This week's North East appointments

Emily Booth; Karen Threadgill; Marc Caffrey, Burnetts Banking

Burnetts Banking has appointed three new members to its team.

Marc has over 30 years of experience in the SME banking sector and he joins Burnetts as a Banking Consultant, based in the firm’s Newcastle office.

Karen joins as a paralegal and has over 25 years of experience, most recently working with clients in the healthcare, agriculture and real estate sector.

The final recruit of the three is Emily Booth from Hartlepool who also joins as a paralegal and brings experience in conveyancing and real estate-related legal work.

Richard Miller, overall head of property at Burnetts, said: “The rapid expansion of our Banking team brings a new dimension to our property-related services.

“By acting for lenders across the UK, we are servicing work on a national level and at the same time gaining in-depth knowledge from an ever-changing sector.

“We can then use this to our clients’ advantage when acting on property-related transactions whether those be in the agricultural, commercial or residential sectors.”

Jamie Ollivere, RTC North

Jamie Ollivere has been appointed as the new managing director of innovation and technology transfer company, RTC North.

Launched in 1989 in Sunderland, RTC was one of the 12 Regional Technology Centres established around the country to help local manufacturers develop new products and services by accessing expertise within regional universities.

Jamie joined the company in 2002 as a press officer, later becoming marketing manager. He went on to have responsibility for a succession of large publicly financed business support contracts designed to work with small and medium sized businesses.

He said: “UK businesses are facing many challenges, whether relating to productivity, growth, accessing new markets or just keeping pace with technological and political change.

“For over 30 years, RTC has had a role in helping businesses become more resilient by managing change, fostering innovation and connecting clients to opportunities around the world.

“I am delighted to have the opportunity to work with colleagues and our strategic partners at a regional, national and international level to deliver high impact business support programmes.”

RSM

Audit, tax and consulting firm, RSM has announced seven senior appointments in the North East.

Andy Graham, Paul Dowell and Steve Cleugh have been promoted to director in the firm’s corporate tax, consulting and audit teams, respectively.

In addition, Sanjay Pugal joined the corporate tax team as an associate director and brings a wealth of tax advisory and restructuring experience to the role, with a particular specialism in capital allowances.

Joanne Murnane and Lyndsey Everett were also promoted to associate director in the corporate tax and corporate finance teams, respectively; and Jennifer Todd was promoted to senior manager in the audit team.

Steve Railton, RSM’s office managing partner in Newcastle, said: “This is great news for our growing office. We’re ambitious and attracting and developing talent is a central part of our strategy to be first-choice advisers to middle market leaders in the UK.”

Garry Drage, Cellular Solutions

Business communications and systems specialist, Cellular Solutions has appointed Garry Drage as director of marketing and business development.

Garry will be bringing his considerable sales management experience to the Sunderland-headquartered firm to help increase its presence in new and existing markets.

Cellular Solutions operates at the forefront of communications technology and business software and as such it was the first North East based business to offer the roll out of G.fast broadband to customers in Newcastle.

Garry Drage commented: “I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to work for Cellular Solutions, as the company has the same business values as me and a strong, customer-centric approach.

“I have been watching the company grow, especially the last eight years, and I see a tremendous amount of potential here.

“The staff are experts in their fields, helping customers overcome multiple challenges through tailored business communication and systems products and services, and I look forward to working with them on growing the business.”

Peter Leneham, Gentoo Group

Sunderland-based housing association, Gentoo Group has appointed Peter Lenehan as its new executive director of finance.

Peter brings 15 years of senior financial management experience to the post and has worked for a number of social and residential housing providers, including North Star Housing Group and Home Group.

Keith Loraine OBE, Gentoo Group’s chair, said: “This is an exciting time for Gentoo and the Group Board and I are delighted to welcome someone of Peter’s calibre to our senior team.

“Peter has a wealth of experience in the social housing sector and the financial expertise to support the strategic growth of our organisation.

“We are focused on providing great homes to the people of Sunderland and we have every confidence that Peter will help us continue to deliver that vision.”

Speaking about his appointment, Peter Lenehan said: “I’m delighted to be joinin Gentoo and can’t wait to get started.

“I have been really impressed by Gentoo’s commitment to its customers and the neighbourhoods it serves.

“I am looking forward to working with the Group Board, executive team and dedicated staff to continue to deliver fantastic services to tenants and communities across Sunderland.”

Rachel Armstrong and Chantelle Oxley, Hay & Kilner

Law firm, Hay & Kilner has added two new members to its residential conveyancing team to help manage growing client demand.

Established in 1946, Hay & Kilner is a law firm and provides a full range of legal services to businesses and individuals from both within and outside the region.

Paul Illes, partner and head of the Residential Property team at Hay & Kilner, said: “Sentiment in the North East residential property market remains positive, with the government’s Help To Buy initiative stimulating individual purchases and its ongoing drive towards increasing the number of homes available across the region encouraging developers to bring more new schemes forward.

“Reorganising the department into these distinct units means we have the structures in place to both give our existing clients the best possible service and work towards securing new ones, and the positive feedback we’ve had on the changes suggests we’ve made the right move.

“Both Rachel and Chantelle have experience and knowledge which enhances the service we can offer to our clients, and they are already contributing well to our continuing development as they start to develop their legal careers.”