This week’s Yorkshire appointments

The York office of Lupton Fawcett Denison Till has doubled its agriculture and landed estates department with four new appointments.

There are now eight people within the department with Jessica Richardson, Hannah Farmer, Niamh Batterton and Fiona Gibson joining the team.

As well as providing legal advice and help across all areas of farming and landed estates, including sale and purchase, tenancies, easements and rights of way, the team also has expertise in solar and wind projects as well as dealing with developers.

The most recent addition to the team is Hannah Farmer, who has returned to York having moved to a Shropshire-based law firm four years ago where she specialised in all areas of agriculture and rural affairs.

Hannah has a particular interest in equine law and has advised clients on acquisitions, sales and leases of equestrian yards, livery agreements and contracts for the sale and purchase of horses.

Johanne Spittle, director of Lupton Fawcett Denison Till, said: “Thanks to our strong track record, we are currently rated as one of the top agriculture and estate teams in Yorkshire and the Humber by the Legal 500 and Chambers & Partners.

“We are therefore keen to build on this reputation and are delighted to have attracted such high calibre and experienced practitioners to the firm.

“We recognise the need to run farms and estates as businesses, without losing sight of the fact that many are also homes; commercial objectives have to be balanced against protecting a way of life and local reputation.

“However as the pressure to diversify continues we can help to exploit the estate’s commercial potential through merchandising, licensing and developing an e-commerce offering, as well as advising on other income generating projects such as setting up caravan parks, wind and solar farms.

“Our expanded team is able to advise on all these issues, with Hannah’s experience of equine law providing another much sought after addition to our offering.”

James Excell, Key Capital Partners

Management consultant James Excell has joined the expanding team at Leeds-headquartered private equity house Key Capital Partners (KCP).

The appointment comes as the firm gears up for a series of investment deals following the launch last November of its new £80m investment fund.

Working across KCP’s London and Leeds offices, James joins from FTI Consulting where he spent over two years as a senior consultant in corporate finance, gaining experience of both company-side and buy-side advisory including due diligence, bid support and delivery of transformation initiatives.

Prior to that, he was a senior associate in restructuring with Grant Thornton for five years, advising lenders in distressed lending situations. He also completed a secondment to Crédit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank. James is an ACA-ICAEW chartered accountant.

Philip Duquenoy, KCP partner, said: “Following the launch of our new fund last November, we’re currently looking for profitable, dynamic businesses in which to invest equity sums of £3m to £15m.

“We’ve already reviewed over 70 mandates and the addition of James to our growing team will help us as we identify the SMEs which we believe have the most potential as well as providing support once we are working with these businesses and seeking ways to add value.”

Robert Farrell, Irwin Mitchell

The Leeds office of national law firm Irwin Mitchell, has announced the appointment of associate Robert Farrell to its banking & finance team.

His appointment, which follows the arrival of banking & finance partner Paddy Sturman at the start of the month, is another significant addition to the firm’s Leeds office.

Robert advises lenders and borrowers on all aspects of banking and finance including real estate finance, corporate M&A, corporate and commercial banking and asset based lending.

He regularly advises The Royal Bank of Scotland, HSBC, Lloyds Bank, and Santander and also has experience with loan and security arrangements with charities.

Commenting on his appointment, Robert Farrell said: “This is an exciting opportunity to join the largest law firm in Yorkshire and work closely with Paddy Sturman to help build a successful Banking & Finance offering in Leeds within an established and ambitious business legal team.”

Robert’s arrival is part of a strategic investment by Irwin Mitchell to grow its national Banking & Finance team.

In addition to the arrival of Robert and Paddy Sturman earlier this month, the eight partner strong department was also boosted by the arrival of Akhil Sharma from Wragge Lawrence Graham in February.

Ben Lamb, Clarion

Clarion has strengthened its commercial property team with the appointment of Ben Lamb, formerly of Gordons, as partner.

With 12 years’ experience as a commercial property lawyer, Ben trained with magic circle firm Allen & Overy before joining city firm Field Fisher Waterhouse where he spent over six years as a senior solicitor. In 2010 he joined Gordons in Leeds where he became a partner.

Ben is experienced in all aspects of commercial property law, advising on a wide variety of property transactions including acquisitions and disposals, development and landlord and tenant matters.

He has acted for Wm Morrison Supermarkets Plc, Saudi Arabian Airlines, Shell Pension Fund, Santander, Lloyds, the University of Oxford and the Ogden Group.

Martin Grange, partner and head of property at Clarion, commented: “As the commercial property sector continues to gain momentum, we are seeing high levels of activity among our clients.

“The addition of a third partner following the appointment of Lindsay Texel to the practice last year, will give us further strength in depth. Ben has an impressive track record working with a wide range of blue chip clients and his expertise will be a real asset.”

Pav Bagri, Hentons

Accountancy firm, Hentons is supporting its expansion with the appointment of a new partner.

Pav Bagri is promoted to the role and will lead a SME specialism.

Mr Bagri joined the business from senior positions at Grants Chartered accountants and Haines Watts. He joins a specialist team of 60.

Nadeem Ahmed, managing partner of Hentons, said: “Pav brings a wealth of experience, and has made a real impact on Hentons since he joined the business.

“We continue to put the building blocks in place to ensure Hentons retains a focus on client service as it expands its capabilities.”

The firm has recently announced the expansion of its Sheffield office and wealth management teams.

Hentons works with a wide range of businesses from medical professionals and property investors, to manufacturers, academies and charities. It offers accounts, audit, business strategy and tax advisory services with a partner led approach for all its clients.

Tue Lippert, BostonRix Wind Ltd

Wind industry leader, Tue Lippert, has been appointed to head up a new joint venture between the Rix Group and Boston Energy.

BostonRix Wind Ltd is a single point of contact for the offshore wind sector, supplying strategic assets and services including crew transfer vessels and highly skilled technicians and engineers for all aspects of wind farm maintenance and construction, from sea and ground level up.

Mr Lippert is well known in the wind energy industry for his work with DONG Energy, where he led the construction of the Westermost Rough offshore wind farm development off the East Yorkshire coast.

During his time with Dong, Tue was responsible for setting up offices in Grimsby and Hull, managing the fast track project and approximately 450 contractors and subcontractors both on and offshore. The Westermost Rough wind farm was the first to make commercial use of the Siemens 6MW wind turbine, the same type of turbine that will be made at the Siemens site in Hull.

Mark Parkes, group managing director of Boston Energy, said: “The joint venture is an exciting one for both Boston Energy and Rix. With the combined expertise and resources of both companies, I feel Tue Lippert is best placed to deliver some outstanding results.”

Tim Rix, managing director of the Rix Group, added: ““Having the company headed up by Tue Lippert means we will have the attention of the industry straight away. His name, experience and achievements carry a lot of weight and will be a significant factor in the success of BostonRix Wind Ltd.”

Luke Kitchen, Robinsons M & E

North Yorkshire-based commercial engineering firm Robinsons M & E has announced a new appointment which will see one of the UK’s youngest managing directors take the reins of an expanding £5m firm.

Luke Kitchen is set to replace Chris Spencer in his current role of MD, as from May 2016.

Having joined Robinsons M & E at the age of 21 and currently operating as commercial director, Luke has helped establish the firm as one of the region’s leading providers of mechanical, electrical and air conditioning services.

The business, which was established in 1963 and is based at Hampsthwaite in Harrogate, has a workforce of 56 employees and has recently enjoyed a period of record growth.

Prior to his seven years’ service at Robinsons M&E, Mr Kitchen’s previous roles have included finance manager at Kelkay and trainee accountant at Naylor Wintersgill.

Over the past 12 months, Luke has helped orchestrate the expansion of Robinsons Facilities Services which offers planned and preventative maintenance to commercial businesses.

In addition, he has been at the forefront of the improved structure of the firm’s installation services, recruiting more skilled engineers and building long-term relationships with commercial clients.

Jenny Taylor and Rebecca Normington, Enjoy Digital

Enjoy Digital has announced two new key appointments joining its growing account management team.

The full-service digital marketing agency, based in Leeds, has appointed Jenny Taylor as account director and Rebecca Normington as account manager.

They will be joining its account management team to provide support in the delivery of projects and campaigns for Enjoy Digital’s breadth of clients.

Jenny is joining Enjoy Digital with 8 years’ experience in design and digital, having previously worked at Turn Key, whilst Rebecca is moving from communications consultancy AHC.

Jonathan Filewood, managing director at Enjoy Digital, said: “We are expanding rapidly as an agency, and Jenny and Rebecca joining our strong account management team will enhance our client offering.

“Both have a wealth of experience in delivering digital campaigns and they will be a great asset to the company.”