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This week's Yorkshire appointments

Lynne Webster, Ann-Marie Casey and Harriet Thornton; LCF Law

Yorkshire law firm LCF Law has revealed a trio of hires to its commercial property team, including one new hire and a pair of promotions.

Lynne Webster joins LCF’s Harrogate office as the first of three commercial property partners. Joining from Leeds-based Freeths, Lynne brings more than 20 years’ experience to the role having previously worked for Cobbetts and Walker Morris.

Ann-Marie Casey, who began working at LCF as a secretary in 2003 before qualifying as a solicitor in 2008, has also been made a commercial property partner after working closely with a range of clients as with commercial property portfolios.

The third and final new commercial property partner is Harriet Thornton, who has been with the firm since 2005 where she has developed a specialism in leasehold enfranchisement and lease extension work for residential properties.

Head of Property at LCF Law, Paul Anderson, commented: “We are delighted to welcome Lynne to the firm and I am confident that she will continue to develop our growing commercial property work in North Yorkshire undertaken from our Harrogate office.

“Harriet and Ann-Marie’s rise to the role of partner is well-deserved and recognition of their experience, increasing expertise and personal achievements in real estate work over many years.

“We have a very strong real estate team based across all of our offices, and this is an exciting time for the team’s development as our division continues to grow and expand.”

Ben Rowe, Jake Setterfield, Phillip Portman; Acceleris

Harrogate PR and communications agency, Acceleris, is launching its new insights division with three new hires.

The firm has brought on board Jake Setterfield, whose background is in broadcast journalism and digital marketing, as Account Manager who will be working across Acceleris’ specialist housing, motoring and maritime sectors.

Phillip Portman joins Acceleris as an Account Executive from the Daily Star where he worked on the national newspaper’s online showbiz desk. Meanwhile, Ben Rowe has joined the creative firm through its work experience programme, making him the fifth new recruit in two years to join as part of the ‘Acceleris Academy’.

Managing Director, Louise Vaughan said: “As well as maintaining the exceptional standards of service to our existing clients, our goal this year was to bolster our digital and SEO expertise as part of our new ‘Acceleris Insights’ offering.

“We have grown both our Harrogate and London teams with three exceptionally talented appointments to help enhance the skills set within the agency and harness a much more analytical approach to our campaigns, using online metrics to really hone in on how we most effectively engage audiences using both on and offline tactics.”

Hollie Burnett, Lake Legal

Leeds based law firm, Lake Legal has expanded its team with the appointment of Hollie Burnett as a solicitor.

Hollie joins the firm from Rollits Solicitors in Hull where she specialised in family law, and also has experience at DWF and Ward Hadaway.

Lyn Ayrton, managing partner of Lake Legal said: “Hollie is a talented young lawyer and brings a passion for family law to her new role. As we continue to grow, we are focused on attracting the best talent in the region.

“Lake Legal is now one of the largest specialist family law teams in the region, which is a testament to a lot of hard work.”

Simon Lawton, Jet Aire

Jet Aire, the Leeds-based drainage contractor, has welcomed Simon Lawton to its board as non-executive chairman.

The appointment comes after Lawton has worked with the firm on ad hoc projects since 2014, and in the last six months has worked closely with senior management to lay the foundations for the next phase of the company’s growth.

He brings with him decades of entrepreneurial experience with an extensive track record as a finance director, most notably with Tribal Group Plc which he helped to grow from a startup up to a £250m business over a ten year span.

Jet Aire managing director, Charlie Kirk, said: “I am delighted that Simon has agreed to accept the role of non-executive chairman. His advice will be invaluable to us as we continue to drive the business forward.

“Jet Aire continues to enjoy sustained and consistent growth - since 2014 the business has doubled in size, sales and profitability. The company has ambitious growth plans over the next three to five years. We continue to build on solid foundations and have an excellent management team in place.”

Daniel Jones and Karl Wilson, Moirae

Moirae, the Armthorpe-based creative design agency, has added two new faces this month coming off the back of its award wins at Transform Awards Europe.

The full service creative agency has appointed Daniel Jones as creative and graphic designer, having worked with some of the UK’s biggest and fastest growing print businesses in the last three years.

Also joining Daniel is Karl Wilson, who joins the firm as web developer having previously held the position of junior developer and support analyst at ALS Global since his graduation two years ago.

David Plant, managing director of Moirae, said: “We are absolutely delighted to welcome both Daniel and Karl to our agency.

“We are a growing company getting more successful all the time and these additions to our team are pivotal in making sure that our current strong run continues well into the future.”

Chris Hart and Angelika Wehnert, Kwizzbit

Leeds-based tech firm, Kwizzbit, has appointed Chris Hart as its new sales and marketing manager, and Angelika Wehnert as an administrative assistant.

Chris has previously held senior roles in the promotions and events management industry, and will be expected to oversee key accounts at the business as well as driving company growth.

Angelika has a background in gamification and corporate team building and has been key in providing significant links for KwizzBit in entering the German technology market.

The hires at the business come after Kwizzbit secured a series of account wins, including Mitchells and Butler and Stonegate pubs, which could see its innovative pub quiz tech rolled out across their portfolios.

Commenting on the new recruits, Managing director Mark Walsh commented: “The past year has been phenomenal for KwizzBit and we’re delighted to welcome new talent to the team. Chris and Angelika have joined the business at a key time for us as we are experiencing rapid growth.

“Their existing skills will help to drive the business forward and we’re also looking forward to being able to contribute to their own personal career goals and development.”