This week's Yorkshire appointments

Law firm Andrew Jackson has announced the appointment of Hannah Farmer, who joins the firm’s team as an associate.

Hannah’s expertise across a range of range of legal disciplines and particular experience in agriculture and rural affairs will add further value to the firm’s client offer across their regional offices.

Hannah, who has recently been awarded the Fellowship of the Agricultural Law Association, has advised rural land owners and farmers on a wide range of property matters including the acquisition and disposal of freehold land as well as agricultural tenancies and easements.

Hannah has also advised a number of commercial clients on matters such as the disposal and acquisition of freehold property alongside negotiating and completing commercial purchases from large workshops to industrial estates and public houses.

Hannah regularly advises the UK agricultural industry, as both an elected Council Member to the Agricultural Law Association (ALA) and an active member of the Country Land and Business Association (CLA).

Helen Mellors, head of the firm’s agriculture and landed estates department, said: “Hannah’s specific knowledge of agriculture and landed estates clients combined with her experience advising clients across commercial property transactions is an ideal fit for the firm.

“Andrew Jackson’s commitment to offering legal advice and services covering all aspects of agriculture and commercial property law is consistently recognised in our client feedback, so we are committed to continuing to build and enhance the team with experienced individuals who are skilled across multiple disciplines in order to provide the highest standards in service and value for our clients.”

Mark Pearson-Kendall, managing partner of Andrew Jackson, added: “Hannah’s extensive experience and specialist knowledge of her sector clearly demonstrates her commitment to providing the best possible levels of service to her clients.

“Hannah is a great fit for the team, as she has a clear record of delivering tailored legal advice and solutions that will add commercial value to our clients. I warmly welcome her to the team.”

Richard Meads, Sam Brewin and Emma Nicholson, Fox Agency

Fox Agency, the B2B marketing specialist, has made three new appointments to assist with an increase in client wins.

The trio are senior creative, Richard Meads, designer Emma Nicholson and copywriter and concept creator Sam Brewin.

Sam Brewin joins from Epiphany, Richard Meads most recently worked for Blue Digital and Emma Nicholson joins after graduating with a first-class honours degree in graphic design from Huddersfield University.

Al Fox, director of Fox Agency, said: “Our business development team is certainly bringing in plenty of new clients of late, and as we pride ourselves on delivering high quality work as fast as possible, we need to invest in teams to maintain this.

“We’re very proud of the calibre of talent we have across the business and these latest recruits will bolster our creative and content departments as we gear up for further growth.”

Fox Agency works globally with some of the biggest B2B brands across industry markets including engineering, technology, automotive, construction and electronics, finance and professional services.

The agency’s services include integrated campaigns, PR, advertising and activation, websites, digital and apps, search and social, research, strategy and brand development.

Matthew Fox and Christopher Fitt, EY

EY has appointed two Associate Partners in Yorkshire as the firm targets further regional expansion.

Matthew Fox has been promoted to Associate Partner in EY’s assurance division. Based in Hull, Matt joined EY in 2005 and leads a variety of audit engagements for private and listed businesses across the North.

Formerly part of EY’s technical training team, Matt continues to promote this and personal development through the facilitation of UK and European training events.

Christopher Fitt is an Associate Partner based in Leeds who specialises in indirect tax. He joined EY in 2012, and with more than 23 years’ experience leads a team of specialists in the delivery of indirect tax technology reporting tools, analytics and transformation of businesses indirect tax compliance functions.

Suzanne Robinson, Yorkshire Managing Partner for EY, said: “This investment in senior talent reflects not only our growth ambition in Yorkshire but also our confidence in the long-term outlook for the regional economy.

“Matt and Chris’ expertise will further strengthen our assurance and tax businesses respectively. Developing our people is a vital part of our growth strategy and these appointments show a real commitment to investing in our people and our offering to Yorkshire companies.”

Stephen Hammell, Sheffield Forgemasters

Engineering company Sheffield Forgemasters International Ltd has appointed a new Chief Financial Officer (CFO).

Following recent announcements of executive changes at the company, Stephen Hammell takes on the position of CFO and a place on the board of directors at Sheffield Forgemasters.

Stephen is a Chartered Accountant with over 20 years’ experience in corporate finance, banking and financial leadership, having worked at PwC, Yorkshire Bank, Grant Thornton, eBECS Ltd and more recently, as CFO of ECSC Group plc, a cyber security specialist quoted on the London Stock Exchange.

Dr Graham Honeyman, chief executive of Sheffield Forgemasters, said: “I have been working very hard to secure key personnel to sit on the board of directors and choosing somebody with an appropriate breadth of experience for the position of CFO was crucial.

“Steve brings a superb amount of insight into the business and his past experience working with and for financial institutions and banks, combined with high level experience within industry makes him a real asset to the company moving forward.

“I am pleased to announce that we are also nearing completion of other key appointments of a chief operating officer, which is a new role, and a chairman. These will be confirmed over the coming months.”

Brendan Kendrick has recently been appointed as company sales director and the other senior positions are due to be assigned by the end of summer.

Sheffield Forgemasters is a world leader in the delivery of engineering research and development projects, forging technologies, steelmaking and ultra-large steel castings and can trace its roots in Sheffield back for more than 200 years.

Helen Melling, Carter Jonas

Carter Jonas, the national property consultancy, has enhanced its Infrastructure and Energy team in Leeds with the appointment of Helen Melling as an energy specialist.

Helen started her career at Yorkshire Energy Partnership and most recently held the role of assistant team leader at the energy consultancy, Ameresco Ltd.

With more than five years’ experience in the sector, Helen has managed the energy assets of both private and public sector clients including a portfolio of over 600 commercial sites located across the UK.

Additionally, Helen has advised on a number of energy installation programmes working with schools, local authorities and businesses to implement comprehensive energy efficiency strategies across their sites.

Charles Hardcastle, Head of Energy & Marine, Carter Jonas, said: “It is a pleasure to welcome Helen to the team, particularly at such an exciting time for the energy industry. Her introduction sparks the growth of our in-house brokerage service with a heavy focus on tendering power purchase agreements along with providing clients with a full energy management service.

“Helen is also working with I&C businesses to assess opportunities for renewable technologies, demand-side response and large scale battery storage which all tie in with preparations for the electric vehicle market.

“Helen’s varied and extensive experience in helping clients explore opportunities in these areas further strengthens the team’s capabilities as we continue to expand our reach across the country.”

Helen’s appointment is another step in the growth of Carter Jonas’ Infrastructure & Energy team, which counts Leeds as one of its key regional hubs.

The team is involved with the progression of a number of infrastructure and energy projects across the country, working with clients including, Network Rail, HS2, National Grid, Drax Power, Keyland Developments, and Severn Trent Water.

Jessica Rushton, Philippa Kelly and Mark Rigby, BGF

BGF has announced three new hires to its Yorkshire team, welcoming Mark Rigby as Portfolio Manager, Jessica Rushton as Business Development Manager, and Philippa Kelly as office administrator.

Mark Rigby joins BGF following six years with Jaguar Land Rover where he was finance lead for strategic projects. He also previously held roles at KPMG and EY.

Mark will work alongside the investment team to support portfolio businesses in Yorkshire and the wider Northern regions.

Jessica joins BGF following four years with Leonard Curtis Business Solutions, where she played a central role in its growth and expansion across Yorkshire and the North East, including launching its Sunderland satellite office.

Philippa’s most recent role was working for Emirates Airlines based in Dubai before returning to her hometown of Leeds.

Richard Taylor of BGF, said: “We have had an active first half of the year with new investment activity as well as follow-on funding into the portfolio. We are continuing to meet with a diverse range of companies – across all different sectors and stages.

“Despite the ongoing uncertainty in the broader business context, our conversations with business owners in the region show an appetite to be proactive around growth, and strengthen or cement their position in their markets. We are delighted to be expanding the team and welcoming Mark, Jessica and Phillipa.”

Mark Rigby added: “BGF continues to invest in some of the region’s most impressive entrepreneurs and businesses. The opportunity to join the team was compelling, and I look forward to working alongside the investment team and my new colleagues to strengthen the offering in the region.”

Steve Holmes, Garbutt + Elliott

Garbutt + Elliott has appointed a new Business Tax Director, further expanding the firm’s client services and bringing their tax team personnel to 18.

Steve Holmes has 13 years’ experience within the tax sector, and joins the firm having previously held senior tax management consulting roles, specialising in Research and Development (R&D) tax relief.

His experience helping clients with a range of tax saving ideas is an important addition to Garbutt + Elliott’s Leeds office and sees the continued growth of the firm’s tax service across Yorkshire.

Steve also has experience implementing various types of share schemes, to help clients incentivise, reward and retain their key employees.

Rob Durrant-Walker, Head of Business Tax, said: “I have worked with Steve previously and am delighted that he has joined our tax team. He has great general tax knowledge with a sensible and commercial approach that our clients will appreciate.

“We already save our clients millions of pounds of tax each year through R&D and have a perfect R&D claims record with HMRC. The addition of Steve to our team will further enhance our existing R&D offering for innovative companies.”

Russell Turner, Garbutt + Elliott’s Managing Partner, added: “I’m delighted to welcome Steve to Garbutt + Elliott. He has tremendous experience within the tax sector and is highly regarded for his pragmatic and commercial approach when helping clients to save tax.

“Steve’s appointment shows our ongoing commitment to recruit the highest quality specialists so that we can offer business owners the best possible support.”

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