This week's national appointments

This week’s round up of national appointments includes Optimum Finance, Russell Scanlan, Castlefied, Ploughshare, and Yopa. Read on to find out more.

Mike Stevens, Optimum Finance

Regional Director, Mike Stevens, re-joins the team at Bristol-based specialist invoice finance provider, Optimum Finance, ready to support the business’s growth in 2022 and beyond.

Mike returns to Optimum Finance due to its exciting plans and growth ambitions. Optimum has invested heavily in its team in 2021 with 14 new hires, including the expansion of its technology team by 350 per cent.

This rapid growth has resulted in Optimum being shortlisted as a finalist for High Growth Business of the Year in the Federation of Small Business Awards. This expansion has made Optimum ready to scale its current solutions and develop new market leading products. Mike saw this as the perfect time to re-join the team, saying:

“After 18 months out of the business, I’m absolutely thrilled to be back at Optimum Finance.

“The business has gone through a monumental amount of change since I left. Processes have become slicker and service is as high as ever, delivered by our highly professional and experienced team.

“I’ve been admiring the business from a distance and the opportunity to re-join the team was too good to turn down. Optimum and I share a deep-rooted passion for helping SME owners achieve their professional goals. It feels like I’ve come home!”

Speaking about Mike’s return, Optimum Finance Chief Executive Ant Persse, said:

“I’m so glad to have Mike back. It’s amazing to have a member of the team return to Optimum and shows that the changes we’re putting in place and the plans we’re making are exciting and drawing talent.

“2022 will be a big year for Optimum as we plan to support more businesses than ever before. Mike’s passion to be a part of this will be invaluable.”

Rob Newman, Russell Scanlan

Nottingham based independent insurance broker, Russell Scanlan has appointed a new account handler to its exclusive Private Client team, as the 140-year-old business continues to manage increasing numbers of clients across its service delivery divisions.

Rob Newman joins the firm with over 40 years’ experience of the insurance industry, and with specialist knowledge of SMEs, which includes that of successful individuals and entrepreneurs – a perfect mix for moving on to a Private Client portfolio, that requires bespoke personal insurance support.

Rob said: “I have known about Russell Scanlan for many years as it is such an established business within the insurance industry with an impressive reputation.

“Having known previous colleagues who have taken up a role there, I had already heard of what a great company it is to work for and the friendly atmosphere of the team prior to applying, so naturally I knew it would be the perfect fit for me.

“I’m excited to be taking on this new role in the Private Client team. This is a new challenge for me, I’m looking forward to progressing my knowledge in the high-net-worth field and strengthening the team with my extensive insurance experience.”

Sales and marketing director, Mike Dickinson adds: “We’re so pleased to be welcoming Rob to the team, we’re sure he will hit the ground running supporting our wide range of private clients, and the vast experience he has of the insurance industry will be invaluable to the business.

“2021 was an incredibly strange year for everyone, with remote working and the absence largely of being able to meet with clients, it has been a challenge. Nonetheless, I am incredibly proud of what the entire team has achieved and look forward to expanding both our team and client portfolio throughout the upcoming year.”

William Thomson, Castlefield

ESG investment and financial planning specialist Castlefield is delighted to announce the appointment of William Thomson to its Investment Management team.

Bill joins Castlefield having until recently been Head of Office at Brewin Dolphin, in Manchester.

With over 35 years’ investment management and leadership experience Bill is a well-known face within the industry. In this newly created position Bill will use his industry know-how to help build on Castlefield’s existing strong focus on client service to charity and private clients.

He will also work closely with the Castlefield Client Engagement Team on new business development initiatives.

Castlefield managing partner, John Eckersley said: “Having first met Bill over thirty years ago and admired his achievements over the years from afar, I’m delighted that he’s decided to join the Castlefield team.

“We know he had a lot of interest from other investment management businesses but recognised that Castlefield, with its employee-owned structure and strong focus on clients’ values, is a unique opportunity.

“As a business with a heritage of managing money for charities, Bill’s experience of working with charity clients and as a charity trustee himself will be invaluable as we look to build on our own recent successes - such as being awarded a mandate by the charitable arm of the ethical research organisation, EIRIS”.

Bill Thomson said: “I’ve been an admirer of Castlefield for some time, as they’re recognised in the industry as a pioneer in the responsible investment field.

“As someone who’s worked predominantly at large investment houses for the last couple of decades, I’ve been particularly impressed by the attention to detail on ESG matters throughout the company.

“That makes it genuinely different within the sector and consequently difficult for more homogenised fund providers to deliver this level of attention. As investors demand a greater focus on ESG matters, it’s a trend that I think will grow further.”

Bill concluded: “Castlefield has been delivering responsible and sustainable investment since it was first formed, long before it became popular, so the team knows what they’re doing. 2022 is also the firm’s 20th anniversary so it’s an exciting time to join.”

Raj Parekh, Ploughshare

Ploughshare, the company that finds new uses for government inventions, is pleased to announce the appointment of Raj Parekh as a new Non-Executive Director.

Raj brings technical knowledge and more than 20 years of experience as an entrepreneur, investor and biomedical research specialist to the Ploughshare board. He will provide insight and strategic input in support of Ploughshare’s mission to commercialise government research for the good of society.

Simon Devonshire OBE, chairman of the Ploughshare board, said: “Ploughshare is pioneering the breakthrough of game-changing technology. Raj brings to the innovators that Ploughshare represents a fellow scientist that has first-hand experience of taking technologies to market at scale.”

Raj pursued a successful academic career in molecular medicine before co-founding Oxford GlycoSciences.

Following the company’s sale for more than £100m he pursued a number of successful entrepreneurial ventures and is now a General Partner at biotech investment company Advent Life Sciences, involved primarily with companies engaged in the discovery of new medicines.

He also serves on the Board of several portfolio companies including Arrakis, Aura Biosciences and Levicept.

Raj said: “Ploughshare is in an exciting and unique position, holding the key to unlock the societal benefits of an incredible range of government innovations and taxpayer-funded research.

“I am pleased to be asked to play my part in the strategic direction of the organisation as it moves into an exciting new phase of its development, with a focus on delivering continued growth, commercial success and positive impact.”

Hetti Barkworth-Nanton, Ploughshare CEO, said: “We warmly Raj, whose experience at the forefront of scientific research, combined with his commercial expertise as an entrepreneur and investor, align perfectly with our vision.

“He will bring valuable strategic insight to the board as we deliver our ambitious plans to draw from the vast pool of government innovation, creating hundreds of exciting new ventures to support the UK economy and society as a whole.”

Ploughshare, wholly owned by the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory, has access to a wide range of technologies developed by leading scientists and engineers at the Ministry of Defence (MOD) and wider government. Since it was founded in 2005 it has licensed more than 140 innovative technologies and created more than 400 jobs.

Veronica Frankish, Yopa

Verona Frankish joins Yopa, bringing experience of the property & financial services sectors.

She has been involved in the property industry for almost 20 years, initially through the mortgage world at Mortgage Advice Bureau and more latterly with Purplebricks.

During her seven years at MAB, Verona worked closely with a number of the UKs biggest Estate Agency brands as well as many of the hybrid agents, helping them to maximise their revenue by creating new and innovative ways to create value.

Verona was involved with Purplebricks prior to launch, working with the founders to build their mortgage proposition for the new model. In 2018 Verona moved from MAB to Purplebricks, where she took responsibility for mortgages, lettings & conveyancing, as a member of the executive team.

Verona is a digital advocate with extensive experience in improving customer processes through technology. She is passionate about people and working with a team to create a culture focused on delivering the best possible customer experience and outcomes.

Verona said: “I am delighted to join the team at Yopa for the next stage of its journey. The team have done an incredible job in recent years in growing the business and setting it up for future success. I am privileged to have the opportunity to lead Yopa through the next stage of its evolution.”

Freddie Cornes, Yopa’s current MD and former CFO, has decided to leave the business to move onto a new opportunity. Freddie successfully led the significant expansion of Yopa over the last three years and oversaw over 100 per cent growth in revenues, increased market share and reduction in the cost base.

Grenville Turner, non-executive director of Yopa said: “Freddie has achieved an enormous amount, however, he indicated he wanted to move onto a new challenge. His departure is a source of regret, but we fully respect his decision. We thank him for his fantastic work over the past three years”.

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