This week's Yorkshire appointments

Solicitor Harjit Rait has joined LCF Law where she will lead the family law team in Bradford.

Harjit has spent the last 15 years working at other regional legal firms specialising in all areas of family law including divorce, separation, pre-nuptial agreements and matters relating to children.

She joins LCF Law as an associate and is also a member of The Law Society’s Family Law Advanced Accreditation Scheme.

Harjit said: “LCF Law is home to one of the region’s leading family law teams which makes this a great career move for me. It also an exciting time for the industry, due to the way that family law is continually evolving.

“I’m looking forward to contributing to LCF Law’s offering in this field, as well as helping to identify and pursue opportunities in order to grow the department further.”

Rachel Spencer Robb, head of family law at LCF Law, added: “We’re always keen to attract the best talent to our team and Harjit immediately stood out as being a high quality operator within this specialist arena.

“She has a solid reputation across all areas of family law and has delivered a wide range of positive successes for clients, which makes her a superb addition to LCF Law.”

LCF Law employs more than 135 people across offices in Leeds, Bradford, Harrogate and Ilkley.

Andrew Chapman and Russell Barlow, Brewster Bye Architects

Leeds-based Brewster Bye Architects has made two senior promotions, with Andrew Chapman and Russell Barlow becoming associates.

Andrew, who used to work at Space Architecture, has been with Brewster Bye for four years.

He works predominantly in the commercial and residential sectors, with a focus on student and professional accommodation, hotels and leisure, the private rental sector, offices, general housing and high density city centre mixed use developments.

Andrew said: “Since joining the firm I have been responsible for numerous projects including several really interesting conversions of listed buildings and some large scale new build developments.

“I have also worked on a number of high-profile projects for developers in Leeds city centre and been heavily involved with the design of the £13 million hotel within Huddersfield’s exciting HD One development alongside the John Smith’s Stadium.”

Russell has also been with Brewster Bye for four years and previously worked for AFL Architects specialising in the healthcare sector.

During his time at Brewster Bye, Russell has mainly worked in the residential property sector on a range of projects including general housing, social housing and extra care developments.

Russell commented: “The work is always really varied and I have been the lead architect on several refurbishments projects and barn conversions recently which have been particularly interesting.

“I typically manage projects which range in value from between £1 million and £10 million and work for developers, constructions firms and housing associations from across the UK.”

Chris Austin, Brewster Bye’s managing director, added: “Both Andrew and Russel are highly skilled professionals with a real flair for design and a proven track record for delivering award winning schemes.

“They have great relationships with our private and public sector clients, and thoroughly deserve their promotions.”

Clare Brophy, Handicare

Handicare, the international mobility equipment specialist, has appointed a new managing director for the UK.

Leeds-based Clare Brophy, managing director of Handicare’s UK direct sales company Companion Stairlifts, now takes on responsibility for all the group’s UK activities including Dealer and Government Sales, Moving, Handling & Bathing Solutions, as well as Customer Service and Field Service.

Clare has over 20 years’ experience in the mobility aids industry, building a business from startup to almost £30m in 14 years and working as a Handicare director since 2011.

Under her leadership, Handicare’s UK direct sales arm has achieved significant growth over the last two years; an achievement which resulted in her being named as Retail Businesswoman of the Year in Forward Ladies’ Yorkshire, North East and Scotland Women in Business Awards 2016.

Asbjørn Eskild, Handicare Group CEO, said: “I wish Clare and the UK team every success and we look forward to even stronger performance in the future as we maximise the skills of the whole team.”

Clare added: “I am excited to take this position leading Handicare’s UK activities and to develop a clear growth strategy across the whole of the business. The group is in great shape and our fantastic team really understand our customers’ needs, and consistently deliver on our commitments to quality products and extraordinary service.

“We’ll be focusing on opportunities to strengthen our dealer network and driving future revenue growth for key trade partners and our mobility shop network, delivering real value and benefits for all our customers, partners and people.”

Chris Etherington, RSM

RSM, the audit, tax and consulting firm, has appointed Chris Etherington as a private client tax partner in its Leeds office.

Prior to joining RSM, Chris trained and then worked for PwC for almost 12 years. As a member of PwC’s private client and private business team in Leeds, he specialised in providing tax advice to individuals and family owned businesses across the region.

Chris has experience advising entrepreneurs, management teams and high-net worth individuals on how income, capital gains, property and inheritance taxes may impact on their affairs - assisting on matters ranging from succession to cross-border issues.

He also has particular expertise in supporting fast-growing companies in the technology, media and telecoms sector.

In his new role, Chris will provide compliance and advisory support for a growing number of private clients to manage tax, wealth and succession planning, whilst working closely with the Yorkshire private client team to grow the practice and its offering.

Kevin O’Connor, RSM’s regional managing partner for Yorkshire and the North East, said: “It’s great to welcome Chris to the Leeds team.

“He will play a pivotal role in the continued growth of our private client practice - bringing a wealth of experience that will allow us to support more high net worth individuals with complex tax planning needs.”

Mark Stupples, Eddisons

Mark Stupples has joined Leeds-based property consultancy Eddisons as a non-executive director.

Mark has spent his entire career in property services, since joining JP Sturge, which became King Sturge, as a graduate trainee in 1984.

Appointed to its UK management board in 2000, he served as the firm’s UK managing partner from 2008 until 2011, during which time he negotiated the sale of that business to commercial real estate services and investment management business JLL.

Following the acquisition, Mark was appointed as JLL’s UK chief operating officer, a post he held until he left the firm in December 2016.

He completed and integrated a number of UK acquisitions during his time with JLL, including WA Ellis in 2014 and Integral in 2016.

Richard Roe, Eddisons managing director, said: “We are delighted to welcome Mark to Eddisons. He brings with him a wealth of experience as a result of his senior roles within leading UK property firms

“Mark is ideally suited to help Eddisons achieve its ambitious growth objectives and his expertise and strategic insight in managing growing property services businesses will be invaluable as the Eddisons business continues to evolve both organically and through selected acquisition.”

**Mark Dickson and Adrian Smith, Yorkshire Payments **

Brighouse-based Yorkshire Payments has recruited two new relationship managers.

Mark Dickson and Adrian Smith join the business to work directly with both new and existing Yorkshire Payments clients. Their role will include building and maintaining relationships with clients and key personnel within customer companies.

James Howard, the founder and managing director of Yorkshire Payments, established the company in 2013 with a vision to provide safe and secure payment solutions to a range of businesses across the region.

Prior to undertaking his position at Yorkshire Payments, Mark Dickson obtained a first in electrical and electronic engineering at the University Of Doncaster (DMIHE). He also assumed a number of senior roles in the retail and hospitality industries, including board level director at Hartwell Group, Northcliffe Group, JCT600, Co-operative Group, NCR & HD Brows.

Having worked in the payments services sector for a number of years, Adrian Smith has a wealth of industry experience from positions at PayZone and WorldPay.

James Howard said: “To reinforce the typically Yorkshire approach to customer service, it is important to Yorkshire Payments to continue to grow the team in line with new clients that come on board. We want businesses to trust in us and feel safe and secure in the knowledge that they will get exactly the services they pay for.

“Mark and Adrian are invaluable additions to the team and will allow us to continue to provide clients across the region with outstanding levels of customer service and advanced industry knowledge.”

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