This week’s Yorkshire appointments

Sweco, the Leeds-based engineering, environment and design consultancy, has appointed a new operations director to its transportation business unit.

Rosie Simon has joined the transport team at the company’s Leeds office and brings with her significant experience within the highways, rail and aviation sectors.

Rosie’s experience includes leading design management function at Morgan Sindall, covering business development, pre-contract and delivery on major transportation projects for Highways England, Network Rail, Heathrow Airport and a number of local authorities.

Most recently, she was involved in the Fusion team, a contractor joint venture, tendering for the HS2 Enabling and Main Works Civils Contract.

Iain Scott, Sweco’s director of transportation, said: “We are extremely pleased to have someone of Rosie’s calibre and experience joining our transportation team, at what is a very exciting time for the business.

“Her knowledge and expertise will further enhance our existing service and enable us to maximise opportunities and support the delivery of major projects in the future.”

In the UK, Sweco employs 800 people and has particular expertise in the fields of energy, transportation, environment, asset management, sustainable buildings and water.

Emily Grimshaw, Clarion

Emily Grimshaw has joined Clarion’s dispute resolution and litigation practice as an associate solicitor.

Emily graduated from the University of East Anglia with an LLB Law degree before completing her Legal Practice Course at the College of Law, York.

She then undertook a two year training contract with Stewarts Law in Leeds which included working on a wide range of commercial and competition disputes.

In 2015, Emily joined Walker Morris where she spent two years as a litigation solicitor in the firm’s banking litigation department.

Emily’s experience includes acting on behalf of major financial institutions in relation to complex, large scale fraud claims and professional negligence matters.

Simon Young, partner and head of the dispute resolution practice at Clarion, commented: “We have seen significant growth in our contentious workflows and so it is vital that we not only expand our team, but that we also invest in and nurture young talent. Emily will be a welcome addition to the team.”

Dan Wilson, HSBC Hull Commercial Centre

The HSBC Hull Commercial Centre has announced the appointment of Dan Wilson as the new corporate banking relationship director.

Dan, who commenced his role in January, joins the team from a direct competitor and will be bringing 20 years of experience and knowledge from the banking sector, particularly within the Humber business community.

Dan joins corporate banking colleagues Simon Cook and Scott Christian as well as Caroline Atkinson, who works with the area’s large corporates, and will work alongside the business banking team led by Phil Look.

Adam Kelly, HSBC’s deputy head of corporate banking for North Yorkshire & Humber, said: “With Hull’s achievement of City of Culture status now upon us, this appointment is a further demonstration of our continued desire to invest and develop our full corporate banking proposition in the area - providing a local presence, to service the needs of corporate businesses across the whole of the wider Humber region.”

Dan added: “I am delighted to be joining the HSBC team in the Humber region. There are exciting times ahead for sure.

“I am very much looking forward to working with my new colleagues to support businesses in the area achieve their aspirations.”

Matthew Stafford, Hangfast

Hangfast, the Bingley-based adventure engineering company, has appointed designer Matthew Stafford to the position of creative lead.

Stafford, with over two decades of experience in installation design and construction, joins the company from JB Display, also based in Bingley, where he worked for two years.

Prior to this he worked as one of the UK’s leading freelance designers for over 16 years, specialising in the design of large-scale seasonal installations for companies including intu Merry Hill in Birmingham, intu Derby, Westfield London and Marks & Spencer.

Stafford said: “Hangfast is a really exciting company. I’ve known John for some time and have always been impressed by his forward-thinking and innovative approach - pushing the boundaries of what is possible in the field of fun climbing and other adventure installations.

“As a creative, I’m looking forward to bringing a new perspective to the existing design process, and assisting customers in achieving truly bespoke adventure installations that meet their needs.

“It’s a very different product to that of which I’m familiar designing – large seasonal centrepieces, but the principles and processes are exactly the same. It’s a great challenge and one I’m looking forward to embracing.”

Stafford joins Hangfast with immediate effect and will be the main point of contact on all customer design queries.

Founded by John Beers in 2006, Hangfast creates bespoke fun climbing walls, caving installations and rope courses to meet the specifications of its customers.

Tom Lamb, Towngate PLC

Towngate PLC, the Brighouse-headquartered commercial and industrial lettings specialist, has appointed Tom Lamb as a new property manager.

Tom comes on board following a decade at Knight Frank, where he was partner in the Leeds-based industrial and logistics department. Before that he spent five years at banking and financial services giant BNP Paribas.

Tom’s new role will see him overseeing Towngate’s portfolio of property lets in Yorkshire and the North West. He will also be on the hunt for new acquisitions, including land and premises ready for refurbishment and redevelopment.

Robert Smith, Towngate’s managing director, stated: “The Northern property market is strong and demand for the right space is high.

“We’ve therefore got a real appetite to capitalise on the opportunities becoming available throughout the region, and hope to increase our total portfolio of assets by up to 20% by the end of 2017.

“The key goal for Tom is to source, procure and manage a variety of different assets that offer clients a breadth of choice.

“We’re looking for everything from good quality secondary industrial properties that are ready to let, through to larger properties in need of refurbishment.”

Lindsey Proctor, Hannah Pearson and Kara Clifford, The Bigger Boat

The Bigger Boat, the Mirfield-based digital marketing agency, has announced the appointment of three new team members.

Lindsey Proctor is The Bigger Boat’s newest marketing account manager, having previously worked within the brand team at PPG Industries.

With almost 6 years of marketing experience under her belt and knowledge spanning everything from strategy development to social media.

Designer and Masters graduate Kara Clifford joins the team following completion of her advanced studies at The University of Huddersfield.

She was last at Huddersfield-based PWAR Creative, where she was design manager overseeing a number of B2B and B2C creative projects.

The third new hire is Hannah Pearson, a marketing intern from Northumbria University. Supporting the team with some of their 60 clients, as well as The Bigger Boat’s own profile raising, she is particularly focusing on SEO and CRO (conversion rate optimisation) activity.

Andy McCaul, joint founding director, said: “Lindsey, Kara and Hannah join us with varying levels of skills and experience, which further strengthens the services we are able to deliver to clients, not to mention the capacity within our team.

“We’re big believers in developing talent, and our new creative space in a converted watermill proved very helpful in us attracting outstanding people for these competitive roles.”

The Bigger Boat is a full-service agency providing design, digital and search marketing support for clients throughout the UK. The company has its eyes on £1m turnover within the next five years.

Abigail Binns, Tom Coates and Luke Buss, Faith PR

Faith PR, the Brighouse-based PR Agency, with the addition of two new full-time members of staff and an apprentice.

Tom Coates joins as a senior account manager following PR and communications roles with Rugby League World Cup 2013 and Rochdale Borough Council, and with a background in journalism, while Abigail Binns arrives as an account executive after having spent the previous two years with social media agency IMP Media.

The agency has also recruited a digital marketing apprentice as part of its commitment to identifying and developing local talent, while building on its social media and content marketing offering.

Luke Buss joins Faith as a part of his Level 3 Social Media Apprenticeship course training provider Estio.

Stefanie Hopkins, Faith PR director, said: “We enjoyed a record turnover during the last 12 months following a number of new client wins and increased spending by existing clients.

“In my desire to grow Faith into the largest PR and communications agency in Kirklees and Calderdale, it is important that the business is equipped to expand further, and the addition of Tom, Abby and Luke to our team will help to underpin those ambitions.

“Both Tom and Abby also bring with them valuable digital blue chip client experience, which will help us strengthen our content marketing offering.”

Faith PR is a PR, social media and communications agency, which works with local, national and international businesses across consumer and B2B sectors.

Hannah Palmer and Sarah Spickett, Prohibition

Prohibition, the specialist Leeds-based integrated PR and social media agency, has announced the appointment of two new team members.

Sarah Spickett joins the team as a junior account manager, having previously worked at Leeds-based agency TK, and prior to that, in fashion PR in London.

Specialising in traditional public relations, Sarah will be supporting Prohibition’s portfolio of retail and luxury goods clients, which include jewellers, Goldsmiths.

Meanwhile, Hannah Palmer joins the team as an account executive after previously completing her placement year at Porsche in 2014. Hannah’s main focus will be on content creation and offering a digitally-led supporting role during the execution of social media projects.

The new appointments take Prohibition’s head-count to ten staff, spanning a range of specialist disciplines from online community management to influencer engagement and social media advertising.

Chris Norton, managing director of Prohibition said: “These are exciting times for all of us here at Prohibition we have had another record year and our team is continuing to grow.

“Due to our specialism in online content and conversation creation, we have been attracting more and more clients with increasingly creative projects.

“This business growth brings with it the amazing opportunity for us to populate our team with other like-minded creatives. I look forward to working with Sarah and Hannah during the next stage of their careers and am delighted to have them on board.”

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