Member Article

This week's North East appointments

Start your working week with a look at the latest appointment news from around the North East.

Roland Tate, Simon Johnson, Rivers

Founder of Tiger Corporate Finance Ltd, Roland Tate joins the board of Directors at regional venture capital fund managers, Rivers Capital Partners.

Previously working for BP then as a venture capitalist and corporate finance director, Roland is an active Fellow of the Chartered Securities Institute and an FCA authorised person for corporate finance regulated activities.

Now operating a niche corporate finance house specialising in SME deal origination, negotiation and completion, Roland works with and represents the High Net worth Investors (HNWI’s) who appraise and complete equity investments.

Joining Rivers as a Director, Roland will be working with the Board of Directors to build private investor syndicates and stimulate Business Angel activity in the region.

He said: “Rivers have both investment expertise and entrepreneurial backgrounds and I’m looking forward to building on the strong investor relations they have developed in and out of the region.”

Roland joins Rivers alongside second new recruit Simon Johnson who, after launching his own funding and consultancy business, joined Rivers to work on several specialist debt projects and reinforce the company’s overall debt offering into the future.

Simon has led on many debt based deals from the current Finance for Business North East Funds attracting high levels of private finance into local companies as a result. A Maths graduate joining Barclays plc from university, Simon specialised in Corporate Relationship Banking.

He currently holds the Investment Management Certificate of the UK Society of Investment Professionals, the Institute of Directors Diploma in Company Direction and is an FCA Approved Person.

Simon previously worked for NEL Fund Managers Limited and was responsible for the marketing and successful investment of the North East Growth Fund, the £26 million mezzanine debt fund within the JEREMIE programme. He joins Rivers as Head of Strategic Debt Funds.

Simon said: “I’m looking forward to working alongside the team to support the growth and innovation of more regional businesses and help Rivers realise their strategic long-term objectives.”

Roland and Simon join the company working alongside founders Dr John White, Jonathan Gold and Peter Hiscocks.

Managers of the £10.5m North East Angel Fund and the £7.5m North East Microloan Fund from the Finance for Business North East programme, Rivers has supported the growth and innovation of products and services in SME’s across the region since 2010.

Jonathan Gold, Managing Director said, “Both Simon and Roland bring invaluable experience and additional depth to our growing team. Simon is taking the lead on some great new projects, watch this space.”

Kieran Taylor, Ryecroft Glenton

Ryecroft Glenton, one of the North East’s largest independent firms of chartered accountants and business advisers, has expanded its training programme and recruited a new tax expert.

The Newcastle-based advisor has added four trainees, Natasha Robson, Will Spafford, Tony Anderson and Adam Tindale, to its accounting department and recruited Kieran Taylor, an experienced tax adviser, to join its tax department.

Kieran is a tax senior with more than seven years’ experience. He has accreditation from The Association of Taxation Technicians and joins from a nationwide professional services company.

Ryecroft Glenton provides a range of accountancy and financial planning services for private and business clients, including a thriving corporate finance advisory service.

Chris Robson, Managing Partner at Ryecroft Glenton, said: “Kieran is a great addition; he is an experienced professional who has worked for well-regarded accountancy practices. He will slot seamlessly into the team and hit the ground running.

“We take great pride in our training programme, which has provided us with a large number of our existing team and I’m delighted that our success has enabled us to welcome four new members to the accounts team.”

Kieran said: “Ryecroft Glenton is a fast-growing firm, with a talented and experienced tax team and is well-respected within the industry. It’s an honour to have joined them at such an exciting time and I’m looking forward to working with its diverse client base.”

James McKelvie, Sanderson Weatherall

Chartered surveyor and property consultancy Sanderson Weatherall, which has offices in Newcastle and Teesside, has enhanced its valuation team with the recruitment of a healthcare sector expert.

James McKelvie has been appointed as consultant within the valuation team and brings with him 25 years’ experience in surveying and specialist healthcare advice.

The appointment sees James, who previously worked as a valuation surveyor for Sanderson Weatherall in the 1990s, bring a combination of regional and national market knowledge of the healthcare property sector to his role.

Commenting on his new appointment James said: ‘Sanderson Weatherall is a progressive firm with an excellent reputation and I’m delighted to be returning.

“Its well-established office network puts the business in an ideal position to develop its healthcare valuation offer and I’m looking forward to building a dedicated team that can serve our clients nationally with specialised knowledge.”

Henry Mullen, Beth Turner and Tom Justice, Muckle LLP

North East law firm Muckle LLP has retained all three of its qualifying solicitors this September.

The three trainees, who have been with Newcastle-based Muckle for the last two years, have taken up roles in different teams across the firm from September 1st.

Henry Mullen, Beth Turner and Tom Justice have gained a wide range of experience in a variety of legal practice areas since starting their training contracts in 2014.

Jason Wainwright, Managing Partner at Muckle, said: “We’re thrilled to retain all three of our trainee solicitors this year. We have been very impressed with their positive attitudes during their time with us so far.

“They all work hard and fit within the culture we are striving to achieve as a business so we’re pleased to be able to welcome them to the team permanently.

“We’re committed to investing in our people through all stages of their career and I look forward to seeing all of our newly qualified solicitors develop within their new roles at Muckle.”

Tim Ingram, Port of Tyne

Tim Ingram has joined the Port of Tyne as Business Assurance Director responsible for leading health and safety, environmental, quality and risk management matters.

With over 25 years’ experience in health and safety management, Tim was Group HSSE Director for Dana Petroleum plc. and was the Corporate HSE Advisor to Dana’s parent company, the Korea National Oil Corporation in Seoul, South Korea.

Tim has also worked for Maersk Oil North Sea and was a Principal Inspector with the Health and Safety Executive. He is also a guest lecturer at Imperial College London.

Andrew Moffat, Port of Tyne Chief Executive Officer, said: “Tim has extensive senior management experience and a high level of professional health and safety expertise.

“The Port of Tyne has worked hard to develop robust HSE systems and I look forward to continuing to develop these strategies with Tim and further embedding a strong safety culture across the business.”

Tom Homan, Kim Saunders and Keith Hislop, NBS

Tom Homan, Kim Saunders and Keith Hislop have begun 18 month placements with Newcastle Building Society.

Keith, who is a recent graduate in Accounting & Finance from Coventry University, is working in the Society’s Finance & Audit work stream, which will provide him with the skills and knowledge required to build his career in a finance or audit-based function.

Kim was already working the Society as part of its Darlington branch team, and has been taken onto the programme’s Branch Network, which focuses on the customer service environment, branch management and other supporting functions.

Tom was also already working for the Society, as a Learning and Development Officer, and has now moved onto the training programme’s Operations Management work stream for the Society’s award-winning Strategic Solutions team, which delivers savings management services for a range of well-known banks and other financial institutions.

Andrew Haigh, chief executive at Newcastle Building Society, commented: “Giving talented people the chance to start to build their careers and realise their potential is essential to the long-term well-being of any large organisation.

“It is a huge testament to the personal and professional qualities that Tom, Kim and Keith offer that they were successful, and we wish them the very best for the future.”

Mike Brett, Synergi

North East business technology company Synergi has strengthened its team with the appointment of an experienced IT professional.

Mike Brett joins as support team leader, bringing more than 12 years’ experience and expertise in Microsoft technologies to the role, and after having worked in senior positions for other companies including local engineering firm, British Engines.

He will lead and develop Gateshead-based Synergi’s support team as well as take on day-to-day responsibility for the delivery of IT support services to customers migrating to new cloud-based Microsoft Office 365, SharePoint and Nintex technologies.

Mike will also have operational duties, leading his team and overseeing its development and growth alongside implementing service standards and improved testing processes based on industry best practice.

He said: “I am looking forward to the challenge and working closely with the Synergi team to improve our service support at a time when more and more businesses are investing in cloud-based solutions.”

Peter Joynson, managing director of Synergi, added: “It’ll be great to have Mike on-board at this time of growth and success for the firm.

“He will ensure our customers have the best possible ongoing care experience and help maximise their investment in modern technology, something that he has been delivering internally within his previous role”

Join us next week for more appointment news.

Looking to promote your product/service to SME businesses in your region? Find out how Bdaily can help →