This week's Yorkshire appointments

hlw Keeble Hawson has further strengthened its commercial property department in Doncaster with the appointment of two new solicitors.

Hardev Saimbhi specialised in commercial property at a Wakefield practice before his move to hlw Keeble Hawson. He is joined at the firm’s Doncaster office commercial team by Elizabeth Dunstan.

A specialist in advising investors, property developers and commercial clients on all aspects of commercial property, the department’s clients include Harworth Group, Coalfields Regeneration Trust, HI Weldrick Ltd, St. Pauls Developments PLC and Crossbow Investments Limited.

Paul Hoel, hlw Keeble Hawson partner, said: “We’re delighted to have appointed two new colleagues of Hardev and Elizabeth’s calibre.

“They are great additions to our team and will help to further cement our reputation as one of Yorkshire’s leading property practices.”

hlw Keeble Hawson has offices in Doncaster, Leeds and Sheffield.

Richard Robinson and Tom Watkins, Shulmans LLP

Corporate law firm, Shulmans LLP, has announced the promotion of two of its associates to partner as part of its career progression scheme, Forward with Shulmans.

Richard Robinson has been promoted to partner in Shulmans’ property litigation team and Tom Watkins has been promoted to partner in the firm’s employment unit.

Robinson is a real estate expert, specialising in the proactive management of risks associated with property ownership and occupancy. He has experience in dealing with a wide range of property related issues such as development disputes and landlord and tenant disputes.

Acting for national retailers, house builders, funds and public-sector organisations, his work now includes overseeing matters relating to multi-million-pound commercial property disrepair claims.

Watkins acts for a wide range of clients as well as leading Shulmans’ education team. He has 18 years’ experience in employment law, with particular expertise within the independent school sector. He is renowned for finding solutions to complex and delicate matters, including the management of safeguarding and performance related issues.

Tim Halstead, managing partner at Shulmans LLP, said: “We are delighted to be welcoming Richard and Tom to the partnership and would like to congratulate them on their promotions, both of which are very well deserved. Their specialisms and industry expertise are a real asset to the firm and we are pleased to be further strengthening two of our teams as a result of these appointments.

“As members of our Forward with Shulmans development programme, Richard and Tom have excelled in their respective fields. The current scheme was established five years ago and to date has resulted in 15 promotions, including eight to partner, underpinning our commitment to continually investing in our people.

“The success of Shulmans and our ability to provide exceptional levels of service for our clients on a regional, national and international scale is a testament to the strength of our team. It is an important factor in achieving our strategic goals for the years ahead that we recognise, nurture and reward outstanding performance.

“The Forward with Shulmans programme aims to do just that by supporting and encouraging individual successes in line with the commercial needs of the business, while also addressing the wider challenges facing the legal profession. We hope that Richard and Tom’s achievements inspire future generations of solicitors from our pool of young legal talent to do the same.”

Tom Klouda, Grant Thornton

Grant Thornton has appointed private equity tax specialist, Tom Klouda as director.

Tom has made the move to Grant Thornton from PwC’s Leeds office, bringing over 10 years of experience to the role. He will focus on growing the corporate and transactional tax service, providing tailored tax advice to businesses and their owners across the region.

Rachel Engwell, tax partner at Grant Thornton Yorkshire, said: “It’s been a fantastic year for us and I’m delighted to welcome Tom to the team to support the next stage of our continued growth.

“We have developed a real strength in this area and have been involved in some of the region’s biggest deals, including the floatation of Sumo Digital and the recent acquisition of Sigma Group, adding significant value through tax on transactions.

“With his experience of private equity and shareholder transactions, Tom will be integral in developing this specialist service working closely with our local Transactional Advisory Services teams.”

Tom added: “Grant Thornton is a firm that is really going places and one which has a clear growth purpose. I have been impressed by its active profile in the deals market and its focus on making investments into regional teams, at a time when other firms are pulling back.

“I’m thrilled to be joining the Yorkshire tax team which is well-positioned to serve the dynamic business market across Yorkshire and the North East.”

Michelle Atkinson, The Technology Group

The Technology Group has announced a new board level service director appointment.

Michelle Atkinson joins the board of the Leeds-headquartered telephone, internet and mobile business as service director, following senior roles in the security systems industry.

At The Technology Group, she will head the delivery team responsible for new telephone system installations and customer support.

Jonathan Marsden, managing director of The Technology Group, said: “Michelle has run large installation, project and service operations over the last 14 years, and has impressive experience covering almost every operations function.

“We have a very experienced installations and service team that is totally committed to installing and supporting great solutions for our customers. I’m very happy to welcome Michelle to the business to lead that team and add her valuable insight and expertise to our board of directors.”

Michelle added: “The Technology Group is a dynamic and energetic company with a great strategy in place to build a phenomenal future. I’m very excited about being part of such a professional organisation with a passion for what they do and an absolute focus on their people and customers.

“This is a fantastic opportunity to harness all of the experience I’ve gained over the years to be part of The Technology Group’s future success story.”

Paul Winwood, BHP

Paul Winwood has been made a director at Yorkshire’s largest independent firm of chartered accountants, BHP.

Paul adds to the 15 strong audit partner team, responsible for signing off the firms audits.

Paul joined BHP’s graduate scheme in the firm’s Sheffield office in 2006 after completing an economics degree at Newcastle University, and qualified as a Chartered Accountant three years later.

Paul now looks after a portfolio of clients including regional manufacturers, digital companies, construction firms, SMEs, pension schemes with assets totaling £500m and Prudential Regulatory Authority regulated mutual societies, with investment assets of up to £130m.

Paul said: “I’ve been working towards RI status for over a year so it’s a major personal goal to accomplish it.

“It also comes as BHP’s audit team is winning new work with a number of well-known businesses, as well as leading mutual societies and major pension schemes, which makes it a very exciting time to be increasing my level of responsibility and look to advise businesses more closely and help grow the firm’s audit client base.”

Lisa Leighton, partner and Head of Audit at BHP, added: “We are delighted that Paul has achieved his RI status which requires hard work and dedication, so Paul thoroughly deserves this promotion.

“It also reinforces the success of our graduate recruitment scheme, which has recruited more than 100 trainees over the last 8 years alone and the majority of these have gone on to forge extremely successful careers with us.”

Aaron Pegg, DSW Bridge Houghton Forensic

Independent forensic firm DSW Bridge Houghton Forensic has further expanded its team in Leeds with the appointment of Aaron Pegg.

Aaron joins the practice from BDO, where he spent seven years, initially working in audit before transferring to the forensic department.

A Cambridge graduate, Aaron has worked in BDO’s London and Manchester forensic departments and also spent a year on secondment to the Serious Fraud Office where he worked on a high-profile investigation.

His experience includes investigating allegations of bribery and corruption, fraud and money laundering, loss of profits claims, share purchase agreement disputes, professional negligence claims, share valuations and contentious insolvency investigations.

David Houghton, partner at DSW Bridge Houghton Forensic, said: “We are delighted that Aaron has chosen to join us. He brings a great deal of experience from his time within the forensic department of BDO and will be a fantastic addition to our team as our growth continues.”

DSW Bridge Houghton is part of independent advisory group, Dow Schofield Watts. Aaron’s appointment is the eighth within the group so far this year.

Founding partner James Dow said: “I am delighted that Aaron has joined to help the growth of this very dynamic and ambitious team.”

Gavin Harris, Microform Imaging Ltd

Microform Imaging Ltd, the Wakefield-based document management specialist, has appointed Gavin Harris as the new business development manager.

Gavin commented: “I am excited to have been offered this role and to join the expanding team.

“Having worked as a Telesales Account Manager looking after over 400 independent accounts, my drive to succeed in this role is second to none.

“It is a busy and exciting time for Microform with some new contracts coming on board and some further developments with our new 360° imaging service as well as our new heritage and restoration services.

“With GDPR coming into effect shortly, we are also focused on helping businesses become GDPR compliant, by adopting a paper-free approach with our document scanning solutions.”

Neil Bowker, sales director, added: “Gavin recently joined the team at a really poignant time for the business following some recent growth and new contract wins.

“It is an exciting time for Microform as we look to expand further in 2018 and beyond and I am delighted to welcome Gavin to the business.”

Amy Lloyd, Scriba PR

Scriba PR, the Huddersfield-based technical public relations firm, has announced a new appointment as the brand continues to grow.

Amy Lloyd is the latest person to join the B2B communications team. She has come onboard as junior account manager to further drive the business forward and support the increasing number of clients.

Having previously worked as a project officer at aspire-international and digital content team leader at Super Break, she has developed skills across the marketing and copywriting disciplines.

Katie Mallinson, Scriba’s managing director, said: “Amy has already made a positive start in her position by fully immersing herself within the team and the technical clients that we work with.

“She will be responsible for helping to take care of the newest waste and recycling firm we have welcomed to our client list, as well as some of our latest tech customers.”

Amy will utilise her Languages degree and draw upon her previous writing experience to liaise with the media and draft blogs, features, awards entries, press releases, as well as managing social media accounts. As her knowledge develops she will also become responsible for increased campaign planning and strategy.

Ame explained: “During my one and a half year role at Super Break I built content calendars for the team, and created engaging blog, website and social media content to build upon our brand awareness.

“This is definitely something I will bring with me into my new role at Scriba. I have already learnt so much, but I am most excited about increasing my knowledge in the niche PR sectors in which the firm works!”

Looking to promote your product/service to SME businesses in your region? Find out how Bdaily can help →