This week’s Yorkshire appointments

Simon Rhodes, Lambert Smith Hampton

Commercial property consultancy Lambert Smith Hampton has appointed Simon Rhodes to its Leeds office.

Simon has been appointed head of Industrial & Logistics in Yorkshire and the North East and will also support the development of LSH’s industrial offering across the North of England and Scotland.

He will work with some of LSH’s key clients including Harworth Estates, Hermes Parcelnet, Legal & General, Scania and Wolseley.

Simon has more than 17 years experience in the sector and joins LSH from Collier’s Leeds office where he headed up the industrial agency team for Yorkshire and North East.

Matthew Scrimshaw, head of Yorkshire and Northeast region for LSH, said: “This appointment is a major coup for Lambert Smith Hampton. Simon is incredibly well respected in the marketplace and brings with him a wealth of experience as well as an unrivalled network of contacts across the north of England.

“Simon will join at a crucial point for LSH as we look to build on a highly successful 2014 that saw the team secure a number of key deals, the LSH industrial agency team nominated at the EG Awards in London last month as well as a strong pipeline of work. All bodes well for a very strong 2015.”

Martin McKervey, Sheffield City Region Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP)

Martin McKervey, partner at law firm Nabarro, has joined the Board of the Sheffield City Region Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP).

In July 2014, the LEP secured the fifth most substantial Growth Deal that any area made with Government, which will create over 28,000 jobs and training for 40,000 people.

In December, it also achieved only the second Devolution Deal in England with Government, giving it more influence and control over existing funding.

Martin is a partner at Nabarro which is an international law firm with offices in Sheffield, as well as London, Manchester, Brussels, Dubai and Singapore.

He has over 25 years’ experience working in the construction, engineering, energy and manufacturing sectors both nationally and internationally.

Martin McKervey said: “It is clear to me that Sheffield City Region has a critically important part to play in the future of the UK economy and as part of a ‘Northern Powerhouse’

“Over the past few years, through my work as Chair of the Property and Construction Sector Group, I have been able to play a part in shaping the City Region’s Strategic Economic Plan. In this role, I worked closely with the LEP Board to ensure that our local economic plans reflect what our property and construction sector needs to grow.

“I look forward to contributing further through this new and exciting role and I hope that my legal expertise and infrastructure experience will be an asset to this already outstanding LEP Board.”

Kieran Gallagher, Doncaster Racecourse

Doncaster Racecourse has appointed Kieran Gallagher as executive director.

Racecourse owner Arena Racing Company (ARC) has appointed Kieran Gallagher as executive director at the venue which hosts some of the 15-strong group’s most prestigious race meetings including the Ladbrokes St Leger Festival.

Gallagher succeeds Mark Spincer, managing director at Doncaster since 2010, who will now focus full-time on his group role as assistant operations director for ARC.

Kieran, who hails from Rotherham in South Yorkshire has acted as general manager at the racecourse for the past year having joined the team in 2010 with responsibility for key areas of the business including developing the venue’s EVH offer and managing its catering arm.

Gallagher spent four years at Sandown Park Racecourse in the mid-1990s before spending a number of years in football stadia prior to joining Doncaster Racecourse in 2010.

Gallagher said: “A key focus of the new role will be ensuring that Doncaster Racecourse continues to add value to the local region through increased visitor footfall, further developing our offer to include large scale corporate events and major showpiece race days including four outdoor music concerts in 2015.

“Another priority will be adding further value to our stakeholders and sponsors by association with one of the UK’s leading racecourses and event venues.

“Following the success of the venue in recent years and coupled with the resurgence in the UK economy we are now exploring exciting and ambitious ideas to aid the longer term vision for the venue.”

Michael Woodhead, Brantwood Financial Planning

Huddersfield-based Brantwood Financial Planning has appointed of Michael Woodhead as corporate development consultant.

Michael, best known as joint founder of BWD, later Rensburg, former Chairman of property company Birkby and non-executive director of Tay Homes and Jerome Group, joins Paul Dickinson and Christopher Brown at Brantwood.

Paul Dickinson, co-founder of Brantwood said: “Michael is one of our region’s most highly-respected businessmen and has a tremendous reputation within the financial services industry

“We’re delighted he has joined us at a time of considerable growth for our firm, particularly in terms of investment portfolios and pensions advice, for entrepreneurs, owner-managers, managing directors and family firms across the North of England.”

“Paul, Chris and I share the same values and belief in the vital importance of strong client relationships, trust and understanding,” said Michael.

“I’m really looking forward to working with the team and hopefully giving them the benefit of my extensive experience in creating and growing businesses as they continue to expand. They’re also advising me, so I’ve got a very personal vested interest in their success!”

Philip Thomas, Nova

Leeds-based contracting specialist Nova has appointed Philip Thomas as business development manager.

Philip, who brings more than 20 years’ experience in senior sales and customer relationship roles to Leeds-based Nova Contracting, will be responsible for further expanding the company’s national recruitment agency client base.

Working with major national companies and organisations in the public and private sectors, Philip has extensive experience in the manufacturing, retail, healthcare and financial services industries.

Philip said: “Nova has built a very strong reputation for excellent client service in the contracting sector, so I’m delighted to be joining the team at a time of major expansion.

“My role will be to further develop existing client relationships and to build new ones across the temporary worker and contractor market.”

Adam Knott & Laura Cundall, rebuildingsociety

Leeds peer-to-business lending platform rebuildingsociety has announced two new hires into its marketing department as it looks to expand in 2015.

Adam Knott and Laura Cundall join as digital marketing manager and marketing executive respectively.

Adam was previously an SEO consultant at Web Translations, the Leeds-based translation services agency, while Laura is a recent Economics graduate from Newcastle University.

rebuildingsociety tripled its loan book in 2014, and now has nearly £5 million of private cash loaned to almost 90 businesses across the UK.

Nick Moules, marketing and communications manager said: “In the future, 2015 will be looked back on as the year that peer-to-peer went mainstream.

“We’ve got NISA eligibility coming in, an election where access to finance for businesses will be a vote-winning strategy employed by all and new comparison sites desperate to capitalise on interest in the sector.

“Adam and Laura bring fresh skills and enthusiasm to rebuildingsociety that will help us reach new audiences and build existing relationships, particularly through digital marketing. I’m excited about pushing more boundaries with our marketing and using this extra resource to maximise the reach of our good news stories.”

Jenny McMillan, MyFinancepartner (PwC)

PwC in Yorkshire has appointed Jenny McMillan as manager to its growing MyFinancepartner team.

MyFinancepartner, which the firm launched last year, is a service developed specifically for SMEs, to provide them with accounting support, advice and insight.

It combines cloud based technology with one-on-one advice from PwC experts to ensure businesses have the support and insight they need to secure future growth.

Rob Blomfield, head of MyFinancepartner in Yorkshire, said: “SMEs have been a key part of our client base for a number of years and so we understand that they often need a much more flexible model for accounting, which can grow with them as their business evolves.

“My Financepartner creates a new way for businesses to engage with accountants, enabling them to spend more time growing their business.

“Clients are able to access the accounting support they need, when they need it, and sophisticated management information which will deliver the necessary insight for planning for future growth, without being tied into long term contracts.”