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This week's North East appointments

Your weekly roundup of the latest North East appointments.

Rachael Cooper and Ross Gordon, Square One Law

North East law firm Square One Law has appointed two new lawyers, Rachael Cooper and Ross Gordon.

The duo previously worked with Gillian Tatt, Head of Litigation, in-house at Northern Rock.

Ross Gordon said: “I was attracted to Square One Law because of Gillian’s reputation and the quality of the firm’s clients and the range and breadth of work that the team is involved in.

“Having worked for Gillian before I know I can learn a great deal from her and develop my career in this fast-moving firm.”

Ian Gilthorpe, Senior Partner, added: “No client wants to enter into disputes or litigation if they can be avoided, but you need to know you have a good litigator in your corner if you do go down that path.

“With all the uncertainty around Brexit we also have the advantage of being the only firm in the North East to offer contentious competition law. Our clients speak very highly of Gillian and, in my opinion, she is the best trial lawyer in the North East.”

Simon Yellowley, BT

BT has appointed a new senior executive, Simon Yellowley, to head up its public sector business in the North of England and implement a new strategic direction to increase local presence across the North East, North West and Yorkshire and Humber regions.

Simon, who lives in Tynemouth, has worked at BT for 19 years, in which time he has built up a wealth of experience in BT’s public sector business – working on everything from consultancy to sales management and major deals such as BT South Tyneside. Prior to joining BT he spent eight years working in the Public Sector.

He will lead a team of 20, with a strategic focus on building local relationships with customers in the North of England such as local authorities, local NHS organisations, universities and housing associations.

BT has 300 Public Sector customers across the North of England and Simon will be focused on helping customers to connect, collaborate, integrate and transform citizen, patient, tenant and student services.

Simon said: “BT’s technology and expertise can help the public sector reduce costs and drive efficiencies, as well as supporting them to take a more digital approach to their customers.

“Throughout the North of England BT is making massive investments in technologies and innovations, customer service and, not least, fixed and mobile networks, which gives us a great opportunity to combine services for our public sector customers.

“We understand the need for the public sector to make more localised decisions which give the maximum benefit for the local people using their services.

“Having a team of people who live and work in the North of England and understand the landscape is going to be hugely advantageous. I’m proud to be leading the team and look forward to strengthening BT’s relationships with our colleagues in the public sector.”

Dean Burrows, Cibes

Lift specialist Cibes UK has appointed Dean Burrows as Managing Director as it gears up for growth.

Dean, the former Director of the Cibes UK acquired business Platform Lift Solutions, will be joined by Jason King as Operations Director and Gary Sullivan as Sales and Marketing Director.

Cibes UK works predominantly in the construction sector and specialises in its use of hi-tech Swedish engineering.

As well as implementing a customer care division to handle maintenance and customer service, the firm works across a range of different sectors, specialising in its work within the retail, transport and naturally the construction industry.

The group is working towards a turnover of £6m by the end of year, on top of recruiting a further six full-time employees, bringing the total workforce to 26, excluding external contractors.

Dean said: “This is an ambitious target, but one we’ve strategically planned for and actively working towards.

“In the first quarter of this year we are focussing our efforts on bringing the two companies, Platform Lift Solutions and Access 4 All, together to regulate our internal processes and ensure there is synergy between both offices whilst moving forward.

“Cibes have actually been here in the UK for nearly 20 years as a lift manufacturer supplying its products through a handful of smaller distributors and latterly through its wholly owned subsidiary Axess 4 All. Now is the time for us to move forward, show our combined capabilities and work towards becoming the go-to name in the UK market.”

Michael Vassall and Michael Dickens, Maven

Private equity house Maven Capital Partners has appointed Michael Vassallo as investment director, formerly of FW Capital, and Michael Dickens, from Rivers Capital Partners, as investment manager to its North East investment team.

The hires follow the announcement of Maven’s appointment to manage the new £20m Finance Durham fund, which is available for investment from May.

Vassallo and Dickens, who will be responsible for transacting new investments in the North East on behalf of Maven’s client funds, will strengthen an investment team which has been backing high growth SMEs across the region for almost 20 years.

Michael Vassallo, Investment Director for Maven in the North East, said: “We are really excited to be strengthening the Maven brand across the North East, where Maven is already an established investor in SMEs and has a strong record of backing dynamic regional businesses.

“The firm’s strong record of backing innovative British businesses, and recent appointment to manage the SME focused Finance Durham fund, is an opportunity to work with some of the highest potential smaller companies in the region to deliver their growth aspirations.

“As a team we bring an in-depth knowledge of the local SME sector, and a range of sector specialist knowledge, allied to the national resource of Maven’s UK business which is currently invested in over 50 high-growth SMEs.”

Glen Pearson and Paul Alexander, ElringKlinger

Automotive parts manufacturer ElringKlinger (GB) has made two senior appointments as it looks to continue its growth story.

Redcar-based ElringKlinger (GB), which now employs over 300 people after tripling its workforce over the past eight years, has welcomed a new head of logistics and finance controller as it continues its growth despite the backdrop of Brexit.

Glen Pearson has been appointed as head of logistics and is responsible for the end-to-end supply chain function within the business, leading a team of 18 across goods receiving and warehousing, purchasing, production planning and shipping/dispatch.

Glen, 50, from Washington, has over 25 years’ experience in logistics and supply chain management. He joins ElringKlinger (GB) from a Gateshead-based oil and gas firm where he led the project and production planning teams for all major onshore and offshore drilling projects.

He said: “Having worked in the automotive industry for a number of years, I know the great reputation that ElringKlinger has and I’m delighted to have joined the team.

“Robust supply chain systems and processes can make a major difference to the success of a business and I’m looking forward to working with the great team that we have here to meet our objectives and to support further growth.”

ElringKlinger (GB) has also appointed Paul Alexander as financial controller after he originally joined the business last year as a cost accountant. Paul, 30, from Darlington, joined ElringKlinger following seven years at a Cramlington-based PVC manufacturer after completing a Business and IT degree at Northumbria University.

Paul is CIMA qualified and is responsible for managing all financial aspects of the business, including cash flow management, forecasting and budgeting.

He said: “Having achieved my CIMA qualification I needed a new challenge and ElringKlinger fitted the bill perfectly.

“The business is growing quickly and has ambitious plans for the future. Having worked closely under my predecessor, I have a good working knowledge and understanding of the business and I am enjoying my new role after his retirement. The business is going from strength to strength right now, and it’s a fantastic time for everyone involved.”

David Straughan, Naylors

Newcastle-based commercial property specialist Naylors has announced the appointment of David Straughan as new associate director.

Straughan has joined the firm’s building consultancy department following roles with Summers Inman and spacegroup.

Together with existing associate director Dean Clark, David will be responsible for managing and developing the department, which has also recently recruited Scott Clarke and Adam Carter.

David became a member of the RICS in 2013, before setting up his own consultancy Eriss Ltd, offering a range of building surveying services as well as laser scanning and 3D design.

Commenting on his move to Naylors, David said: “I have worked with Naylors a number of times over the years and had a good understanding of the ethos of the firm. When they approached me I felt it was too good an opportunity to turn down. I am excited about the move and the direction that Naylors want to take with the department, which will allow me to continue to develop services such as digital surveying, 3D laser scanning and BIM.”

Richard Foster, Ebac

North East manufacturer Ebac has recruited an experienced sales professional to support the expansion of its washing machine sales into the Midlands.

With more than thirty years industry experience, most recently at Hotpoint where he worked for over a decade Richard Foster has joined the Ebac family as a Sales Development Manager.

During his career he has established a real drive and vision for the UK white goods market and as a member of the Ebac team, he sees the brand firmly placed at the centre of that vision, as a future industry leader.

Richard is responsible for the Midlands region, an area in which he already has excellent relationships with many of the local retailers, attained during his career. His objective is to work with the independent retailers to be able to provide the market with the only British-made washing machines, and the company’s well-established dehumidifiers.

Richard said: “This is a really exciting opportunity to work with a new name in the white goods industry, and help develop the business into a household name. One which will not only be linked to quality dehumidifiers, but also safe, reliable British made washing machines”.

Bdaily’s North East appointments roundup will return, as usual, next monday.

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