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This week’s North East appointments Part 2

Our second appointments instalment of the week for your perusing pleasure.

Aman Sehgal, Muckle LLP

An experienced insolvency lawyer who has worked on high profile insolvency investigations has embarked on a new stage in his career.

Aman Sehgal, who has more than 10 years’ experience in corporate and personal insolvency, has joined the region’s largest banking and restructuring team at leading North East law firm for businesses, Muckle LLP.

Aman has previously advised Insolvency Practitioners on a range of complex public interest litigation cases and is now bringing his specialist expertise to Muckle and its clients.

Aman will further strengthen Muckle LLP’s restructuring capability and his focus is to build up the contentious work of the insolvency practice.

Aman firmly believes his professional and personal values are aligned to those of Muckle, which prides itself on a down to earth, customer service led approach to providing legal services.

He explained: “I can identify with Muckle. It stands out from other law firms for having good values, a strong sense of community and a friendly culture.

“I met Jason Wainwright, Muckle’s managing partner, at an event last year and it was refreshing to meet a senior partner who had such a dynamic vision for what he was trying to build at his firm.

“I was born and brought up in the North East and I always wanted to remain here. When I decided to move on from my previous role, I carefully considered my next step and quite early on I knew Muckle was the right choice for me. It’s important to feel engaged with the business you work for and because Muckle’s focus is within the region you instantly feel that engagement.”

Aman lives with his wife and five-year-old twins in Ponteland, Northumberland. He graduated from Northumbria University’s LPC course in 2002 and has progressed his career within the region over the last 14 years.

Andrew Cawkwell, Partner in the Banking and Restructuring team, said: “Aman has exactly the right values and approach that is well suited to Muckle and we’re delighted to welcome him to the team.

“There is no doubt that Aman’s extensive insolvency investigation skills will add additional strength and depth to our offer for clients here in the North East across the UK.”

Stuart Singleton, Ross Palmer and Katie Harding, Narrative

A North East integrated communications agency has made three appointments across its core services to further strengthen its offering.

Sunderland-based Narrative Integrated Communications, welcomes Stuart Singleton as financial director, Ross Palmer as creative director and Katie Harding as PR digital account executive during what is described as a time of “expansion and investment”.

Due to increased demand for new and existing service strands including PR, creative, advertising, digital media and marketing strategy, Narrative has recently seen its team grow from 13 to 18 in under a year.

Stuart, a qualified chartered accountant, trained in Manchester before moving to Australia to hone his skills. On his return to the UK, he worked for Royal & Sun Alliance, Siemens and Atos heading up various finance and governance teams to help improve and transform their processes, teams and results.

He has joins the Narrative team with the aim to ensure the business is financially positioned for long-term growth.

Ross is an award-winning, multi-channel creative with over twelve years’ experience working in and subsequently leading creative teams in some of the region’s largest branding, advertising and digital agencies, working on accounts for national and worldwide brands.

Speaking of his new role, Ross said: “I’m really pleased to have joined Narrative at such a pivotal time for the business. It’s great to be part of a business that is committed to nurturing talent in the region and which sees the importance of developing the workforce of the future.”

Also joining the team is Katie, who previously worked in the marketing and communications team at Coast & Country Housing Group, one of the North East’s largest social housing companies.

Katie’s new role will include the development and delivery of client digital PR and social media strategies.

Kieron Goldsborough, managing director at Narrative, said: “I’m delighted to welcome Stuart, Ross and Katie to the team at a time of concentrated expansion and investment.

“Their combined experiences in their key areas are already proving to be invaluable and I’m looking forward to moving the business forward with their expertise.”

Paul Gainford, Phil Harnby and Richard Humphreys, RMT

RMT Accountants & Business Advisors has strengthened its senior management team on the back of a strong first half of the year by adding three new directors to its board.

The Gosforth-based firm has appointed Paul Gainford as its new director of client services, while Phil Harnby and Richard Humphreys have both been appointed as directors of its specialist medical division, RMT Healthcare.

Each new director is taking on responsibilities across different parts of the firm’s operations, as well as heading up their own specific teams, and they collectively bring over 50 years’ industry experience to their new posts.

RMT provides the full range of financial and business advisory services through its accountancy, specialist tax, medical and healthcare, corporate finance and recovery & insolvency teams, and works with firms of all sizes both within and outside the North East.

The 62 year-old firm is one of the largest independent practices in the North East and employs more than 75 people, with the new appointments now creating an eight-strong board.

Paul Gainford, who has been with RMT for 17 years, says: “The key to RMT’s continuing success has been the ability to really get under the skin of our clients’ businesses, understand what their personal and commercial objectives are, and deliver the services, advice and support they need to achieve them in the most efficient way possible.

“The accountancy profession has changed out of all recognition since I first joined the firm, with clients rightly having higher expectations of a proactive business advice-based service, and RMT’s way of working has kept evolving to ensure we’ve stayed at the forefront of the industry.

“My new role gives me a great opportunity to make wider use of my technical accounting and audit knowledge, and to help our growing team deliver their expert insight and guidance to our clients with ever greater impact.”

Mike Pott, managing director at RMT, adds: “Having been in business for more than six decades, the RMT story is one of constantly refreshing and developing our operations as the needs of our clients evolve and grow.

“Paul, Phil and Richard are all outstanding practitioners, with the capacity to understand and deliver on their clients’ objectives. Their expertise will bring a new perspective to the commercial opportunities that the business can look to pursue.

“It’s especially pleasing to be able to promote people from within our high-calibre team into director roles, and it also creates new career opportunities into which other members of the team can grow.

“RMT has enjoyed a strong first half of the year, with pleasing levels of growth being secured across all our divisions, and strengthening our board in this way provides fresh momentum for further progress.”

Kayleigh Scott and Rebecca Eltringham, Space Architects

Space Architects has added two new creatives to the team at its Newcastle studio.

Architecture graduates of the Northumbria alumni, Kayleigh Scott and Rebecca Eltringham, have been appointed as the newest members of the company’s Gosforth-based team and will assist on projects across the region.

As a part 2 architectural assistant, Kayleigh has kicked off her career at Space working on the complex student residential project, Park View Student Village on Richardson Road in Newcastle upon Tyne whilst also completing her Part 3 exam at Chester University.

Since graduating from both Parts 1 and 2 in Architecture Kayleigh has worked alongside a wide range of disciplines within the construction industry and built up a portfolio of experience, including concept design / design development, bid production, marketing, interior design and FF&E, which has formed a strong foundation to build her architectural career upon at Space.

Kayleigh said: “Throughout my studies Space has always been one of the most reputable practices in the North East and I could always envision myself as part of their team. They really invest in their people and I knew there would be great opportunities for personal and professional growth.

“Space is really keen to get you stuck in and from day one you are involved in projects you can sink your teeth into. There’s lots of exciting prospects ahead.”

County Durham-born, Rebecca Eltringham, who has always been interested in the technical aspects of architectural design, joined the team this July after completing a four year course in BSc (Hons) Architectural Technology.

A large proportion of Rebecca’s role as architectural technologist sees her assisting with the delivery aspects of projects.

Rebecca said: “Having been familiar with Space for a number of years whilst studying, I was already a fan of their work and ethos. As it has strong links with Northumbria for placement opportunities, you hear a lot of positive feedback from peers about the internal culture and innovative approaches which make it such a desirable place to be.”

Space Group CEO Rob Charlton added: “It’s great to support people form the region and help them to achieve their aspirations – we welcome Rebecca and Kayleigh as they begin their professional journey into the world of architecture here at Space.”

Robert Bisset, Patrick Parsons

Multi-disciplinary consulting engineers Patrick Parsons has strengthened its management team with the appointment of new director, Robert Bisset, to spearhead the office in the centre of Glasgow.

Bobby has worked for a number of leading UK consultancies prior to joining Patrick Parsons, including Fairhurst where he spent the last six years as director of the firm’s buildings team in Glasgow.

His responsibilities have included business development, financial control, staff resourcing and technical delivery of a wide portfolio of projects encompassing all sectors including education, retail, residential, marine and petro-chemical.

With over 35 years’ experience in the industry, Bobby will manage Patrick Parsons’ Glasgow office, bringing his technical experience and knowledge of the local market to further enhance the team and help sustain and develop the long term growth of the office.

Patrick Parsons are currently working on several large-scale projects in Glasgow, including the design of a new 209-bedroom Premier Inn hotel situated at St Enoch Square in the heart of Glasgow city centre.

Commenting on his appointment, Bobby said: “My reason for choosing to join Patrick Parsons is twofold – firstly, the company promotes an environment and culture where a work life balance is encouraged to achieve personal fulfilment at work.

“Secondly, with the company undergoing rapid expansion over these past few years, this is an opportunity to be part of a dynamic, focused and exciting team, where I am challenged to use my skills and experience to contribute to the ongoing success of the company.”

Managing director of Patrick Parsons, Peter Stienlet, said: “We’re very pleased to welcome Bobby on board. He brings with him a wealth of expert knowledge and we look forward to watching the team grow under his management.”

Martin Gardner, Scott Logic

Martin Gardner, 41, has joined software development firm Scott Logic as a Business Development Support Executive, based at the firm’s headquarters in Newcastle.

The psychology graduate, who lives in Cullercoats in North Tyneside, was approached about the newly-created role on LinkedIn.

He explained: “I was impressed by the approach, which seemed very well researched, and the interview process was handled smoothly and thoroughly.

“I also liked the various people who interviewed me, which is extremely important as it’s your first impression of the personnel and culture of the workplace. I liked the location and the feel of the office and the company itself is a very exciting one to be associated with – literally on the cutting-edge of technology.

“My new colleagues seem great and extraordinarily knowledgeable. I’ve been looking for the right company to give the best years of my career to and Scott Logic seemed to offer everything I was looking for.”

Join us next monday for more North East appointment news.