This week’s North West appointments

Lucy Bailey, Napthens

Regional law firm Napthens has expanded its debt recovery team by appointing Lucy Bailey to the position of debt recovery executive.

Lucy, who graduated from the University of Law in Manchester and obtained a law degree from Leeds University, is set to advise Napthens’ clients on topics such as the management of outstanding invoices.

The head of debt recovery at Napthens, Suzanne Dean, said: “Late payments and bad debts are a challenge for many businesses, particularly SMEs.

“Lucy joins the Debt Recovery team at a time when it is experiencing significant growth thanks to its reputation in the region.

Suzanne added: “We’re keen to strengthen and maintain our high level of service to clients, helping them manage debts efficiently and effectively and ensuring the smooth running of their businesses.”

Alistair Greenhalgh, Lambert Smith Hampton

Lambert Smith Hampton (LSH), the national commercial property consultancy, has appointed a new director for its hotel division.

Alistair Greenhalgh, who has worked in the North West hotel transaction market for over 15 years, previously served as a director at real estate firm Jones Lang LaSalle and senior vice president of the company’s hotels and hospitality group.

While Alistair’s new role will see him based in Manchester, LSH’s divisional director, Hugh Anderson, said the appointment will strengthen LSH’s hotel expertise on a national level.

Hugh commented: “Alistair has a long standing reputation in the marketplace, having dealt with a wide range of hotels in his career throughout the North West, both from individual high quality, single asset transactions to larger portfolio assignments.

“I am extremely pleased to have Alistair on board, particularly given the current strength of the hotel market, further building our profile in a sector that we are actively expanding on a national and international basis.”

He added: “Our dedicated team of specialist hotel surveyors is recognised as one of the leading advisors to the hotel sector with experience spanning the full range of accommodation and attracting candidates of Alistair’s quality reflects LSH’s strong reputation in this sector.”

LSH’s head of the North West, David Moore, said he believes the appointment highlights the firm’s growth aspirations.

Vicky Hope and Lisa Cowley, Close Brothers Motor Finance

Trafford Park-based Close Brothers Motor Finance has enhanced its business offering by appointing two new members to its sales team.

Vicky Hope, who has 19 years of experience in the finance industry, is the firm’s newest account manager. Meanwhile, Lisa Cowley has been taken on as sales manager and will oversee a team of account managers.

The two appointments form part of nine new hires across Close Brothers’ northern and southern branches.

James Broadhead, CEO of Close Brothers Motor Finance, said: “The new appointments are excellent news for our dealer partners, as their years of experience in sales, finance and motor industries will be an invaluable asset.

“The account managers will work closely with dealers to enable them to sell more vehicles, with greater peace of mind in the midst of compliance transition.”

Providing finance for new and used cars, as well as light commercial vehicles and motorbikes, Close Brothers Motor Finance works in partnership with more than 8,000 UK dealerships.

The firm’s head of sales in the North, Ciara Raison, said: “Lisa and our team of new account managers are no strangers to the industry and their knowledge and proven understanding of motor finance will no doubt make them all great assets to our team.”

Rita Waters, Revive and Thrive

High street regeneration company Revive and Thrive has appointed Rita Waters, the chief executive of the CH1ChesterBID organisation, as its UK ambassador.

In her new voluntary role, Rita has become Revive and Thrive’s first UK town and city centre ambassador.

She commented: “I’m incredibly proud and excited to take up this UK role with Revive and Thrive.

“We’ve had phenomenal success in Chester through the creation of a Business Improvement District (BID) and I hope to share my knowledge and experience with a range of other city and town representatives.”

Rita added: “Equally, I look forward to hearing first-hand how others have created vibrant and successful high streets and I have no doubt there will be new ideas that I can bring back to Chester to help us create an even better city centre experience for everyone.”

Richard Smart, Royal Bank of Scotland

Richard Smart has been appointed as the head of structured finance, corporate and commercial banking for the North at The Royal Bank of Scotland.

In his new position, Richard will lead a team of 15 debt specialists whose job it is to improve debt delivery for the bank’s customers across northern England.

Richard, who is qualified as a chartered accountant, has previously held a number of senior positions at the Royal Bank of Scotland and, since 2014, has completed various post IPO, M&A and other transactions amounting to more than £2.2bn.

Last year, RBS’ North Structured Finance team worked with 40 customers and a total of £0.6bn, a figure the bank is aiming to increase in 2015.

Joseph Seyed Hossein, Bromleys

Greater Manchester-based law firm Bromleys has added to its commercial property arm with the appointment of Joseph Seyed Hossein.

Joseph, an assistant solicitor, previously managed the property department of Oldham-based Maya Solicitors. Having started his legal career at Cobbetts in Manchester, he has since worked at firms such as Asons Solicitors and Keoghs, both in Bolton.

He said: “It’s an exciting time to join Bromleys and I look forward to working with the rest of the team and combining our significant knowledge and experience for the benefit of the firm’s clients.”

Paul Westwell, a partner with the firm, is the head of Bromleys’ corporate and commercial team.

He commented: “Joseph has wide-ranging knowledge and experience of commercial and residential property matters and has a strong track record of providing a highly-professional service to clients.

“He is an excellent addition to our team at a time when we are seeing increased demand for our services, especially in the nursing home and day nursery sectors.”

Paul added: “His appointment will greatly assist us in serving the needs of our growing client base.”

Stephen Pearson and Antonia Gardner, gunnercooke

Law firm gunnercooke has appointed two new members to its Manchester team.

After 15 years of serving as a partner at Turner Pearson, Stephen Pearson has joined gunnercooke as a commercial property and business partner in the Manchester office. He has experience in commercial property and business matters, as well as residential conveyancing and trusts, wills and probate.

Elsewhere, gunnercooke has taken on Antonia Gardner as a commercial real estate partner. Having previously worked as a solicitor at Eversheds and Geldards in Nottingham, Antonia joins gunnercooke from Oxfordshire-headquartered Everyman Legal.

Darryl Cooke, a founding partner at the company, said: “As a challenger law firm, our unique operational model continues to attract the best talent from across the UK and worldwide.

“We are very excited to continue the expansion of our team as we look forward to a strong and dynamic future at gunnercooke, and hope that our team continues to grow and develop at such a fast pace.”

gunnercooke currently operates offices in Manchester and London.

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