This week's Yorkshire appointments

This week’s round up of Yorkshire appointments includes Ampa, Ball & Berry, Leeds Building Society, Parklane Plowden Chambers, meeow, Hatch, Perfect Storm. Read on to find out more.

Caroline Deathe, Ampa

Specialist contentious probate lawyer Caroline Deathe has joined the Sheffield office hub of legal and professional services group Ampa – representing its Lime Solicitors and Shakespeare Martineau brands.

Associate solicitor Caroline has expertise in wills, trusts and inheritance disputes. She will be representing individuals and families during inheritance disputes while working for consumer champion law firm Lime Solicitors, and advising charities on contentious probate challenges and legacy management for law firm Shakespeare Martineau.

Caroline qualified in Manchester and moved to Yorkshire four years ago. Prior to joining the team, she was a solicitor at Bell & Buxton LLP in Sheffield and is also the immediate past chair at the Leeds Junior Lawyers Division – a non-profit networking organisation.

Caroline said: “Lime Solicitors and Shakespeare Martineau are both big, national law firms with particular specialisms in contentious probate and trusts. I am delighted to have joined the team and be given the opportunity to really hone my expertise, expand my knowledge base and develop my career.

“I really enjoy the variety of the work, acting for both individuals, as well as large charities. The consistent theme across all the work is that there is a focus on people, often in very difficult and challenging situations. Navigating clients through the complex legal issues is very rewarding.”

Based at the firm’s Sheffield hub, Caroline’s appointment follows a string of new hires – including commercial partner Carys Thompson and intellectual property legal director Kerry Russell – and forms part of the group’s strategic growth strategy.

Andrew Wilkinson, head of contentious probate at Lime Solicitors and Shakespeare Martineau, added: “We are delighted to welcome Caroline to the team. Her knowledge and experience will be a real asset to us as we look to grow our contentious probate offering and cement the reputation of both Lime Solicitors and Shakespeare Martineau in Yorkshire.”

Chris Varley, Ball & Berry

Approved inspector Ball & Berry is expanding into Yorkshire by opening a new office in Leeds and appointing a new regional director.

Chris Varley will head up Ball & Berry’s Yorkshire office, based at Park Place in Leeds, and is responsible for expanding the company’s portfolio to build its presence in the region.

The new Leeds office has been selected as it offers Ball & Berry a gateway to the rest of Yorkshire, an area in which the company has extensive experience but where opportunities for growth are aplenty.

Having trained in wood machining and furniture production, Chris gained experience in kitchen fitting and installation before pursuing a career change into building surveying in 2013.

Alongside studying a degree at Leeds Beckett University, he also gained experience as a trainee building surveyor before qualifying and gaining a position as assistant building control project manager with Jhai.

From there, he progressed to the role of building control project manager before being promoted to regional manager at Asset Building Control, where he resided until joining Ball & Berry.

Chris said: “Yorkshire is a fast developing area, which Ball & Berry already has a footprint within.

“But there is major investment in the region across both commercial and domestic projects which offers us a lot of scope to demonstrate our capabilities and be positioned as the Approved Inspector of choice for developers, contractors, homeowners and more.

“Alongside expanding our portfolio of clients in the region, I’ll be overseeing the growth of our team. The new office provides the perfect location to welcome talent from across Yorkshire and we’re looking to scale up quickly.

He concluded: “This feels like the perfect next step in my career – I’m really up for the challenge and looking forward to growing the Ball & Berry team.”

Martese Carton, Leeds Building Society

Leeds Building Society has appointed Martese Carton to the role of director of mortgage distribution, to lead both its broker and direct mortgage teams nationally.

Martese joined the Society as Head of Intermediary Distribution in summer 2016 and since then has led the function which serves and supports mortgage brokers and financial advisers, who are, and will continue to be, responsible for the vast majority of the mutual’s lending.

Leeds Building Society has been making significant investment in recent years in its mortgage systems and this programme of improvements to service and functionality is continuing.

Martese commented: “My time with the Society has seen huge change, for the business and the wider industry, and the expectations of borrowers and our intermediary partners continue to evolve.”

“There is a wealth of knowledge and experience within the Society, which enables us to give great service and personalised attention, and we continue to invest heavily in our mortgage lending teams, whether in improving IT systems or expanding key teams and creating skilled jobs, such as mortgage underwriters.

“Successfully launching Mortgage Hub, our online platform, has made the application process quicker and easier for our intermediary partners and give us the capability to link seamlessly with other industry systems.

Martese continued: “Our better use of technology also frees up colleagues for more complex cases and person-to-person inquiries. We’re continuing to add further enhancements to Mortgage Hub for the benefit of brokers and the next phase of this major project will be rolling out the platform so consumers can use it too.”

Andy Moody, Chief Commercial Officer at Leeds Building Society, said: “The continuing investment in our mortgage lending service and systems is proof our our commitment to our purpose, to bring home ownership within reach for more people,” said Andy.

“We’re in a time of huge technological change for our industry and competition in the mortgage market remains extremely fierce. I’m confident Martese’s strong experience and leadership skills will help us to remain successful in the face of these many challenges.”

Naakesha Michl, Parklane Plowden Chambers

Leeds and Newcastle-based Parklane Plowden Chambers has welcomed a new tenant to its 44-strong family team.

Naakesha Michl, who was called to the Bar in 2013, specialises in all aspects of family law including public and private children law and finance.

She joins from Leeds-based KBW Chambers where she spent the first six years of her career at the Bar combining a criminal and family law practice. This has given her particular expertise in analysing police evidence, forensic reports and data.

In its 2022 rankings, barristers’ directory, Chambers & Partners, placed Parklane Plowden as Band 1, the highest ranking a chambers can achieve, for family: children and Band 2 for family: matrimonial finance.

Naakesha acts for all parties in public and private law proceedings, including parents, grandparents and other family members, intervenors, children and local authorities. She is regularly instructed on behalf of the most vulnerable clients and as a result is well-equipped to represent clients who require extra sensitivity.

Naakesha said: “Parklane Plowden’s family law practice has an outstanding reputation, and it is a chambers with a progressive approach and clear growth plan. I am very pleased to join the set and look forward to playing my part in further developing the family team’s expertise for the benefit of current and future clients.”

Formed in 2007 following the merger of Parklane Chambers in Leeds and Plowden Chambers in Newcastle, Parklane Plowden is home to 124 members.

Parklane Plowden’s senior practice director to the family team, Mark Williams, said: “Naakesha is a great addition to our team.

“She is renowned for being a tenacious advocate in all aspects of her work who puts clients at ease through excellent communication skills and a commitment to preparing every case with the utmost care.

“Naakesha’s extensive experience in family law will play a key role in further enhancing Parklane Plowden’s reputation for excellence on the North Eastern and beyond circuit.”

Kate Tyson, meeow

Yorkshire Saas firm meeow has expanded its team, appointing a marketing director to help further accelerate its global growth.

Kate Tyson, an expert in her field brings with her 20 years of experience building and raising awareness of brands and founders. Her appointment will support the next stage in meeow’s growth as its 24/7 online networking platform continues to attract global users at scale.

Kate has been working with meeow on a freelance basis for the last 12 months, supporting other members of the team with strategic advice.

Having witnessed the success of her approach, meeow has appointed her full time to take the lead on implementing and transforming meeow’s marketing strategy, and overseeing all marketing activities, such as social media management, email marketing, content and internal communications.

CEO at meeow Chris Rabbitt said: “Kate is a real force in the marketing world. Her communication and creative expertise are exactly what we need at this stage of the business to reach new heights. We are incredibly excited to have her join the team full time and can’t wait to see what more she achieves.”

Kate first became aware of meeow having noticed members of her own communications group were positively shouting about a new way to network without bias.

Kate commented: “I have been watching meeow as a fan of the concept since it established itself boldly in the networking world. The platform’s accessibility to everyone and anyone is amazing so having the opportunity to work alongside a passionate team who bring so much value into the business world is thrilling.

“I am so honoured to be an official part of their journey and can’t wait to see what 2022 has in store for us. The next phase for Meeow is being available all over the world, and it’s my role to help that happen by communicate meeow’s potential to the world.”

Nick Lee-Rogers, Daniel Jones, Hatch

Leeds headquartered PR, social and activation agency, Hatch has welcomed Nick Lee-Rogers and Daniel Jones to its growing team.

Nick Rogers-Lee joins Hatch from Banana Kick as Head of Experiential. Nick brings with him over a decade of experience in delivering world-class experiential campaigns for high profile clients including Nintendo, Virgin Media, Sky, Campari Group and Cadbury’s, and will be responsible for overseeing Hatch’s experiential client portfolio.

Daniel Jones joins the team as Digital Content Producer and adds another feather to the agency’s content offering cap and will help shape and develop the agency’s content output.

At the beginning of 2021, the agency brought all of its content production in-house, investing heavily in technology and expertise to provide a cost-effective and holistic offering to its clients, and these latest appointments further grow this dedicated content offering.

Jason Madeley, MD of Hatch commented: “The past two years have been pretty turbulent and I’m sure every agency has a pandemic war story. While many were battening down the hatches, we chose to invest in our team and offering, to really build on our core skill set to offer a more rounded, robust and cost effective service for our clients.

“We took a full 360 appraisal of our agency offer. It wasn’t just a case of bringing in talent, we completely redeveloped our systems and practices. From how we recruit and develop team members, to ensuring our campaign measurement offered actual tangible results.

“The investment is already paying dividends and we believe that both new starters bring to the table a range of additional skills that will enable us to create an even more diverse creative offering for our clients and continue to deliver outstanding work.”

Dan Svikis, Perfect Storm

Digital marketing agency Perfect Storm has appointed Dan Svikis to a new role of strategy and effectiveness director.

He brings with him 20 years of digital marketing experience. He spent the last 10 years at HOME Agency (now IMA HOME), working as a Client Services Director, Agency Operations Director and most recently, Marketing Integration & Effectiveness Director.

Dan has been briefed to expand and refine Perfect Storm’s digital strategy offering, as the agency continues to grow at a rapid pace.

Adam Errington, Perfect Storm co-founder, said: “We are absolutely delighted to have welcomed Dan to the team. We previously worked with Dan at HOME and we have seen first-hand how talented he is.

He brings with him a huge wealth of experience, which will be a major asset in terms of assisting the team internally, and our clients, helping us to take Perfect Storm and the brands we work with to the next level.“

Dan added: “Digital marketing brings many opportunities, but the challenge for brands is often where to focus and which choices to make in order to drive commercial success. I’m incredibly excited to be able to bring my experience to our client’s brands, helping them to drive the use of digital marketing within their organisation.”

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