This week’s North East appointments

Mark Russell, Steve Hesmondhalgh & Associates

County Durham- and Harrogate-based planning consultancy Steve Hesmondhalgh & Associates has taken on Mark Russell as its new head of planning.

Mark was previously the principle planning adviser at Homes for Scotland, the Scottish housebuilders’ national industry body.

He has over 17 years of planning experience across the public and private sectors, starting his career at Eden District Council in Cumbria and going on to work for Edinburgh City Council and Fife Council.

From there, he moved to the private sector in the role of associate director at the Edinburgh office of international planning consultancy RPS.

MD Steve Hesmondhalgh said: “I am really pleased to be welcoming a new colleague on board with Mark’s breadth of town planning experience.

“The changes to the UK planning system mean there are many opportunities emerging for new development that will address the shortage of homes across the country.”

He continued: “As head of planning Mark will lead on a range of the new projects we will be seeing in the coming months.

“We have a strong team and an impressive, successful track record of delivering commercially viable schemes for clients and we look forward to helping them to take a pragmatic approach to making development projects a reality in the new planning environment.”

David Wilson and Greg Davison, Cushman & Wakefield

Commercial real estate firm Cushman & Wakefield has announced two new leadership appointments for its operations in Newcastle.

Partner David Wilson has been appointed head of the Newcastle office, while fellow partner Greg Davison has been appointed head of office agency.

Both will take up their new positions in June.

David has experience with both public and private sector clients, having led the company’s Newcastle-based project and building consultancy teams for more than 20 years.

Greg joined the Newcastle office of DTZ, which merged with Cushman & Wakefield two years ago, in 2002 after spending five years in central London office agency. He is returning to the city from Leeds, where he is currently a partner in Cushman & Wakefield’s capital markets team.

Cushman & Wakefield’s head of the North region, Tim Cameron-Jones, said: “I congratulate Dave and Greg on their appointments.

“Dave has been a long standing and integral part of our team in Newcastle, working with many of our key clients, as well as a key member of the leadership team.”

He continued: “I am delighted that Greg is moving back to a team he knows very well, bringing with him valuable experience he’s gained from his time in Leeds.”

Mike McGoldrick, Adam Cliff and Callum Major, Eddisons

Property consultancy firm Eddisons has added to its building surveying division with three new assistant building surveyors across its offices in the North East and Yorkshire.

Mike McGoldrick (pictured) has joined the company’s new base in Newcastle, while Adam Cliff and Callum Major have joined Eddisons in Leeds.

The head of building surveying at Eddisons, Ian Harrington, said: “We are excited about starting work with our new education sector clients across the North and London following an excellent success rate in applications for finance from the annual CIF bidding round.

“All three of our new assistant building surveyors will play an important role in helping the team deliver a high standard of work and first class service and it is particularly rewarding to be able to use our expertise in a sector that helps to improve young people’s lives every day.”

Eddisons expanded into Newcastle in January this year. The four-strong team is led by Adam Finch.

Rob Murdoch and John Johnstone, Professional Network Technology Solutions

IT company Professional Network Technology Solutions (PNTS), based at NETPark Incubator in County Durham, has doubled its team with two new appointments.

Rob Murdoch has taken up role of customer relations manager, which will see him supporting PNTS’ expanding customer base.

John Johnstone, meanwhile, has been hired as a support engineer. He brings with him over 30 years of experience in system installations, data recovery, network setups and other areas of IT.

Director Paul Ashley, who co-founded the company in 2015 with Mark Pearson, said: “I am delighted to announce that Rob and John have decided to join PNTS at such an important stage in our evolution.

“Both bring with them immense experience and professionalism in their specific fields, which will be beneficial in allowing Mark and I to grow the business as we continue to see an increase in demand for our full range of services.”

Will Smith, airFair

airFair, the Newcastle-based flight delay compensation business, has appointed a new boss to lead its operations and deliver its growth strategy.

As head of airFair, Will Smith will manage the team while overseeing processes, marketing and the development of a new in-house CRM system.

Will has more than five years’ experience in the claims sector and previously worked for airFair’s parent company, fintech business Allay.

His appointment follows the launch of airFair’s flight delay compensation app, which allows users to see if they are eligible to claim from as early as when they are still at the airport.

Will said of his appointment: “It is an important time for airFair and to be faced with the challenges which my new role brings is incredibly exciting.

“Having spent over five years in the claims sector, the time felt right to take this next step in my career thanks to the support and mentoring I’ve gained from working closely with the directors.”

He continued: “I have hit the ground running in my new position to achieve our ultimate aim - to become the go-to platform for people looking to claim flight delay compensation.

“We have a real advantage over others in the market because of the airFair app which is consistently being developed, as well as our extensive experience in claims management.”

Allay MD Steven Bell commented: “airFair has experienced great success in its first six months which we are sure Will can take to the next level.

“We see massive growth potential for the business and are constantly working on new software and processes to handle a large scale of claims and add further efficiency to the customer journey.”

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