This week's Yorkshire appointments

Sophie Munton, Ponderosa

Leeds-based marketing agency Ponderosa has appointed Sophie Munton as head of marketing.

Sophie has worked with some of the biggest names in retail and loyalty including Nectar at Sainsburys and Morrisons on their More card proposition.

Most recently she ran her own loyalty consultancy working to deliver a CRM strategy for Puig.

Sophie commented: “Ponderosa is well respected by both their clients and the team - who love what they do - and that’s sometimes hard to find. Ponderosa has heart, energy and a healthy appetite for growth, and I want to help them achieve their aspirational goals.”

Richard Midgley, founder and managing director of Ponderosa, added: “We’re delighted to welcome Sophie on board at such an exciting time in the team’s development.

“It’s a critical period for the agency as we win work and expand, and Sophie is a big part of all our plans.

“In the short time she has been with us we can already see the positive impact she is making to how we market and position ourselves and I look forward to working with her more.”

Luke Axe, Keyland Developments

Keyland Developments has announced the promotion of Luke Axe to land and planning director.

Luke joined Keyland in 2016 to lead the planning team and has brought forward consents on complex, strategic sites across the Yorkshire region.

Peter Garrett, managing director at Keyland Developments, commented: “Luke is an extremely valued member of the Keyland team and has played a key role in putting together our five-year business plan, so it is entirely fitting that he sees it delivered as a director of the business.”

Luke said: “I am delighted to be joining the Keyland Board and look forward to the new phase in Keyland’s lifecycle as we bring forward some ground-breaking schemes such as the Esholt sustainable development.

“At Keyland we work on an incredibly diverse portfolio and I am looking forward to working with the rest of the team on implementing our approach to sustainable development into our wide-ranging projects.”

Rick Gregory, SSB Group

Sheffield-headquartered SSB Group has hired a senior funding expert to launch a new division of the expanding business.

Rick Gregory is being appointed managing director of newly established SSB Funding.

He also joins as a board director, responsible for overseeing SSB Group’s funding.

He has more than 26 years of experience in legal funding and volume litigation working in FCA regulated companies, including with PM Law and Lexelle.

Rick said: “I’m delighted to be joining SSB Group. This is an incredibly exciting opportunity to support a fast-growing law firm with its future plans.

“My objectives centre around putting in place robust processes and workflows for the acquisition of new funding, allowing SSB to really thrive and offer an array of options for its growing client base.”

Meghan Waldron, Lupton Fawcett

Yorkshire law firm Lupton Fawcett has promoted Meghan Waldron to senior associate of its Regulatory and Corporate Defence (RCD) team.

Meghan specialises in defending clients facing the whole range of regulatory and criminal offences, in particular serious criminal offences and road traffic offences.

Since joining Lupton Fawcett in 2016, Meghan has built up new services for clients including representation at inquests and alcohol licensing.

Meghan said: “I enjoy running my own busy caseload dealing with matters both at the investigation stage and in court.

“As a team, we are very successful at achieving our clients’ objectives, providing them with the best possible outcome, as well as giving a very high level of service.”

Jeremy Scott, partner and head of the RCD team, said: “We are delighted to promote Meghan.

“Her experience and expertise will continue to be invaluable in helping to meet the growing demand for our specialist services. Meghan has contributed enormously since she joined Lupton Fawcett and is a great asset to the RCD team.”

Owais Mohammed, Barclays

Barclays has announced the appointment of Owais Mohammad as a new relationship director covering North and West Yorkshire.

Based in Leeds, Owais will specialise in serving the diverse and specialised banking needs of Professional and Financial Services businesses across North and West Yorkshire.

Owais brings with him over ten years banking experience with exposure spanning across Pakistan, Dubai, London, Leeds and Manchester, which will benefit both the firms he deals with and his team alike..

He commented: “Outside of London, Leeds has one of the highest concentration of firms within the professional and financial services sector which is crucial to the region’s economy.

“Leeds has a long culture of innovation as seen with the rise of Health Tech and I hope to contribute by leveraging our ability to focus on a niche sector alongside our LawTech and Eagle Lab partnership to contribute positively to the thriving ecosystem.”

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