This week's Yorkshire appointments

National law firm, Shoosmiths has announced the appointment of corporate partners Philip Goldsborough and James Foster, together with solicitor Natalie Hager to its Leeds office.

Philip, who spent 21 years at Pinsent Masons before joining Irwin Mitchell where he headed up its Leeds corporate and international strategy teams, specialises in domestic and cross-border M&A transactions.

James, also formerly of Pinsent Masons and Irwin Mitchell, has advised on a number of prominent deals in the Yorkshire market, as well as leading on many cross-border transactions.

Paul Stokey, Shoosmiths’ head of office in Leeds, said: “We are delighted to welcome Philip, James and Natalie to our new Leeds office.

“Philip and James each have excellent reputations and experience in the Yorkshire and national corporate markets and together with Natalie have proven track records of putting clients at the heart of what they do – a value Shoosmiths prides itself on always upholding.

“We are building a hub of legal expertise for Shoosmiths’ clients in the North of England with our Leeds and Manchester offices working closely together.

“In line with our national growth strategy of taking a larger share of the domestic market and in response to client demand, we anticipate recruiting more specialists in various disciplines in Leeds and other locations to fulfil this aim.”

Shoosmiths will be taking up space in Leeds’ Platform Building from October this year. In the interim, the team is based at offices in West One on Wellington Street.

Tricia Smith, The Source Skills Academy

Tricia Smith has been appointed as the new chief executive officer at The Source Skills Academy following the retirement of Ann Cadman OBE.

The Source provides apprenticeships, training and employment support within the Sheffield City Region. With over 16 years of experience in the Education sector, Tricia joins the organisation from Barnsley College.

Tricia also spent time working with the Sheffield City Region (SCR) Local Enterprise Partnership, supporting the SCR Area Based Review and has lead on the SCR FE Colleges’ involvement in shaping the regional skills policies.

Tricia said: “The Source is a prominent part of the business community and I have joined the company at an exciting time. I knew before I started that The Source had an excellent reputation for the high quality of the education and training offered and the wider services provided.

“This is clearly demonstrated through the achievement of being rated ‘Good’ by Ofsted, delivering excellent education and training, alongside high quality commercial services.

“Although I have only been here a short time, I have already witnessed the hard work and commitment that has driven these results.

“The educational landscape has always been a moving feast, but currently we are undergoing some of the biggest changes we have seen in the past 30 years.

“There will be challenges ahead, but from challenges come great opportunities and I am excited to work with the team here at The Source to support the region’s skills agenda.”

Liz Turner, Langleys Solicitors

Liz Turner has swapped lecturing for a return to practising law after joining Langleys Solicitors.

She joins Langleys as a senior associate in the dispute resolution team, specialising in property litigation on behalf of landlords and tenants.

Liz was previously course director at Leeds Law School, part of Leeds Beckett University, where she taught property law, practice and procedure and professional conduct to undergraduate and post-graduate students.

In her new role at Langleys, she will act on a broad range of contentious commercial property matters, advising clients on strategy and dispute management as well as mainstream landlord and tenant matters including dilapidations and lease renewals.

She will also provide advice to developers, occupiers and public sector organisations.

Before lecturing at the University, Liz was an associate with Eversheds’ real estate dispute team and Hammonds, now Squire Patton Boggs.

James Henson, partner in the dispute resolution team at York-based Langleys, said: “Liz is an excellent addition to our team.

“She brings considerable experience and expertise in property litigation and strategic dispute management from her time as a senior solicitor with other large commercial practices and as an academic and lecturer.

“Her knowledge will be a great asset to the landlords and tenants that we advise.”

David Jones, Duchy Homes

Yorkshire housebuilder Duchy Homes has announced the appointment of David Jones as group chief executive.

David Jones has worked in the house building industry for over 40 years, holding senior positions at Ideal Homes, David Wilson Homes and Bellway.

He established David Wilson Homes 24 years ago where he held the position of northern divisional chairman until the sale to Barratt Homes in 2007.

In his new role at Duchy Homes, David will be responsible for overseeing the group’s divisions in Yorkshire, the North East, North West and newly launched West Midlands division.

Jim Cropper, group managing director at Duchy Homes, said: “David Jones is a great addition to the Duchy Homes team, with his impressive background in PLC housebuilding and superb attention to detail.

“David will be focused on bringing continuity across our divisions and cementing the Duchy Homes core values across all developments – these encompass health and safety, great design and customer service.

“We are also looking to expand our operations further next year and with David’s knowledge and expertise Duchy Homes is well placed to build on our continuing success.”

Ola Holmstrom (left), Sweco UK

Sweco UK, the Leeds-based engineering, environment and design consultancy, has strengthened its leadership team with the appointment of a head of water and asset management.

Ola Holmstrom, who has over 20 years’ experience within the water industry, joins Sweco from WSP Group where he was director and head of water for seven years.

Originally from Sweden, Ola has spent 18 years working on environmental water issues in the UK, which most recently included being the flood risk lead for Crossrail 2 and water lead on HS2.

Ola’s role within the leadership team will include implementing plans for Sweco’s continued growth in the UK in conjunction with managing director, Max Joy, and the leaders of Sweco’s buildings, energy, environment and transportation business units.

Max Joy, Sweco’s UK managing director, said: “We are very pleased to welcome Ola to the leadership team. He is a highly capable individual with a wealth of technical expertise and leadership experience who will help deliver our controlled strategic expansion plan.

“We have undergone significant business growth since we entered the UK market last April, and are clear about how we will maintain this momentum.

“This includes being committed to further enhancing our integrated offer across all of our disciplines in the UK and Ola’s appointment is a key component part of us achieving this objective.”

Sally Appleyard, Dave Shaw and Drew Tarantiuk, Fulcrum

Sheffield-based Fulcrum has recruited three new utility industry business development managers to further strengthen its sales force.

Dave Shaw, Sally Appleyard and Drew Tarantiuk will reinforce and upskill Fulcrum’s existing business development team, whilst working to secure new contracts in the Industrial & Commercial and Housing markets.

The company designs and delivers gas, electricity and water pipelines and connections. In its audited preliminary results for the year ending 31 March 2017, Fulcrum has seen revenue rise to £37.7m, an increase of 4.4% on the previous financial year (£36.1m), with profits before tax of £6.5m, compared to £4.3m in 2016.

Sally Appleyard and Dave Shaw will source new multi-utility business in the housing market.

Drew Tarantiuk will focus on working to establishing new utility infrastructure contracts for the Industrial & Commercial sectors in the East Midlands and East Anglia.

Sally Appleyard said: “I feel that I’m joining Fulcrum at a very exciting time as it’s had a very strong twelve months in business and is a leader in the industry.

“It’s a really friendly atmosphere to work in, but also extremely professional, which reflects the deserved reputation of the company and helps my cause as a business manager.”

Dave Shaw added: “Fulcrum has a strong, well-respected reputation in the gas industry. As well as having a great platform to develop my career as an individual, I’m confident that I have the opportunity to give something back and help them develop as a company with my own knowledge.

“So far, I’ve been really impressed by Fulcrum’s customer-focused ethic, which is something that I haven’t seen to the same standard before. They have a positive, can-do attitude and it’s very refreshing.”

Drew Tarantiuk commented: “Fulcrum is in a prominent position in the market and is stronger than ever before. It’s a great place to work and I’m grateful to have been given the opportunity to develop my career, whilst contributing to the growth and development of the company.”

Ian Nickson and Stephen Calverley, Azzure IT

Azzure IT, the Sheffield-based technology firm, has invested in future growth by making two new appointments.

The two new employees take the number of new recruits this year to ten, and the total workforce to 54.

Joining the team are Ian Nickson as product and development manager, and Stephen Calverley as customer services manager.

Ian brings a wealth of knowledge from diverse roles in pre-sales, development co-ordination and product and partner management, while Stephen will support Azzure IT with his 21 years of experience in managing teams.

Craig Such, Azzure IT managing director said: “I’m very pleased to welcome our new team members. Azzure IT has grown incredibly quickly over the past 6 years, and recruiting a strong, talented team is vital to our success.

“I am sure Steve and Ian will be assets to Azzure IT and will further support the growth of the company going forward.

“Together they cover off the two strands key to our success: Ian will support Azzure IT’s drive to innovate and grow, while Stephen will ensure our customer satisfaction and retention rates are kept high.”

Martin Holt, Stroma

Castleford-based Stroma has announced the appointment of Martin Holt as its new chief executive officer.

Martin Holt has more than 25 years’ experience working at executive level in businesses serving the built environment. He has held senior positions with Mitie, Dalkia PLC, Trend and most recently served as chief executive of Bellrock Property & Facilities Management.

He is experienced in strategic planning, business transformation and integration for multi-national corporate businesses and this expertise will be crucial to deliver on the Stroma Group’s growth and expansion strategies.

The Stroma Group continues to grow within the built environment industry through the performance of core services, augmented with ongoing new development and service diversification for customers.

The group now serves clients throughout the construction lifecycle from design through handover and into operation for a range of domestic and commercial projects.

Martin joins Stroma to spearhead a senior management team following similar executive appointments this year of Chris Whitehead (as managing director of Stroma Tech/HRS Services), Steve Horrocks (as managing director of Stroma Certification), Dave Allen (as managing director of Building Control) and Jo Dobson (as group finance director).

Stroma founders, Matthew Ferguson and Robert Coxon, announced the appointment of Martin Holt, saying: “We are delighted that Martin has agreed to accept this position as Group CEO and would like to warmly welcome him to Stroma.

“His track record is extremely impressive and he will undoubtedly deliver on the huge future potential of our Group, create more opportunities for our staff and further improve the service quality we deliver to our clients and customers.”

Martin Holt added: “Stroma is at an exciting time in its development; Rob, Matt and the Stroma Group board have built a business with excellent prospects for growth, both organically and through further acquisitions.

“I’m looking forward to working with the board, clients and colleagues to lead the business through the next chapter in its growth story.”