Partner Article

This week's North East appointments

A roundup of the latest appointment news from across the North East.

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Adam Ballantyne, RMT

Increasing activity levels in the North East’s mergers and acquisitions market has led RMT Accountants & Business Advisors to expand its corporate finance team.

Adam Ballantyne has taken on a corporate finance executive role with the Gosforth-based firm’s team, which assists entrepreneurs complete acquisitions and disposals, as well enabling owner-managed businesses secure the investment they need to grow.

Adam qualified as an accountant in 2016 and was recently presented with the ICAEW Advanced Stage Student of The Year award by the Northern Society of Chartered Accountants.

He has worked in the financial services sector for the last four years, and began his career with Proctor & Gamble.

He said: “Being part of the corporate finance team means I’m working with a diverse range of businesses that all have ambitions for growth. We’re aiming to bolster and enhance various aspects of their commercial performance, helping them move forward and achieve their goals.

“My new role enables me to build a hands-on understanding of different financial activities and commercial performance, which will benefit both me personally and the clients that I’m working with.”

RMT provides financial and business advisory services through its corporate finance, accountancy, specialist tax, medical & healthcare, and recovery & insolvency teams, and works with firms of all sizes both within and outside the North East.

Michael Cantwell, head of corporate finance at RMT, added: “We’ve seen a significant rise in activity over the last few months, with regional businesses looking at taking that next step and we are well positioned to assist with this.

“The addition of Adam to the team ensures we have the resources available to manage growing demand, and he’s already playing an active part in the increasing range of work we’re undertaking.”

Alex Marsh, Maven Capital Partners

Maven Capital Partners has appointed Alex Marsh to its North East investment team.

Joining as Investment Manager to transact on behalf of Maven’s private equity funds. Alex will help to manage the £20m Finance Durham Fund.

Coming from Northstar Ventures, a North East-based venture capital investor focussed on the digital and technology sector, Alex invested in early stage businesses to support a range of innovative, high growth companies and prepared portfolio companies for exits.

Previously at PwC for almost 10 years, Alex worked as a Corporate Finance Manager in the award winning M&A team where he worked on a wide range of deals with public, private and private equity owned businesses, ranging from £10m to £230m transactions.

Enhancing Maven’s presence across the North East, Alex will work closely with SMEs and high growth businesses to help them achieve their growth plans.

Alex said: “I’m delighted to join the team at such an exciting time, Maven has an enviable track record of investing in high growth private companies across a wide range of industries, and has a highly respected reputation in the private equity market.

“The North East has a long standing tradition of producing highly innovative and entrepreneurial businesses and I’m looking forward to helping some of the region’s most exciting businesses achieve their growth plans.”

Michael Vassallo, Investment Director of Maven said, “We are really excited to welcome Alex to the team and strengthen our presence across the region.

“Alex is a great new addition to the team, where we already have 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 has invested in over 50 high-growth SMEs with a range of flexible funding options.”

Katie Cummings, Gordon Brown

Gordon Brown Law Firm (GBLF) has added Katie Cummings to its commercial property department.

Specialising in commercial property, Katie will be responsible for acting in acquisitions and sales as well as dealing with and negotiating commercial leases and licences.

After completing her Law degree at Northumbria University, Katie began her legal career and qualified as a solicitor just two years after graduating.

Since qualifying, Katie has worked at Dickinson Dees, Home Group and Richard Reed Solicitors, where she was director and head of property.

She said: “I was drawn to GBLF due to its excellent reputation amongst its clients and employees, and its status as a modern and progressive law firm with a good presence in commercial property work. With a young family at home, it was important to me to join the right firm, and I’m confident that I’ve found this in GBLF.

“My role in the corporate and commercial team will see me working with high calibre clients on varied commercial property transactions alongside a friendly and expert team. I’m looking forward to seeing how my role develops and am eager to assist in the growth of the firm over the next few years.”

Laura Donelly, Scott Logic

Software consultancy Scott Logic has appointed former Sage leader Laura Donelly as its new Finance Director. Laura brings a wealth of senior level financial experience and is looking to help steer the future direction of the business, which has grown from a startup in Newcastle to a multi million pound operation.

The business creates bespoke software solutions and works with some of the world’s largest financial institutions and global investment banks.

Laura’s appointment will provide the business with a strategic steer as it builds on its success and enters in to new markets.

Commenting on her new role Laura said: “It’s not often opportunities such as this become available in the North East which is why I jumped at the chance of joining the team. Scott Logic has enlisted my support to identify potential growth and really drive the business forward with a forward looking finance function.

“And what a good platform we have in place on which to build upon; Scott Logic has an impressive client list who entrust their complex, business critical software requirements to its team of consultants – this speaks volumes for their reputation, expertise and ability.”

Ben Howson & Sally Crosslet, OPR

Newcastle PR agency O PR has appointed Ben Howson as social media manager and Sally Crossley as an account manager.

Having previously worked with the likes of Marks & Spencer and Diesel, Ben, 28, specialises in social media strategies to increase audience following and engagement.

Returning to her native North East after six years working in London, Sally, 30, works across the agency’s consumer product, retail and travel accounts on PR, social media, influencer relations and events management.

Kari Owers, O’s managing director, said: “For a number of years the North’s creative industry, like so many other sectors in the region, has lost out to the south with talented graduates heading south each year.

“However, as an agency we are proud to be reversing that trend by attracting talent back to the North East of England – over the last two years we have now seen over 65 percent of our new recruits join us from the capital.

“Sally and Ben bring with them a wealth of experience having worked on some major brand names in London, which will stand them in great stead as they join our award-winning team working across our roster of regional and national accounts.”

Horizonworks

Newcastle-based marketing company Horizonworks has announced a series of promotions ahead of plans to scale in 2018.

Emma Parker and Antonia Edwards have been promoted to operations director and account director respectively, while Jen Dugdale has moved into a new role as marketing and business development manager.

Founded in 2010, Horizonworks specialises in business to business marketing for organisations working in manufacturing and engineering, healthcare and life sciences, technology and innovation, professional services and the public sector.

Working with a range of organisations, it offers the full spectrum of marketing services, including strategic marketing, public relations, design, brand development and digital marketing.

Samantha Davidson, Horizonworks MD, said: “At Horizonworks we are building a company that individuals can join and grow within. We strongly believe in rewarding people who are passionate, work incredibly hard and want to be part of our journey.

“These internal changes run in line with other exciting developments in the business including working with a number of new clients and winning our first US client, AmeriWater, who is a leading provider of water treatment equipment.”

Samantha added: “As a business, 2017 has been a fantastic year and we are looking forward to the next chapter!”

Brian Valentine, RED Engineering

Hexham-based RED Engineering has appointed a senior executive to oversee the development and expansion of its specialist test services business.

Brian Valentine joins the UK-based firm as a business developer, where he will be targeting customers in core offshore oil and gas, renewables and nuclear decommissioning sectors requiring advanced test services and supporting technologies.

He will also be looking at taking the firm into a wider range of sectors, opening up new opportunities as part of a diversification plan for RED’s testing services.

With a degree in mechanical engineering, he previously worked as a design and project engineer at FMC Technologies, where he had responsibility for the design and test of subsea valves for offshore projects. He recently held the post of commercial manager for a supplier of components for the offshore sector.

Brian said: “Our strategy of investing in the best people is paying dividends at a time of huge potential for us in key markets.

“I’m delighted Brian has committed his future to RED Engineering and with his commercial and technical experience, will become an integral part of the team, supporting growth and securing further success for our services.”

Suzanne Hughes, The Manor House

Suzanne Hughes has been appointed as manager of The Manor House care home in Gosforth, Newcastle, part of luxury elderly care provider Hadrian Healthcare Group.

Suzanne has always worked in the care sector and began her career as a care assistant, working her way up through various roles to become a manager. She has a track record of building and managing successful teams to provide high quality services to clients.

Suzanne said: “I am passionate about the work I do, care is a hugely rewarding career.

“We have a delightful home at The Manor House and it’s been lovely to meet the residents, their families and all our staff. I’m really looking forward to getting to know everyone better.”

Jas Gill, managing director of Hadrian Healthcare Group said: “We are delighted to welcome Suzanne to the Hadrian management team.

“She has a wealth of experience and fully supports our core values of caring for the individual needs of each of our residents, enabling them to enjoy enhanced and independent lives.”

Join us next week for more appointments news.

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