This week’s Yorkshire appointments

Trinity Leeds has appointed a new general manager, David Maddison, who will oversee the city centre destinations’ unique shopping and leisure offering.

Maddison joined Land Securities last month, with over 30 years retail experience including roles at Nike as development manager for European Outlets, and most recently, seven years as centre manager at Ashford Designer Outlet in Kent.

As part of his new role, he will lead, direct and support the Trinity Leeds team to deliver a world class shopping and dining experience. He will also work closely with the Land Securities retail portfolio team.

Commenting on his appointment, Maddison said: “Trinity Leeds has very much been on my radar for the past couple of years having followed its success story since launch, so I am very proud to be joining such a prestigious location.

“Leeds is such a vibrant and exciting city and together with the great team I’ll be working with I’m very excited about my new role.”

Martha Phillips, Source

Source, a Leeds-based marketing and communications agency, has boosted its senior team with the appointment of Martha Phillips as Account Director.

Formerly PR and Campaigns Manager at the National Apprenticeship Service, Martha was responsible for driving forward the Government’s manifesto campaign on Apprenticeships.

Most recently, Martha lectured at Leeds Beckett University teaching across a range of modules for Sports Business Management and Sports Marketing including, Public Relations and Digital Marketing Communications.

With over a decade of combined in-house and agency experience Martha’s areas of expertise include B2B and corporate PR, crisis management, strategic campaign planning and management, Online PR and digital marketing and communications.

Peter Downy, director at Source Marketing Communications, said: “As the company continues to grow and gain work beyond traditional marketing and communications we wanted to appoint someone who could enhance this area for us.

“Martha brings with her a wealth of experience as well as strategic and creative insight, which will be a big asset to Source. We are delighted to welcome Martha to the team.”

Alicia Jardine Laurie, 360 Chartered Accountants

East Yorkshire-based 360 Chartered Accountants has appointmented accountant Alicia Jardine Laurie to its team.

Alicia has now joined the firm and will be concentrating on technical tax work as well as looking to grow 360’s corporate and audit client base.

Alicia trained and qualified as a Chartered Accountant at a global accountancy firm before spending three years in industry in a global company doing in-house technical tax. As a Chartered Tax Advisor who specialises in VAT and other indirect taxes, she previously worked for another independent accountancy firm in Hull where she worked in business development alongside her tax work.

Andy Steele, director of 360 Chartered Accountants, said: “Alicia is a fantastic asset to 360, not just as part of our team but for our clients. She joins us with an established client base and is already getting us in front of some exciting prospects in both the corporate and charities sectors. She is a perfect fit for 360 and we are thrilled to be able to tap into her wealth of experience and knowledge.”

Commenting on her appointment, Alicia added: “360 is an incredibly progressive and innovative firm and I am really excited to have joined the team. We have extremely talented and forward-thinking people here and I am looking forward to helping them take the business forward to the next level to become the leading firm of accountants in the region.”

John Norman, Grant Thornton

Business adviser Grant Thornton has appointed tax specialist John Norman as a senior manager in its Leeds-based tax team.

John joins the growing team after having run his own consultancy for the last three years, specialising in assisting taxpayers, accountants and solicitors with challenging HMRC investigations.

He has extensive experience of dealing with tax dispute resolutions and tax investigations, including nearly 20 years’ working within top 10 accountancy firms. He is also a former senior tax inspector with HMRC specialising in serious fraud investigations.

Grant Summers, partner in tax investigations, said: “John has established himself as an expert in his field and his insight and wealth of experience is a valuable addition to our team. We’ve established a sound reputation in the field, working with clients ranging from large partnerships and international corporates to high net worth individuals and Premier League football clubs and players, and John’s appointment will help strengthen our specialist tax services.”

John added: “Grant Thornton’s approach is very client-focussed, something which I firmly believe in. I’m looking forward to working with our varied range of existing clients and helping them to bring their tax affairs up to date, as well as expanding our services across the north.”

Adam Smith, Sky Betting and Gaming

Sky Betting and Gaming has revealed Adam Smith will be joining the company as its first Head of Corporate Communications.

Adam will join in July and report to Marketing Director Rob Painter. He will work closely with CEO Richard Flint and the rest of the leadership team and will be responsible for the company’s relationships with politicians, regulators and the media.

Rob Painter, marketing director, said: “As an independent company we are growing up quickly. The way our brand and corporate profile is perceived is an increasingly important factor in determining the success of the business. We’re therefore delighted that Adam is joining us to help develop both and I’m looking forward to welcoming him to the team.”

Adam Smith said: “It is an exciting time to be joining Sky Betting and Gaming and I cannot wait to get started.”

Graham Tait, Wykeland Group

Wykeland Group has appointmented Graham Tait as the Centre Manager of Flemingate, Wykeland’s 162,561 sq ft retail and leisure development in Beverley.

Graham joins from Westfield Stratford, where he was a senior projects delivery manager.

Under construction and opening in October, Flemingate is anchored by a 40,000 sq ft new concept Debenhams, a 33,723 sq ft six-screen Parkway digital cinema, and an 80-room Premier Inn hotel.

Prior to his three years at Westfield, Graham was a UK Project Manager at Ikea, working for the company for 12 years in a variety of key operational roles. He has also worked for leading fashion brands, Jaeger and Aquascutum.

Dominic Gibbons, managing director of Wykeland Group, said: “We are delighted to have been able to attract such an experienced and skilled centre manager as Graham. He comes to Flemingate with a wealth of knowledge of the UK retail sector and shopping trends in general, and his enthusiasm for Beverley as an all-round shopping and tourism destination shone through during the interviewing process.

“His appointment is another landmark in the development of the scheme, especially as we are now in the final run-up to the Flemingate’s opening in late October.”

Graham added: “To be part of something that is going to change Beverley immeasurably for the better is just an opportunity too good to miss. With the opening of Flemingate in October, Beverley will be an entire day’s visit, extending into the evening with the cinema and restaurants, with the ability to say overnight for those travelling from further away.

“Flemingate will be a magnet to bring people into Beverley from the surrounding areas and can only enhance the centre and the town. It is a turning point for Beverley – everything is coming together.”

Emma Yates, Louise Colledge and Daniel O’Connell, Irwin Mitchell

Irwin Mitchell has further boosted its business legal expertise in Leeds with a trio of appointments to its specialist teams.

The firm’s office in the city has welcomed Emma Yates as a new associate solicitor in its Commercial Litigation team, with Louise Colledge joining as a solicitor in its employment law team. The third addition is Daniel O’Connell, who has taken up a position as a legal executive in the corporate team.

Joining from Turner Parkinson in Manchester, Emma is a commercial litigation expert with specific expertise in advising on contentious intellectual property law. Louise joins Irwin Mitchell from Petherbridge Bassra in Bradford and brings a wealth of expertise in relation to all aspects of employment law.

Moving to Irwin Mitchell from Gordons in Leeds, Daniel specialises in advising on corporate M&A work including support for major multimillion pound deals.

The appointments are just the latest in a series which have seen Irwin Mitchell bolster the expertise in its fast-growing Business Legal Services division. The news also comes after the announcement that corporate partner Philip Goldsborough has joined the team in Leeds along with real estate associate solicitor Clare Davitt.

Amy Scollan and Deborah Warren, Clarion

Leeds law firm Clarion has promoted two of its team to the position of senior associate.

Amy Scollan joined the firm’s family law team as an associate five years ago. She has extensive technical knowledge in both general and international family law and deals with all aspects of family law, specialising in complex private law, Children Act disputes, unmarried couple property ownership disputes and matrimonial finance disputes on divorce.

Amy was Shortlisted for the Law Society’s Excellence Award - Junior Lawyer of the year 2010 and is considered to be fast emerging as one of the top family lawyers in Leeds and Yorkshire. Last year she achieved a distinction in her Masters in International Law and is a member of the British-German Jurists’ Association.

Employment law specialist Deborah Warren joined Clarion as a trainee in 2007 and qualified as an Associate in 2009. Deborah deals with employment matters of all kinds for employers, including day to day advice regarding discrimination, absence management, whistleblowing, protected conversations and the application of TUPE as well as the defence of employment tribunal claims.

However, much of Deborah’s work consists of large-scale complex projects, including the management of holiday pay issues, restructures, collective redundancies and changes to terms and conditions. Deborah has developed particular expertise in the complicated field of the application of employment law in insolvency situations and brings a commercial common sense approach to such circumstances.

Roger Hutton, managing partner at Clarion, said: “Amy and Deborah have both provided consistently excellent levels of service and their practical, solutions-focused approach makes a vital contribution to their clients. As a firm, we place great importance on supporting our team and enabling colleagues to progress within their field of expertise.”

Michael Cantwell, Rachel Crookes, Simon Hellewell and Natalie Nattress, hlw Keeble Hawson

A new management team has been appointed at the Leeds office of hlw Keeble Hawson - one of the region’s largest law firms.

The team includes partners Michael Cantwell, Rachel Crookes, Simon Hellewell and Natalie Nattress who have jointly amassed a wealth of experience in areas spanning corporate, litigation and dispute resolution, insolvency and business recovery - as well as commercial property.

Paul Trudgill, hlw Keeble Hawson managing partner, will chair the management team. He said: “Our Leeds management team aptly reflects our broader expertise and continued development across their respective teams.

“We continue to have a strong pipeline of commissions and our commitment to developing the next generation of lawyers through our recruitment drive for top talent on both senior and junior levels will continue throughout this year.”

hlw Keeble Hawson, which operates out of offices across Leeds, Sheffield and Doncaster, also ranks in The Lawyer UK 200 Annual Report 2014 - a league table of the UK’s 200 leading law practices.

Karen Staniforth, Frenchgate Shopping Centre

Karen Staniforth has been appointed the new Marketing Manager at Frenchgate Shopping Centre, Doncaster.

Karen has joined the team at the 800,000 sq ft retail destination in Doncaster town centre, bringing with her a wealth of marketing, retail and sales experience.

Previously Head of Marketing at Liz Hobbs Group, Karen was a key player in the promotion and delivery of large scale music and entertainment events, where her duties included managing the marketing and PR teams, liaising with the music artists’ management teams and responsibility for the marketing plans and budgets for all music concerts.

Prior to that, Karen held marketing roles at Barnsley Borough Council and Magna Science and Adventure Centre, and was National Marketing Director for Haslam Homes at Keepmoat Plc.

She was also previously the Laura Ashley Store Manager at Meadowhall where she headed up a team of more than 30 staff. Karen also established and ran her own home furnishings business.

Laurie Barton Wright, Frenchgate centre manager, said: “Karen has developed her marketing skills and business acumen through working across a diverse range of sectors including the entertainment and music industry, local authority, leisure, construction, and, of course, retail.

“As a result, she brings with her a combination of marketing know-how and knowledge, quite literally, from the shop floor during her time as a store manager. I’m sure she will be a very valuable asset to the management team here at Frenchgate.”