s joint MD, commented: “The company is in its 15th year and is in the strongest position it has ever been.

“At the heart of our business is our passionate team of committed individuals. We are delighted to welcome Paul, Barry, Lindsay and Dan, whose arrival will strengthen the business across all of its operations.”

He added: “They will help us to maintain the highest standards of service to our growing client base and underline our commitment to providing opportunities to talented young professionals.”

Eight appointments, Horwich Farrelly

Insurance industry law firm Horwich Farrelly is driving its growth plans forward with a raft of new appointments.

The firm has promoted two partners and eight associates, seven of whom will be based at the company’s HQ in Manchester and one in its newly expanded London base.

New partners David Scott and Miles Cowan are both members of Horwich Farrelly’s counter fraud team.

Following its latest round of appointments, Horwich Farrelly now has 32 partners.

The firm’s managing partner, Rob Barrett, said: “As a firm we are fully committed to nurturing and growing talent, and part of that is recognising the results of an individual’s work and rewarding high performance.

“Congratulations to the ten individuals on these well-deserved achievements, which reflect their hard work and commitment to Horwich Farrelly.”

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