This week's Yorkshire appointments

Town Centre Securities (TCS), the Leeds and London-based property and investment development firm, has appointed Mark Dilley as its new group finance director.

Mark joined the business in July, after spending 14 years at Asda Stores Ltd (part of Walmart).

During his time with the retailer, Mark undertook a variety of roles across internal audit, trading finance and ecommerce finance before being appointed vice president for retail and property finance.

As vice president, Mark was responsible for all Asda stores and distribution centres as well as new store acquisitions.

In addition to his role at Asda, the new TCS finance director held positions at Unilever and JP Morgan. Whilst at the financial services firm, Mark supported the corporate services and facilities team then moved to support the Investment Banking and M&A client teams.

Edward Ziff, chairman and chief executive of Town Centre Securities, said: “On behalf of the board, I would like to welcome Mark to the business.

“We were in no doubt that he was the right man for the job and are looking forward to working with him on our upcoming projects. He brings some exceptional experience to the role and will be an asset to myself and the team as we continue with our development programme.”

Mark moved to Yorkshire in 2003 and lives in Harrogate with his wife and three children.

Kathren Wright and Lee Elgie, JM Glendinning

JM Glendinning, the Yorkshire insurance broker, has promoted two members of its team to senior roles and welcomed them to its board of directors.

Kathren Wright has been recruited internally as group finance director, in place of Tim Hutchinson who has retired. Lee Elgie has been promoted to group HR and operations director from his position as head of operations.

Both have been appointed to the firm’s board of directors.

Kathren joined JM Glendinning in 2014 as head of operational finance. Kathren’s first role in finance was as an accounts clerk for a fibre optic supply and installation company in 1993.

From there she took a role as management accountant at Vege and started her accountancy studies with the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA).

Lee Elgie joined JM Glendinning in 2013 as head of operations, to ensure strong insurer relations and provide support to enable the business to fulfil expansion plans.

Now, as group HR and operations director, Lee ensures consistency across the group, heading up JM Glendinning’s regulatory regime, including all compliance elements, such as file audits, PI protection for the business and hosting monthly compliance working groups.

Nick Houghton, JM Glendinning group managing director, said: “Both Kathren and Lee are professional and self-driven team members, who set goals and standards and who lead by example.

“We aim to recruit the best and invest time in individuals to encourage them to fulfil their potential, which is precisely what has happened in Kathren and Lee’s journey at JM Glendinning.”

Martin Harrison, Fulcrum

Martin Harrison, Fulcrum’s chief financial officer, has now been appointed the chief executive officer of the Sheffield-based independent multi-utility infrastructure and service provider.

Martin has replaced outgoing CEO, Martin Donnachie, who announced he was standing down earlier this year.

Having joined Fulcrum three years ago, Martin has played a pivotal role in the profitable growth of the company, which recently announced a record profit before tax of £6.5m, compared to £4.3m in 2016.

Prior to joining Fulcrum, Martin Harrison was divisional finance director of Lafarge Tarmac Contracting from 2010 to 2014.

Previously, he spent three years with KPMG, working on merger and acquisition and corporate restructuring, and 11 years with Saint Gobain / BPB plc.

Fulcrum’s group financial controller, Hazel Griffiths, succeeds Martin as chief financial officer.

Martin Harrison, Fulcrum’s CEO, said: “I am very proud to become CEO at an exciting time in the Company’s development.

“Fulcrum is well positioned to grow sustainably in the utility services market with a balanced approach across the different routes to market, asset ownership and a commitment to efficient safe operations and customer service.

“Looking forward, the opportunities for further improvement and value creation remain attractive. We are confident about the growth opportunities and our ability to leverage our robust and scalable operating platform.

“We believe the outlook remains positive and that the Company continues to be well positioned to make sustained progress in the years ahead.”

David Clark (left), Woodrow Mercer Finance

Woodrow Mercer Finance, a joint venture between FDYL, the Yorkshire-based financial consultancy and recruitment specialist, and Birmingham-based recruiter Woodrow Mercer, has appointed David Clark as an associate director in its Leeds office.

David joins from Michael Page where he spent nine years, working as a business manager for the last four years in its interim finance division in West Yorkshire, where he recruited across all industry sectors.

In his new role with Woodrow Mercer Finance, David will continue to act as an interim specialist for senior finance appointments at qualified level across Yorkshire.

He will work with partner James Roach, primarily focusing on recruiting for financial controllers, finance directors and project related specialists.

James Roach, Woodrow Mercer Finance partner, said: “Since partnering with Woodrow Mercer last November, we have seen rapid growth in what is a very buoyant market.

“We are finding that our reputation as well-established specialists in finance recruitment who really understand the needs of our clients is leading to increased demand for our services.

“Consequently David, with his expertise in interim finance recruitment, will be a welcome addition to the team.”

Adam Farrer, Powell Williams

Powell Williams, the national building consultancy, has promoted Adam Farrer to associate in the Leeds office.

He joined the firm in 2015, soon after the launch of the Leeds office headed by partner Paul Scourfield.

He has helped grow the business in Leeds and cemented relationships with key clients including Travis Perkins and SIG, and will be charged with continuing to help expand the client base.

Paul Scourfield said: “Adam’s work, and the esteem in which he is held by many of our clients, is extremely impressive and demonstrates his commitment to Powell Williams and a desire to grow the business.

“He delivers an excellent service, has nurtured several key client relationships which results in high levels of customer satisfaction and, crucially, repeat business for the firm.

“We will continue to support Adam in his professional development. He has really stepped up to take ownership of creating new opportunities for the business, in particular the growth of the Leeds office, and thoroughly deserves this promotion.”

Lydia Sykes, Chamber International

Chamber International, the Bradford-based overseas trade specialist, has boosted its client services team with the appointment of a new account handler.

Lydia Sykes, who achieved a 1st degree in Modern Foreign Languages and International Business at Huddersfield University, will work alongside new accounts manager, Lydia Moi, in matching new-to-exporting businesses to Chamber International’s portfolio of business support services.

Lydia said: “I’ve always had a passion for foreign languages and learning about different cultures and hope to put this to good use by working in international trade.”

Tim Bailey, Chamber International director, added: “Interest in doing business internationally is at an all time high and it means that we need more people to ensure that we continue to provide the high-quality services that we’re known for.”

Mark Winter, Astonish

Astonish, the Bradford-based manufacturer of cruelty free, household and laundry cleaning products, has appointed Mark Winter as commercial director.

Mark will be responsible for leading the sales team and implementing a strategy to grow the business, as it launches new look pack designs across its portfolio of more than 60 products.

Previously, Mark was a member of Unilever’s customer development team, where he worked across a number of the company’s categories and key accounts.

He commented: “I am delighted to be joining Astonish. What motivates me most is the opportunity to release the potential of this growing brand. Astonish is willing to invest substantially to ensure its long-term success and make a real difference to its loyal customers who have been advocates for over 40 years.

“Astonish’s core values which include being ethical and cruelty free, whilst still offering excellent quality and exceptional value, resonates very highly with my own set of beliefs, and this passion for the brand is evident in its reviews on social media and ratings on corporate websites.

“One of the biggest challenges for the sector is the speed of change we are seeing within customers shopping habits, however Astonish have shown they have the agility to react and respond by putting the consumer at the heart of their decisions”.

Howard Moss, managing director at Astonish, said: “Astonish has achieved a great deal of success over the last 40 years, but for this to continue we realised that we needed to invest in our infrastructure, brand and team in order to stand out in a competitive marketplace.

“We have an ambitious growth strategy in place and understand that this can only be achieved by having the right people like Mark in place.

“Astonish’s new identity is by no means the end as there is also more to come with exciting new product developments and accolades that reinforce the performance of our products.”

Astonish, which employs 72 team members, produces a range of over 60 products that cover a solution for every cleaning problem, from mould removers to oven cleaners.

Ben Buckley, Dacre, Son & Hartley

Ben Buckley has been appointed as a sales negotiator at Ripon’s estate agency firm, Dacre, Son & Hartley.

Ben previously worked as an area sales coordinator for a wholesale interiors company.

Commenting on his new appointment, Ben said: “My dad is a chartered surveyor, so I have grown up around the industry and felt like it was the next step for me, as there are plenty of opportunities.

“I wanted to join a well-established firm like Dacres that has offices all over the county, and the fact that it has a great reputation for investing in and developing its people, also really appealed to me.”

Dacre Son & Hartley has operated from the Cathedral City of Ripon for over 40 years and is based on Queen Street, employing a team of eight.

Chris O’Mahony, a senior associate, who is the area manager, added: “Recent figures from property portal Rightmove show that we are the leading agent in Ripon and our success is testament to the dedication of our hard working team who have sold over £18m worth of property since the start of the year.

“With such a thriving office, we were keen to recruit a new talented sales negotiator like Ben who can work alongside our experienced sales team supporting them and helping to service our ever expanding number of clients.

“As well as sales, our team also manages hundreds of properties for property investors and landlords renting to tenants wanting to live in Ripon and the surrounding villages.

“We also provide a host of financial services and are open seven days a week to make it as easy as possible for people to call in and discuss all of their property needs.”

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