This week's Yorkshire appointments

Langleys Solicitors in York has announced the promotion of four lawyers.

Sean Riley, who works in the firm’s casualty team, part of the insurance law division, has been made a partner.

James Bradley from the commercial property team and Sarah Dalton from the insurance law division’s Public Sector Unit (PSU) have been promoted to senior associates.

Tom Spring, also part of the casualty team, has been promoted to associate.

David Thompson, managing partner at Langleys, said: “As a major employer in York, it’s important to us that individuals are able to gain experience and progress their careers within our business. This is instrumental in our ability to offer quality advice and support to our clients.

“All of the staff promoted this year are highly deserving of their success and I’m looking forward to seeing them progress further.”

Langleys Solicitors employs 330 people across its offices in York and Lincoln.

Jane Ingleby (right), Clarion

Family lawyer Jane Ingleby has joined Clarion’s family law team as a legal director.

Jane, who is returning to Leeds after working in Manchester, has previous experience across all aspects of family law including divorce, finances, nuptial agreements, cohabitation agreements and children-related matters.

She said: “I believe that the law should not be ‘one size fits all’; instead, I always work to achieve the best result for each individual client whilst also making sure that they have a clear understanding of the possible outcomes from the start.

“People come to us at what is usually an extremely distressing time in their lives and it is very rewarding to help them work through that period and achieve the best possible outcome.

“Clarion’s approach fits perfectly with this and I’m excited to be joining such a client focused team.”

Justine Osmotherley, partner and head of the family law team at Clarion, commented: “We all share a common aim of putting our clients first - using our skills and empathy to support people through divorce and family breakdown is at the heart of what we do.

“With her strong track record in family law, Jane will be a valuable addition to the team. “

Megan Morgan, MK Public Relations

MK Public Relations, the Sheffield-based PR agency, has expanded its team with the appointment of a new senior account executive.

Megan Morgan joins the team following a background in Journalism and 18 months at Leeds PR agency Cream Consultancy.

A University of York and Sheffield Hallam graduate, Megan will look after the existing client base which includes retail and consumer services.

The new appointment comes following a period of growth for the agency, which specialises in media relations, crisis communication, stakeholder relations, event management, social media and copywriting.

Caroline Woffenden, managing director at MK, said: “We’re thrilled to welcome Megan to the team.

“Her agency experience and creativity will no doubt be assets to MK as we head towards further growth in the coming year.”

Chris Tucker and Adam Banks, Simetric Telecom

Simetric Telecom has announced the appointment of two new team members to its sales team.

Adam Banks and Chris Tucker have joined the Leeds-based telecoms business as channel business development managers.

Their remit is to expand the uptake of the Simetric suite of unified telecoms services, including its Mobile-X converged telecom service.

Adam and Chris previously worked for the likes of Vodafone, Alcatel-Lucent and CloudSource Technologies.

Gavin Sweet, managing director said: “We are really pleased to have secured the services of Adam and Chris. Following a long careful search, where we talked to some really great people in the channel, we’re sure we’ve got a great team in Adam and Chris.

“We’re really excited for them to get out on the road and meet our clients, and of course help convert more resellers in the channel to the great services Simetric offers.”

Mobile-X is a unified telecoms system that enables organisations to have the same call handling, call recording and switchboard services on their employees mobile phones as on the handsets as they would at their desks. Most systems rely on an app on a smartphone.

Jonny Sharp, Enterprise Ventures

Enterprise Ventures part of Mercia Technologies PLC, has expanded its early-stage equity team with the appointment of Jonny Sharp as investment manager.

Jonny joins Enterprise Ventures’ new Leeds office as a member of the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund (NPIF) Equity Team covering the Leeds City Region.

Prior to joining Enterprise Ventures, Jonny spent four years working at Zeus Capital, floating companies on the stock market and working with Northern mid-market companies and their management teams.

Jonny qualified as a Chartered Accountant at Deloitte working in the audit department and latterly spent time in the advisory teams across a range of private-equity backed businesses.

Will Clark, joint fund manager for NPIF Enterprise Ventures Equity Finance, said: “We are delighted to have Jonny join the team. He brings considerable experience with larger transactions and a wide network of contacts in the region.

“Following the launch of NPIF in February our debt and equity teams have received hundreds of enquiries about these new funds and Jonny will play a key role in helping us to complete transactions and reach new investee companies”.

Jonny Sharp, investment manager for NPIF Enterprise Ventures Equity Finance, added: “I am looking forward to joining Enterprise Ventures at such an exciting time for the Group.

“NPIF brings an excellent opportunity for businesses and entrepreneurs to receive growth capital funding and I believe we will find some outstanding investment opportunities in the regions”.

Simon Brown, Acceleris

Acceleris, the PR and communications agency, has made a senior appointment to lead its retail division.

Simon Brown joins the Harrogate and London-based agency as account director after six years with the retail firm Costcutter Supermarkets Group, where he held the role of PR and communications manager.

Simon has 20 years’ experience delivering PR and communications strategies both on and offline to increase awareness and direct engagement with key audiences and stakeholders for clients across the FMCG, motoring and retail sectors; most recently managing PR & communications for Costcutter and its 2,200 convenience stores.

Simon will also lead the agency’s digital insights division, which was launched at the start of the year and uses analytics tools, search engine optimisation (SEO) and social media metrics to inform content marketing strategies that help its clients connect directly with their customers.

Louise Vaughan, managing director at Acceleris, said: “Simon brings a wealth PR and communications experience to Acceleris having worked across numerous campaigns for national brands both in-house and with agency roles.

“He has been a trusted communications advisor throughout his career, working directly with marketing directors and CEOs and his significant in-house and retail experience gives Acceleris a real point of difference.

“I am confident that by combining his experience with that already held within Acceleris, we will be even better placed to help our clients achieve their commercial goals and boost awareness of their brands.”

Gemma Carter, Dacre, Son & Hartley

Estate agent Gemma Carter has been appointed as branch manager at Dacre, Son & Hartley’s Bramhope office.

Gemma joined the company almost 14 years ago and since then has worked across a number of its offices including North Leeds and Guiseley.

Until recently the Bramhope office, which offers both sales and lettings services throughout Bramhope and Cookridge, was headed up by Dacre, Son & Hartley director David Phillip, who also runs the firm’s Otley office.

He will now solely focus on Otley.

Patrick McCutcheon, head of residential sales at Dacre, Son & Hartley, said: “Gemma has a great understanding of the local property market which makes her a fantastic asset to our Bramhope office.”

Gemma added: “This is a fantastic opportunity to work in one of the most sought after suburbs of Leeds, selling a vast range of homes, from stylish apartments through to large family homes at a busy time for the market.

“The Bramhope office already has a fantastic reputation locally and I’m looking forward to building on this further as well as growing our market share in neighbouring Cookridge, which is a key objective for us over the coming months.”

David McWilliams, Advanced Supply Chain Group

Advanced Supply Chain Group (ASCG), the Bradford-headquartered international logistics specialist, has appointed David McWilliams as transport operations director.

ASCG delivers bespoke end-to-end supply chains across the globe through its intelligent logistics solution, with customers including DFS and Jaguar Land Rover.

The business operates 11 sites within the UK and Europe, while its freight forwarding division, Advanced Forwarding, also operates two offices in China.

David brings more than 25 years’ experience to the business, having held previous senior operational roles at Eddie Stobart and CM Downton, covering both contract management and transport operations.

David will be working with Advanced Supply Chain’s IT department to oversee the continued development and user engagement of its driver app, designed to be used by drivers making collections and deliveries.

The app allows drivers to view their workload for a shift and confirm when collections or deliveries have been completed. The app is linked to Advanced Supply Chain’s bespoke order tracking and vehicle locating system, which in turn will be remotely accessible to its customers in future.

His appointment follows the recent addition of Sandy Hunter as financial director. The business last month announced a £5.7m investment in its fleet.

Mike Danby, CEO, said: “David is an important new addition to our business who, alongside his operational responsibilities, will also play a role in guiding and mentoring the team.

“We continue to invest in both our people and fleet, building on our strong performance this year to date and allowing us to provide clients with a service that consistently goes above and beyond, supported by our innovative intelligent logistics technology.”

Lisa Brown, Ticket Arena and Event Genius

Ticket Arena and Event Genius, the independent event technology provider and ticketing agent, announced that Lisa Brown has been appointed as client services director.

Brown joins the Leeds-based company to oversee and support the operational delivery of the business, which includes marketing, client services, customer services and onsite operations.

Brown was previously with The Ticketing Factory, where she spent 18 months in a similar role.

Prior to that she worked at AXS for two years as senior ticketing manager and spent over eight years working for Ticketmaster in various roles that included ticketing manager for the London 2012 Olympic Games.

Reshad Hossenally, managing director of Leeds-based Ticket Arena and Event Genius, said: “We’re thrilled that Lisa agreed to make the switch to us. With her experience, drive and determination, we’ll be able to build on our recent success with our RFID services and improve the delivery of all of our solutions and services.”

On taking up her new role, Brown added: “Ticket Arena and Event Genius are already a market leader in their field, so being able to be part of an independent business with a huge amount of potential is really exciting.

“We are developing some amazing new features that will be rolled out within the next 12 months. The additional functionality will help us grow and expand the business opening us up to new promoters, venues and event organisers. I will be supporting the strategy and delivery of this.”

Dr Catherine Kelly, Jaywing

Jaywing, the data science and marketing specialist, has further expanded its data science team, appointing Dr Catherine Kelly as a senior consultant.

The appointment is a reflection of Jaywing’s ongoing commitment to data science, which sits at the heart of the business, delivering analytical ‘big data’ management and data product services.

Jaywing’s team of data scientists is now more than 70 strong. It offers a portfolio of data and marketing services to clients across a variety of sectors, including retail, financial services and travel and leisure, working with brands including The Swinton Group, Jet2 and first direct.

Catherine has a PhD in Mathematics and considerable knowledge in her field, having worked in marketing and data science her entire career. Catherine previously held the role of senior manager within the Data Science team at Asda.

Ben O’Brien, managing director of Jaywing, said: “We are delighted to welcome Catherine to our growing team of talented data scientists. Jaywing has already set the standard in data science in our industry and we are excited about the next stage in our ambitious strategy.

“As the sophistication of Artificial Intelligence and machine learning, and the availability of data grows, it’s critical that brands are supported by people with the right data skills.

“This combination of new technology and data expertise will be key to how the marketing landscape evolves over the next five years.”

Catherine Kelly added: “Jaywing is doing some ground-breaking work in data science and I am delighted and privileged to join the team.

“The proliferation of data in recent years has presented marketers with numerous challenges and I’m excited to use my experience to help Jaywing’s clients overcome these challenges and turn them into opportunities.”