This week's London appointments

Jo Milner, Buchler Phillips

Corporate recovery firm Buchler Phillips has announced the appointment of Jo Milner as a partner.

Jo returns to the firm after a break of 25 years. After qualifying as a Chartered Accountant with Grant Thornton, she worked with Buchler Phillips from 1991 to 1995.

Since then she has gained experience holding senior positions in firms including PwC and Smith & Williamson, as well as nine years as a partner with Cork Gully.

Jo specialises in both corporate and personal insolvency and has a particular interest in the administration of insolvent Credit Unions.

David Buchler, co-founder and chairman, commented: “It’s great to have Jo back with us as a partner, completing the circle of her distinguished career path.

“She is one of the profession’s leading practitioners and brings highly relevant experience and expertise to our assignments.

“As the UK plans its post-Covid return to work and government aid winds down, we are not surprised to see significant demand for our services, whether in business restructuring and turnaround, or administrations and insolvency.

“We look forward to working with Jo to support our clients as they work hard to build back better.”

Francesca Smith, KALMARs

South London estate agent KALMARs has announced the appointment of Francesca Smith as an office co-ordinator for the residential team.

Francesca has experience working within property around London and brings with her to KALMARs knowledge of South East London and Kent areas.

She has spent the last three years working at Urban & Provincial London as an executive assistant where she built on her extensive client experience, office organisation as well as managing high-level directors.

In her new role, Francesca will be responsible for co-ordinating KALMARs new Old Kent Road office furthering the success of KALMARs’ expansion.

Sebastian Kalmar, director at KALMARs, commented: “We’re delighted to welcome Francesca to the team during this exciting time at KALMARs.

“With her experience in administration and customer service Francesca’s appointment will be invaluable at our new Old Kent Road office.

“The residential team, and the team as a whole, are very excited to be working with Francesca and we look forward to a successful future together.”

Francesca said: “I am thrilled to be starting my new role and joining KALMARs well-established team at such an exciting time for the company.

“I look forward to developing professionally, helping to continue KALMARs success and becoming a part of the team.”

Claire Thomas, Hakluyt

Strategic advisory firm Hakluyt has announced that Claire Thomas has joined the company as a senior adviser.

Previously the chief human resources officer at GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), Claire brings more than 28 years’ HR experience to the Hakluyt team.

Prior to GSK, she worked at Ford Motor Company, and she has also advised the UK government. She won the European Business Woman of Achievement Award in 2007.

Claire commented: “I’ve long admired the work Hakluyt does, and am excited to join the team.

“From my experience in global businesses, I understand the pressures involved in making critical appointments, and am looking forward to helping leaders make decisions that are right for their organisation, culture and long-term ambitions.”

Matthew Pettigrew said: “We are delighted to have Claire’s support and advice as we continue to grow this area of our work across the world.

“Her breadth of experience and proven judgement make her a real asset to our team.”

Mark Skehill, ECOMMPAY

International payment service provider ECOMMPAY has announced the appointment of Mark Skehill as enterprise sales manager of UK and Western Europe.

Joining ECOMMPAY’s UK and EMEA division with a remit to drive the company’s growth across priority verticals and break into new sectors, Mark brings more than 15 years of sales experience across the technology, finance, and software landscape.

Mark previously spent two years as UK merchant development manager at Klarna, prior to which he held a role as European sales director at Think Smart for 11 years.

Paul Marcantonio, executive director of ECOMMPAY, commented: “Mark’s wealth of sales experience will be fundamental in not only helping ECOMMPAY to break into new sectors beyond travel and hospitality, but also as our clients expand their online business.

“His determination and leadership qualities are a superb culture fit for the team and will bring a fresh set of expertise when broadening our UK enterprise merchant network.”

Mark added: “The opportunity to join ECOMMPAY at this stage of growth and be a key player in progressing the business is an exciting prospect for me, and I’ll be using my retail background from Klarna to help the company expand more into the retail sector.

“Across the board at ECOMMPAY, everything from their data-driven solutions, bespoke client approach, and easy-to-use infrastructure, is seriously impressive and the business’s capabilities have a great amount to offer the retail sector.

“I’m very much looking forward to driving forward their presence in the market.”

Matt Wright, Spicy Mango

Media technology software firm Spicy Mango has announced its appointment of Matt Wright as digital design director.

Matt brings over 20 years of experience developing innovative ways for audiences to engage with brands and products.

Having worked previously for O2, BBC, ITV, Visa and HSBC, Matt’s customer-first approach, eye for visual design and team management skills means that he is flexible to adapt to multiple projects while collaborating and contributing to the best outcome of the team.

Chris Wood, founder and CTO of Spicy Mango, commented: “The team is thrilled to have Matt on board.

“Having worked on several projects together for a few years, I’m delighted he’s joined the Spicy Mango team full time.

“Spicy Mango enables broadcasters and service providers to build innovative and powerful platforms and experiences that showcase their best content to viewers while providing engaging user experiences.

“Matt’s design expertise and knowledge will strengthen and support the services and solutions Spicy Mango delivers to our customers.”

Matt said: “Spicy Mango’s leading-edge style attracted me to the company. I am excited to bring my wealth of experience by utilising design thinking to understand pain points for customers, define insights, form concepts and create innovative solutions collaboratively.”

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