This week's Yorkshire appointments

Amy Cantor, Dentech IT

Managed service provider Dentech IT has appointed Amy Cantor as office manager.

Amy, who is also a Zumba teacher in her spare time, brings a range of experience in management and customer service, having worked in retail management for over 10 years prior to helping out with Dentech IT in a smaller capacity since its inception in 2019.

Luke Denman, managing director of Dentech IT, commented: “Having set up Dentech IT on my own in 2019 after coming out of a larger regional IT service provider, it has been a case of building up a business from the ground up.

“It’s great to be in a position where we need to further expand the team, and the appointment of Amy means our consultants can spend more time servicing our ever increasing client base without having to worry about managing the office, and all the administrative work that comes with it.

“We are in a privileged position in that the services we offer are very much needed in times like this. This means it is increasingly necessary for us to expand our team to ensure we are giving our clients the best possible service, when they need it the most. It’s great to be able to bring Amy in on a full time basis to help meet these requirements.”

Amy added: “I’m delighted to join Dentech IT on a full time basis in this new capacity of Office Manager. I am familiar with the business, having helped out on a temporary basis in the past, but the workload is there to turn this into a permanent position and make the new role my own.

“Customer service in IT is an important role, as you have to be reactive to issues, as well as be proactive in identifying problems before they arise.

“My appointment means the IT consultants at Dentech can concentrate on servicing our clients now there is a direct point of contact between both parties. I can’t wait to get started!”

Colin Fell, Pantera Property

Valuations and disposals firm Pantera Property has appointed Colin Fell as non-executive chairman.

With over 40 years of building and developing property agency businesses, Colin was responsible for growing King Sturge’s Leeds office from five to more than 100 people, before the firm was sold to JLL for over £200m in 2011. He then became JLL’s regional non-executive chairman for Yorkshire and the North East.

Tom Snook, Pantera Property managing director, commented: “Although 2020 was an incredibly difficult year for us as for so many businesses, Pantera has never been busier than in the last four to six months of 2020 and we look set to taking that momentum into 2021. Colin’s vast experience in helping to build firms in our sector will be invaluable to us as we scale up in the months and years ahead.”

“Unfortunately, the economic fallout of the pandemic is likely to trigger increasing numbers of distressed properties, with insolvency rates set to rise in the second half of this year.

“Colin’s appointment, with his four decades of property industry experience, will also enable us to prepare for what looks likely to be an extremely busy period for Pantera.”

Mark Thornton, BDO LLP

Accountancy and business advisory firm BDO LLP has promoted Mark Thornton to partner in Yorkshire.

Mark joined BDO in 2007 at manager level and has since progressed through the ranks at the firm.

Mark is FCA and JIEB qualified and throughout his 12 years at BDO has delivered advice to a range of businesses in the region.

Mark commented: “BDO is a great place to work with a leadership team which is committed to creating a culture that allows people to develop and progress in their career and achieve their own ambitions.

“This supportive culture has continued – even strengthened – as we’ve all adapted to remote working. I look forward to championing this in my new role as partner.

Terry Jones, head of BDO in Yorkshire and the North East, added: “2020 was a testing year for businesses and individuals alike. None of us could have predicted that we’d be working as a fully-remote workforce for almost twelve months as a result of the pandemic.

“As a firm we put a number of measures in place to help us better weather the storm, including a pause on promotions earlier last year. Announcing Mark’s promotion to partner is an encouraging start to the year and so well deserved.

“The process to become a partner is rigorous and Mark’s commitment to leading the high standard delivery of a number of larger and complex assignments within the local market is a clear demonstration of achieving our core purpose of helping others succeed.”

Lauren Bullock and Pete Konieczko-Hansom, Chadwick Lawrence Solicitors

Chadwick Lawrence Solicitors has appointed Lauren Bullock and Pete Konieczko-Hansom as solicitors.

Lauren has joined the Medical Negligence department and is based in Huddersfield and Pete into the Corporate and Contracts team based in Leeds.

Lauren Bullock qualified as a solicitor in 2015, completing her training at Irwin Mitchell. She has experience in handling a range of claims against hospital trusts, GP’s and private practitioners.

Pete joined the Corporate and Contracts team having experience working with corporate businesses and working for the Government Legal Department.

His main role at Chadwick Lawrence will be advising a range of businesses and individuals on their legal and commercial needs, specialising in commercial contracts and advising businesses on legally-binding contracts they are entering into.

Neil Wilson, managing partner at Chadwick Lawrence, commented: “We are thrilled to have Lauren and Pete join the firm.

“Both individuals have proven already to be valuable members of the team with extensive knowledge and passion for their roles. We sure to see great things from both of them in the future!”

Commenting on her appointment, Lauren said: “The firm stood out to me because of the quality of work the team produces and the Medical Negligence team’s commitment to their claimants. It is a friendly, welcoming, and approachable firm with a great culture.”

Pete added: “I am really pleased to have joined the corporate and contracts department. Chadwick Lawrence has an excellent reputation as one of the best legal practices in West Yorkshire, as well as the quality of work the firm undertakes, was why I was eager to be a part of the team.”

John Warner, Nigel Ward, Melanie Perkins and Peter Tait, Finance Yorkshire

Finance Yorkshire has appointed two new board directors and two new members to its Investment Advisory Panel (IAP).

John Warner and Nigel Ward have joined as non-executive directors and Melanie Perkins and Peter Tait will provide support and advice to the Finance Yorkshire board on the performance of its funds as IAP members.

John is senior partner at BHP Accountants after spending 10 years as its managing partner. He was a member of Finance Yorkshire’s IAP and is chairman of the South Yorkshire Investment Fund. John is also a trustee of a number of local charities.

Nigel was a partner at PwC where he headed up their Northern Transaction Services practice for several years, advising businesses across a range of industry sectors on acquisitions, disposals and finance raising. He holds a number of other non-executive roles providing commercial advice to companies in the region.

Melanie is an experienced commercial private equity professional and held executive roles with the British Business Bank, Capital for Enterprise and 3i. She is a non-executive director of The Key Fund.

Peter has more than 35 years’ experience working in the asset management, investment trust and pension fund industries. He is a director of the Murray Income Trust and a member of the Joseph Rowntree Foundation’s Finance and Investment Committee.

Finance Yorkshire chairman, James Newman, commented: “These important appointments are being made as Finance Yorkshire enters a new chapter, to create a new fund that will build on the successful achievements of our previous fund.

“Strengthening our board and the IAP provides us with additional, valuable commercial experience and scrutiny to ensure the new fund invests to enable companies across the region to realise their ambitions to grow and prosper.

“I would also like to thank Peter Myers and Peter Yendell, who are retiring from the Board and IAP respectively, for their significant contributions to the success of Finance Yorkshire over many years. Their wise counsel and experience will be missed.”

Emily Hakner, Modo25

Digital marketing provider Modo25 has appointed Emily Hakner as associate director of product.

Emily previously worked at Yorkshire-based online marketing agency Summit, working with UK online retailers such as Joules, GAME and Argos Financial Services.

Most recently, Emily helped to grow the automotive ecommerce part of the business, that later became separate entity Drivvn. She worked as a client director for Jaguar Land Rover, Honda Europe and PSA Groupe on their ecommerce strategy.

Emily will be overseeing the global expansion of the Modo25’s BOSCO product. On her new position, Emily said: “It’s a really exciting time to join Modo25.

“BOSCO is a forward-thinking analytics software that’s going to really help retailers in these unprecedented times. In particular, its real superpower is the reporting and analytics function – as it’s difficult for retailers to get a single source of the truth.

“As associate director I am looking forward to growing our team and making BOSCO a globally recognised marketing tool”.

Modo25 CEO, John Readman, added: “We’re incredibly happy to have Emily on board. BOSCO has had a busy launch and we are rapidly growing the team.

“With Emily’s impressive background and experience, we can ensure that BOSCO delivers to our ambitious growth plans. Over the coming months, we will be hiring people to fill roles across sales, marketing and data analytics.”

Giorgia Biolchini, Joe Fanthorpe and Beatrice Mills, Spike

Digital marketing agency Spike has made three new additions to its Leeds team.

Giorgia Biolchini joins as creative content executive to create content copy across all digital marketing channels and to support the marketing strategy manager with producing digital and content strategy.

Giorgia has been working as a freelance digital marketing consultant for most of the year, as well as spending three years at York-based agency Webcertain. She also brings to the team skills in outreach, where she will assist across creative campaigns.

Joe Fanthorpe joins as paid media executive. With almost two years of experience working as a digital account manager for JP Gardner & Associates in Watford, Joe also runs his own freelance digital marketing business which was set up during lockdown.

Beatrice Mills also joins as outreach and digital PR executive. After graduating from University of Edinburgh this year, Beatrice most recently worked as a PR and social media assistant for Manchester-based PR agency Avant PR.

Director of Spike, Duncan Colman, commented: “Following a strong period of excellent results, we’re pleased to welcome three, soon to be four, new talented digital marketers to the team.

“This is an exciting time at Spike, as we continue to expand, we’re very keen to bolster our agency offerings even further and make 2021 a year to be proud of.”