This week's Yorkshire appointments

Frances Ledbury, Williamsons Solicitors

Williamsons Solicitors has appointed immigration solicitor Frances Ledbury.

Frances finished her legal training in 2004 and initially set up her own immigration advice business, providing services to the University of Hull’s students, before going on to work for law firms in the city.

Most recently Frances worked at Citizens Advice, specialising in a full range of immigration issues with a speciality in applications for declarations of presumed death.

Frances commented: “I help bring families together, where perhaps one is working in the UK and their spouse and children want to join them. There is a lot of immigration work around employment, particularly in the NHS and broader healthcare sector.”

Commenting on Frances’ appointment, Williamsons director Bill Waddington added: “Frances is a leader in her field with huge experience and adding immigration law to our services is a very exciting development for the firm.”

Sarah Blanchfield and Ruth Turner, rradar

Litigation and commercial law firm, rradar, has appointed Sarah Blanchfield as people director and Ruth Turner as finance director.

Sarah brings with her over 20 years’ experience, having worked in the financial services and business process outsourcing sectors operating at board level and on an international basis.

Sarah joins the business from Sedgwick International UK, where she was HR director with responsibility for leading culture, engagement and talent for both UK and international operations.

Prior to this, Sarah led multi-country teams managing large-scale people programmes - including reward and recognition, recruitment, learning and development and talent development - for companies such as Capita plc, International Personal Finance plc and Bradford & Bingley.

Ruth will lead the finance function both strategically and operationally for the business, with a specific focus alongside the Leadership Team, in leveraging its existing platform and driving further sustainable growth across broader business operations.

Starting her career at PWC, Ruth has served at a senior level at Stock Exchange listed companies such as Merck Group and Associated British Ports and was the head of finance processes and systems at DLA Piper.

Gary Gallen, founder and CEO of rradar, commented: “We are extremely excited by these appointments and are delighted to welcome both Sarah and Ruth to rradar.

“They have impressive track records and their experience and expertise will be invaluable to us.

“These key appointments further reinforce our strategy of bringing the industry’s best talent into our business.”

Robert Redmond and Owen Lokuciejewski-Taylor, JPG Group

Civil and structural engineering consultancy JPG Group has appointed Robert Redmond as director and Lokuciejewski-Taylor as associate director.

Returning to JPG after a sabbatical, Robert has previously worked for a number of local and international consultancies and specialises in highways, drainage and infrastructure design.

Owen has specialist knowledge in geological sciences and remediation of the UK’s coal mining legacy.

Chris Harding said, “We are delighted to bolster the management team at JPG with Roberts return and a much-deserved fast track promotion for Owen.

“We now have a very strong leadership team in place to continue our long legacy and remain a valued, long term, strategic partner to our clients.”

Charlotte Scaife, Dale Office Interiors

Commercial interior design and fit out company Dale Office Interiors has appointed Charlotte Scaife as business development and networker.

With 14 years of experience in the property and construction industry, Charlotte will manage existing relationships as well as generate new business.

David Bricknell, managing director of Dale Office Interiors, commented: “Charlotte has joined Dale Office Interiors at an exciting time and, equally, her joining presents a huge opportunity for us.

“The Leeds City Region has a buoyant commercial market which is set to increase over the foreseeable future so getting Charlotte on board to focus on the area, with her exceptional experience and contacts spanning developers, agents, consultants, designers and contractors all in the Leeds City Region, is the type of growth that inevitably begets more growth.

“She’s already settling into the team really well and we’re thrilled to have her on board.”

Charlotte added: “I am delighted to join the Dale Office Interiors team. They’re a really enthusiastic, knowledgeable team and have great ambitions for growth, and I’ve been made to feel very welcome in my first few weeks.

“I’m really looking forward to improving my relationships with new and existing contacts within the industry and contributing business growth.”