This week's London appointments

Here’s your latest roundup of appointments from across the capital. Want to get involved with your business? Get in touch with our London correspondent, Rebecca, at rebecca.wayman@bdaily.co.uk.

Matt Barham, Gumtree UK

Gumtree has appointed its UK commercial director, Matt Barham, to the role of general manager.

In his new role, with immediate effect, Barham will lead Gumtree’s next phase of growth following the introduction of a new business strategy.

Since joining Gumtree UK’s parent company, eBay Classifieds Group (eCG) over six years ago, Barham has been a core member of the Gumtree leadership team during a crucial period of the brand’s evolution. In this time, he has gained deep understanding of the business and the UK market more widely.

Matt Barham, General Manager of Gumtree UK, said: “Gumtree is thriving. Over the last few years the concept of the sharing economy has captured the world’s imagination, but we’ve been helping people find and trade in the things they love and need for 17 years.

“With more than a third of the UK population visiting the site each month, we are well positioned for continued growth through our new vertically-focused strategy.

“Gumtree Motors is already the fastest-growing classified marketplace for motors, and we’ve just launched our new ‘Jobs for Gumtree’ initiative. I couldn’t be happier to lead the fantastic Gumtree team as we enter this exciting phase.”

Barham, who joined eCG in 2011, will lead the business at Gumtree to focus on the distinct requirements of its users across different verticals, such as jobs, motors, and ‘For Sale’.

Manmohan Singh, Moore Blatch

Manmohan Singh has joined Moore Blatch from DWF, where he was director.

With over a decade of international experience specialising in corporate and transactional matters, Manmohan advises a broad range of clients on various corporate and commercial affairs including mergers, acquisitions and disposals.

Roger Bailey, head of corporate and commercial, from Moore Blatch, said: “Manmohan has extensive cross-border experience, particularly regarding South and South East Asia, as well as a background working within the corporate teams of a number of international law firms.”

Manmohan is also a civil mediation council-registered mediator. In addition to his legal and mediation practice, Manmohan is a justice of the peace on the East London bench of magistrates.

Manmohan said: “Recognised in both Legal 500 and Chambers, and having completed deals worth over £500m in the past 18 months alone, Moore Blatch’s corporate team has a formidable reputation. I look forward to joining the team as they build on recent successes.”

Chris Humphrey, RationalFX

UK foreign exchange and international payments provider, RationalFX, has officially announced the appointment of Chris Humphrey as the company’s chief executive officer.

Co-founder Paresh Davdra is stepping down from the role to focus on his role as CEO of RationalFX’s sister-brand, Xendpay.

Chris Humphrey is an accomplished foreign exchange professional with years of experience working in the financial sector. He rose to prominence as managing director of the OzForex Group’s UK subsidiary, where he was able to grow the business from a start-up operation, through a period of private equity ownership, to a successful IPO.

Discussing his appointment, Chris Humphrey, commented: “I am humbled and excited to take on the role of CEO at RationalFX. To have been entrusted with the company that Paresh Davdra and Rajesh Agrawal have spent the last 12 years building and growing is an honour, and I am looking forward to leading the company into its next chapter.

“When I joined the company in 2015, it was clear to me that RationalFX was a business with huge potential, a strong customer base and an even greater future ahead of it. This is a tremendous opportunity and I cannot wait to get started.”

Humphrey joined RationalFX in 2015 as chief operating officer, and was responsible for growth and scalability for the company. During his time with the company, revenue has surged to £1.3bn in the past year.

Eleanor Pughe, The Community Investment Coalition

The Community Investment Coalition has appointed Eleanor Pughe in her new role as Policy and Research Assistant, based within the team at Responsible Finance.

The Community Investment Coalition is a partnership of national organisations that work to improve access to affordable finance for all.

CIC’s impact can be seen in its community banking charter, which champions a fresh approach to ensure people and businesses across the UK have access to fair and affordable finance.

Jennifer Tankard, chief executive of Responsible Finance, said: “We are delighted to welcome Eleanor to the Responsible Finance team.

“With a background in the mainstream financial services sector, Eleanor brings a range of skills to supporting our work to increase access to affordable and appropriate finance across the UK. We are also grateful to the Barrow Cadbury Trust for [the] support for this position.”

It is now a crucial time for CIC’s campaign work, with figures showing 15m people in the UK report one or more signs of financial distress. Whilst there has been success in securing a voluntary framework for disclosure of bank lending, they continue to advocate for improved quality of data and increased access.

Eleanor graduated from the University of Glasgow in 2015 with a degree in Politics, and has since worked in financial advice before joining CIC. She was keen to move into a socially responsible role, and is looking forward to using her skills to further CIC’s campaign work.

Nick Leavey, Coffin Mew

Although Nick Gross, former chairman and corporate partner at law firm, Coffin Mew, is retiring after 34 years at the helm in April 2018, Nick Leavey is to step in.

Coffin Mew will transition Nick’s client work to members of the firm’s growing and highly successful corporate team, led by Hayley Bevis. These will include the recently-appointed partner Dominic Travers, a corporate lawyer who starts at the firm next month.

Gross said: “Since [joining] Coffin Mew, the legal landscape has changed due to relentless regulation, increasing client demands and stiff competition.

“Despite this, Coffin Mew has come a long way, recently merging with Charles Lucas & Marshall to create a £15m legal business across eight locations with more than 220 employees. This makes it one of the largest law firms in the central south region!”

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