This week's Yorkshire appointments

The Leeds office of professional services firm KPMG has appointed Phil Murden, Chris Roberts and Rob Wilson as partners.

Phil Murden leads KPMG’s Management Consulting business in the North, advising businesses on transformation, digital and technology.

New tax partner Chris Roberts has experience of advising on corporate and international tax matters and will lead KPMG’s offering in this area across Yorkshire and the Humber.

Rob Wilson is head of KPMG’s Technology Risk team in the UK regions and has more than 20 years’ experience of providing IT assurance services to KPMG clients.

Additionally, five colleagues were promoted to director. Michael Davidson, Alain de Braekeleer and Claire Gallimore in the audit practice; Oliver Duckett in business development and Vicki Joshi in KPMG-Nunwood, the firm’s customer experience consultancy.

In total, 82 professionals were promoted throughout the office and a further 73 people were recruited to the firm in Yorkshire through its graduate, apprentice and school leaver schemes.

Chris Hearld, KPMG’s North Region chair, said: “The experience and skill-set of Phil, Chris and Rob demonstrate the specialist talent the regional business and public sector community can call upon to support their wide ranging ambitions and challenges.

“They represent a fantastic addition to the partner group leading our thriving Leeds KPMG office.

“We have made a significant round of promotions throughout the business, reflecting the enormous contribution made by our people at all levels, in supporting our clients in Yorkshire and beyond.

“I’m also delighted that we are bolstered further by an impressive intake of new joiners as we invest in the best emerging professionals.”

Michael Kidd, Lupton Fawcett

Michael Kidd has been appointed as a director of Leeds, Sheffield and York law firm Lupton Fawcett, to head up its banking department.

He joins with more than ten years’ experience working at international law firms, where he acted for a variety of clients, including clearing banks, private equity houses, real estate funds and borrowers including multi-national PLCs, SMEs and owner-managed businesses.

Michael specialises in corporate finance, acquisition finance and real estate finance for M&A transactions, investment and development.

Andrew Lindsay, head of Corporate, and Richard Marshall, Lupton Fawcett’s managing director, are both delighted to welcome Michael to the firm.

Marshall said: “To have attracted one of most respected and sought after banking and finance lawyers in the county clearly demonstrates the growing reputation of the firm within the legal sector.”

Andrew Lindsay added: “We are continuing to build an excellent corporate team and Michael will prove to be a fantastic addition.”

Christopher Rushworth, Barclays

Barclays has announced a new appointment to the South Yorkshire and Humber team.

Christopher Rushworth joins the team as a relationship director and will be responsible for looking after the needs of businesses within the manufacturing, transport and logistics sectors.

Rushworth, who has been a banker for the last twenty years, has a broad spectrum of segments and routes to markets dealing with all business sizes from start-up through to corporates, telephony, internet based businesses and face to face portfolio management.

Recently his experience has been as a director of business banking, leading a team across the Humber region.

Rushworth said: “The Humber region is not only my home but a place I am passionate about and it’s been fantastic to see the impact the Capital of Culture status has had across the region.

“The relationship director role with Barclays will give me a fantastic opportunity to work even more closely with some incredible businesses and, where possible, support the continuing growth and regeneration I am seeing.”

Andrew Marsh, head of corporate banking for South Yorkshire and the Humber, commented: “This is our second senior appointment in the region and I am proud that Barclays continually invests in talent to support our customers.

“Christopher’s sector and local market knowledge will be a huge asset for our customers across the region.”

Richard Jobes (left), Gordons

West Yorkshire law firm Gordons has further enhanced its property litigation service with the appointment of an additional solicitor.

Richard Jobes arrives at Gordons following five years at the Leeds office of national law firm Eversheds Sutherland.

Whilst there, he worked within the litigation and dispute management group advising on high-profile projects including Thameslink and HS2.

Richard will advise Gordons’ clients on the full spectrum of property-related disputes, including lease renewals, dilapidations and compensation claims resulting from compulsory acquisition.

The firm’s current property litigation clients include B&M, Charles Tyrwhitt, Iceland, Santander and Yorkshire Building Society.

Richard commented: “Gordons has a strong brand in the legal marketplace, excellent long-standing client relationships and a great culture. It’s a firm which is distinct because of its people and the way they deliver practical advice.

“This approach has seen the property litigation team build up a great deal of momentum both regionally and nationally. I aim to build upon these firm foundations by getting close to our existing clients, winning further new business and expanding the team.”

Richard Cressall, Gordons’ partner and head of property litigation, said: “Richard is a straight-talker and an excellent lawyer, which is just the type of person we want at Gordons. We are all looking forward to working with him to further grow our property litigation offer.”

Gordons has offices in Leeds and Bradford and employs 196 people.

Shahid Hussain, Dow Schofield Watts

Shahid Hussain has joined Dow Schofield Watts Transaction Services as an executive at its Yorkshire and North East office.

Shahid joins from PwC in Yorkshire, where he spent six years working on the audits of some of the most respected blue-chip corporates in the region and where he qualified as a Chartered Certified Accountant in 2015.

Shahid’s clients operated in industries including manufacturing, construction, retail and distribution with reported revenues from £6m to £1.5bn.

In addition to his corporate clients, Shahid specialised in pension audits with his largest client having net assets in excess of £7bn.

At Dow Schofield Watts, he will be providing due diligence services for private equity and businesses embarking on mergers and acquisitions and other corporate deals.

Rob McCarthy, who heads Dow Schofield Watts Transaction Services in Yorkshire and the North East, said: “Shahid’s desire to maximise opportunities to add value to clients’ businesses led to his pursuit of a career in transaction services.

“Being part of Dow Schofield Watts’ Yorkshire team places him at the heart of the Northern Powerhouse during a dynamic period for the region’s M&A sector.”

Stuart Ponting, Walker Morris

Walker Morris, the Leeds-based commercial law firm, has announced the appointment of Stuart Ponting as a partner in its Regulatory & Compliance Team.

Stuart joins the team from DLA Piper, where he was a partner. He has over 14 years’ experience in specialist corporate investigations and prosecutions, handling a range of regulatory issues including health & safety, corporate manslaughter, environmental and fraud and corruption cases.

During his career Stuart has advised on some of the UK’s most sensitive and complex regulatory investigations.

Recognised in Chambers and Legal 500 as a leader in his field, Stuart is qualified a solicitor with higher rights of audience, enabling him to represent clients if criminal cases progress to the higher courts.

His appointment means that Walker Morris now offers a Regulatory & Compliance Team with three partners dedicated to this specialist field, supported by a further 11 fee earners, making it one of the largest such single site teams of its type outside London.

Jeanette Burgess, head of Regulatory & Compliance at Walker Morris, commented: “We have built a strong nationally recognised team in this specialist area and we are delighted to reinforce that expertise with someone of Stuart’s calibre and national reputation.

“With regulatory compliance posing increasing challenges for all businesses, there is a growing need for expert legal advice and Stuart’s experience will further enhance our service offering for clients.”

Will Bates, McCormicks Solicitors

McCormick Solicitors, the Harrogate-based law firm, has added to its commercial litigation team with the appointment of Will Bates.

He will work with partner Philip Edmondson in providing commercial litigation and sports disputes services to clients.

Will graduated from Durham University with an honours degree in Law in 2014 before obtaining a distinction in the Legal Practice Course at Hertfordshire University.

He trained at a regional firm in Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire and, as well as commercial litigation, has experience in corporate and commercial, commercial property and employment matters.

Philip Edmondson said: “Will’s forensic and pragmatic approach and ability to anticipate potential issues, while considering whether alternative dispute resolution is possible, makes him an excellent fit with the McCormicks team.”

Will has experience assisting with a full range of Commercial Litigation matters involving: contractual disputes, construction disputes, debt recovery, professional negligence, contentious probate, harassment, defamation, abusive registration of domain names, insolvency (individual and corporate) and matters with multi-jurisdictional elements.

Jamie Adamson and Colin Blackett, The Coniston Hotel Country Estate and Spa

The Coniston Hotel Country Estate and Spa has made two senior appointments following a record financial start to the year.

The North Yorkshire hotel and spa has appointed Jamie Adamson as operations manager, while Colin Blackett has been appointed to the board as financial director.

Jamie joins the team after seven years as general manager at The Leathes Head Hotel in Borrowdale. He will be responsible for refining the day to day operations of the hotel with a focus on maintenance and housekeeping.

Jamie said: “I was attracted to The Coniston because it’s always striving to be the best at what it does. The hotel continues to evolve and to be a part of its future is very exciting.

“They have an ambitious management team at The Coniston and I’m confident my experience can help us remain as the top destination hotel in Yorkshire.”

Louise Bolton, managing director at The Coniston Hotel, added: “We are delighted to welcome Jamie on board. We have seen an exceptional year so far and adding Jamie’s expertise cements our commitment to our clients.

“Jamie has an excellent background in the hospitality industry, his experience and values are in line with ours and we’re confident his skills will help us to build on our success.”

Colin, who has been financial controller at The Coniston for four years, will be looking to enhance the hotel’s current financial strategy and long-term profitable growth.

Louise added: “Colin’s appointment to the board of directors has been instrumental in putting us on track for a record financial year. His proven reputation is second to none and this promotion is a great endorsement of our ambition.”

Colin concluded: “We are planning a number of further investments at The Coniston and it’s great to be spearheading the developments with an experienced and talented team of directors.

“We have seen significant growth in terms of occupancy rates and the market continues to grow. This is a great opportunity to build on our reputation of strong values and exceptional service delivery.”

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