This week’s Yorkshire appointments

EY has appointed Leeds-based partner Gareth James to head-up its Data & Analytics practice within its UK and Ireland Assurance business, as the professional services firm targets further growth in audit and business assurance services in Yorkshire and the wider UK.

Gareth joins the firm having spent 18 years at Deloitte, where he had been a UK Risk Analytics Partner since 2011, specialising in and leading on audit and finance analytics.

Gareth’s practice at EY uses data and analytics to further enhance the quality and efficiency of audits, and directly helps clients to deliver faster, better business assurance activities.

Gareth will be based at EY’s Bridgewater Place offices in Leeds.

Stuart Watson, Yorkshire Senior Partner at EY, said: “Gareth’s experience will be vital in further growing and developing our Data and Analytics practice in Yorkshire and across the UK, which, alongside our global scale and deep sector insights, will play an important role in helping us to continue to support businesses with the most robust and innovative audit and assurance work.

“Gareth is an important addition to the partnership nationally and I’m particularly pleased that his appointment continues recent investment in our Yorkshire practice.”

John Evans, National College for High Speed Rail

The National College for High Speed Rail (NCHSR) is one step closer following the appointmentment of John Evans as its Chief Executive Officer.

John joins from FirstGroup, where as Group HR Director he oversaw HR strategy and delivery. With over 25 years’ experience in marketing and HR, John has worked for organisations across the public and private sectors including Strathclyde Police, Diageo and British Airways.

As CEO of the NCHSR John will take responsibility for the development of the college in terms of shaping the curriculum, college design and also the critical liaison with stakeholders, including employers, to help deliver a new generation of top class engineers for the rail industry.

Terry Morgan, chair of the college Board, said: “John represents a hugely important addition to the National College for High Speed Rail and I’m extremely pleased to welcome him to the team. His commitment and passion for people development will be vital as we move closer to opening the college in two years’ time.

“The National College for High Speed Rail has a unique opportunity to ensure that the skills needed to support the delivery of HS2 are in place and able to respond to other infrastructure projects in future.”

John Evans, the new Chief Executive for the National College for High Speed Rail added: “I am delighted to be joining the college at an exciting and pivotal point in its development. The opportunity to be involved in shaping the college is a huge professional and personal incentive for me.

“I am passionate about the development of young engineering and other talent and I believe it to be critical to building the UK’s future workforce. I am really looking forward to playing a key role in developing the college which will contribute hugely to the delivery of HS2.”

Kate Lawrence, The IDHL Group

The IDHL Group, WMG’s parent company, has strengthened its finance function with the appointment of Kate Lawrenson to the new post of Mergers & Acquisitions Director.

Following a period of strong organic growth and the successful acquisition in 2013 of the web design agency, NetConstruct, the group is now looking to supplement this growth with an acquisition strategy.

Kate has spent the last eight years with Grant Thornton, where she primarily worked in corporate finance providing advice to business owners, corporate clients and financial providers regarding acquisitions and disposals, fund raising and strategic change.

Lisa Higham, group finance director at IDHL Group, said: “Following our acquisition of NetConstruct and a sustained period of organic growth, now is the right time to kick start the next phase of our acquisition strategy.

“To have a dedicated resource to help us achieve our growth ambitions only cements our commitment - to both our people and clients - to be the go to fully integrated digital agency in the UK.”

The IDHL Group comprises WMG, Ingenuity Digital and NetConstruct and is one of the UK’s longest established SEO, PPC and web development agencies, with a 20-year heritage. It delivers SEO, content marketing, PPC, web design and PR strategies from offices in Harrogate, Wetherby and London.

Allan Tucker, Care Futures

Leeds-based recruitment specialists Care Futures, which is part of the recruitment group Futures.co.uk, has appointed experienced recruiter Allan Tucker.

Allan, who has almost 10 years industry experience, is part of a specialist team that sources the best talent for social care organisations across the UK.

Allan is responsible for recruiting chief executives, directors, senior managers and principals for a wide range of public and private sector social care organisations that typically work with children, young people, families and adults. These include adoption and fostering agencies, residential care homes, special needs residential schools, social care charities and local authorities.

Tom Ryan, Head of Care Futures, said: “We are delighted to welcome Allan to our team, he is very experienced and well regarded within this sector. His networks in the private and independent care sector will complement our public sector specialism allowing our clients to benefit from a broader knowledge base and talent pool.”

Care Futures is part of recruitment group Futures.co.uk which has been operating for 25 years and employs 29 staff across its offices in Leeds, Manchester and London.

David Webster (not pictured), Chris Wright and Marc Gaunt, Joe Manby Limited

Three employees who between them have collectively had 48 years of experience with event services specialist Joe Manby Limited have been promoted.

David Webster (not pictured), Chris Wright and Marc Gaunt are all long-standing members of the events logistics team and have each been appointed to the role of foreman.

The three new foremen will work with the senior management team at Joe Manby Limited to provide support to organisers and exhibitors on events around the country.

Director Richard Manby said: “Joe Manby Limited is synonymous with professionalism, quality, value for money and personal service. Steeped in our ethos as they are, these three well-deserved promotions will help us to maintain our high standards and ensure clients achieve the maximum impact from their event.

“David, Chris and Marc all bring considerable experience of our existing client base, as well as the venues within which we operate.”

Emma Greensmith, Laura Jepson, Rob Ormiston and Sandra Overfield, Wintersgill Associates

An Ilkley-based chartered accountants has expanded its team as part of its ongoing strategy to operate in other areas of business management.

Wintersgill Associates, which provides consultancy services such as outsourced financial directorship, has been bolstered by the addition of four new members of staff this year.

With two new accountants, a senior associate, and a practice manager to handle the growing range and volume of activity, Wintersgill Associates is positioned to increase focus on additional services such as business planning and change management as well as traditional accountancy.

Accountant Emma Greensmith joins Wintersgill Associates following a position as audit manager at Grant Thornton and with 20 years of experience will use her industry knowledge to facilitate growth in a portfolio of clients from small businesses to blue chip companies.

Emma will work alongside Laura Jepson, an apprentice accountant who is studying for The Association of Accounting Technicians (AAT) qualifications in accounting.

Rob Ormiston, brings a further 20 years of experience to the company from sectors including manufacturing, retail and property. His principle role will be to act as a financial director to clients specifically working towards expansion and increased profitability.

To oversee the management of the company’s increasing client base, Sandra Overfield completes the new intake as practice manager having previously managed the accounts department of a group of multinational manufacturing companies, subsequent to qualifying as a chartered accountant whilst with Deloitte.

Paul Wintersgill, managing director and founder of Wintersgill Associates, explains: “Our aim has always been to provide a much wider range of services that go way beyond traditional accountancy. With our newly expanded team we are now able to really grow this area of the business and absorb ourselves in more complex areas such as strategic financial planning, corporate recovery and company buyouts.

“Our philosophy is to look beyond figures and statistics and get to the root of what business owners really want – whether that is early retirement or expanding premises - and once we understand that, we can help them achieve their objectives.”

Dawn Phythian and Trefor Hillas, WSP | Parsons Brinckerhoff

Leeds-based engineering and professional services consultancy, WSP | Parsons Brinckerhoff has made two senior appointments following a year of growth.

Dawn Phythian has joined the group from Waterman Environmental as principal ecologist in the environmental business of the Leeds office of WSP | Parsons Brinckerhoff. She has more than ten years’ experience in the industry, having worked on ecological solutions for schemes across the country. Dawn is the newest addition to the growing ecology team in the region, as the rising number of green and brownfield sites being released for private sector development make this a key growth area for the business.

Trefor Hillas arrives from AECOM as senior engineer on the development infrastructure team; bringing with him more than 8 years’ experience in the water industry. Specialising in detailed engineering design, drainage design and flood risk management, Trefor will be working on a number of Yorkshire projects including the East Garforth masterplan development and Carillion’s £80million Tower Works scheme, Leeds.

Jamie Tumber, director at WSP | Parsons Brinckerhoff in Leeds, said: “This has been a fantastic year for the business, with some great projects added to our expansive portfolio. 2016 will be an important year for the region and we look forward to harnessing the opportunities presented by HS2 and the Northern Powerhouse. As a growing number of ambitious infrastructure and development projects move forward, we want to ensure we have a rich pool of expertise here in Yorkshire to meet the needs of the many services required – from high rise to infrastructure and environment. We will continue to recruit across the board next year.

“Key to this is nurturing young talent; we’ve employed 12 graduates this year alone, and retaining home-grown engineers will be an important focus for the business over the next twelve months.”