This week's North East appointments

Donna Stubbs, Newcastle Building Society

Building society Newcastle Building Society has announced its appointment of Donna Stubbs in the newly created role of community manager.

The role will see Donna lead delivery across a range of community initiatives, working with colleagues and local groups to help generate change across the region.

Donna brings extensive experience to her new role, having worked as part of senior leadership teams in the poverty, health and social care, housing, sport and youth sectors.

She has moved to the Society from national sporting and young people’s charity StreetGames, where she coordinated a range of activities with over 150 partner organisations.

Donna commented: “Newcastle Building Society is already making a terrific difference to the lives of hundreds of people across the region, but working with our partners I know we can do even more.

“The Society and this role offers everything I’m passionate about and I’m really excited about all the opportunities to engage with people right across our region and help colleagues make new and stronger connections with their communities, ultimately helping to make a real difference to people’s lives.”

Hans-Peter Rudolf, Shield Therapeutics

Commercial stage pharmaceutical company Shield Therapeutics has announced that Hans-Peter Rudolf is joining its senior executive team as chief financial officer.

Hans-Peter has previously worked as CFO at Vicarius Pharma, and before that head of group accounting at COFRA Group.

Starting his studies at the University of Zurich and graduating from Cleveland State University, Ohio, Hans-Peter is a US Certified Public Accountant (CPA).

Tim Watts, CEO, said: “I am delighted that Hans-Peter has agreed to join Shield at this point in the Group’s evolution.

“His experience in both public practice and commercial companies and his US experience will be invaluable to Shield, particularly as we scale up activities in the US.”

Hans-Peter said: “I am honoured to join Shield’s leadership team at this exciting moment and lead its finance organization to contribute to Shield’s future success as the group progresses to the next phase of its strategy.”

Alisha Watson, Brooke Jefferson and James Curran, Swinburne Maddison

Law firm Swinburne Maddison has announced that it has made three new appointments.

Joining the residential property team are paralegal Alisha Watson and secretary Brooke Jefferson, with solicitor James Curran joining the lititgation team.

The practice is also celebrating Ashley Garthwaite becoming a qualified solicitor. Ashley joined the firm as a secretary in 2016, moved to become a paralegal and has since worked hard to complete her training as a solicitor.

Jonathan Moreland, partner and head of the dispute resolution and employment teams, commented: “We are currently enjoying a high level of demand across our entire service portfolio, which gives us the confidence to continue to recruit at pace.

“We are delighted to welcome Brooke, Alisha and James to the team as well as congratulate Ashley on qualifying.”

Phil McCarthy, Lichfields

Development consultancy Lichfields has announced its appointment of Phil McCarthy as its associate director.

Phil has more than 15 years’ experience in a range of sectors including housing, mixed-use and industrial development.

Prior to joining Lichfields he worked for a number of North East local authorities in Development Management.

He said: “During my time in the public sector I gained significant experience in managing complex planning applications and negotiating s106 agreements.

“I’m delighted to be joining the Newcastle office of Lichfields - a consultancy I’ve always admired for their professionalism, deep knowledge and skill sets.”

Lichfields’ senior director, Anthony Greally, said: “We are delighted to have Phil on board.

“He will join the team that specialises in offering advice to developers and businesses in the advanced industrial sectors, logistics, energy and infrastructure.”

Alina Ciocan, Melissa Beckett and Sophie Harbisher, Kani Payments

Data reconfiguration platform Kani Payments has announced the appointment of three senior hires.

The company has appointed Alina Ciocan as head of finance, Melissa Beckett as chief marketing officer and Sophie Harbisher as data science lead.

Alina, who has a degree in Finance & Banks from the Academy of Economic Studies in Romania and over 10 years’ experience in the finance and payments industries, will lead the finance team.

Melissa previously led NatWest’s Business Accelerator Programme for the North, and she will concentrate on driving the company’s growth strategy, including developing partnerships, international expansion and the customer journey.

Sophie has a background in research statistics, and will be helping clients to understand and manage their data.

Aaron Holmes, CEO of Kani Payments, commented: “Alina is a key member of the Kani team and is an expert in payments.

“She has done a brilliant job at leading our finance operation, which was a key factor in inviting Alina to head up the finance team as we move into a new stage of growth.

“The appointment of senior female leads in Melissa and Sophie also signifies a huge milestone moment in the Kani Payments growth journey – not only does it demonstrate our commitment to building a diverse and inclusive team, as well as the overall trajectory of the company.

“The combined experience of these new additions to our team, coupled with Kani Payments’ truly innovative data reconciliation solution, are the perfect foundation for a remarkable year in 2021.

“With their support behind us, we look forward to revolutionising the reconciliation process for businesses of all sizes across the globe, empowering them to drill down deeper into their data to make informed, strategic decisions that aid their success.”