This week's London appointments

Andrew Ferguson, Waterman

Waterman has announced the appointment of Andrew Ferguson as managing director for its infrastructure and environment consulting business.

Since joining in 2002, Andrew has been pivotal in the growth of Waterman’s regional offices and in 2009 he became a board director for the company’s infrastructure and environmental consulting business.

Andrew commented: “It is a huge honour to step into this new role. Over the last few years, we have delivered substantial change and growth and I look forward to building upon these strong foundations as we continue to expand.

“We will remain focussed on our key priorities; the well-being of our people, bringing through the next generation of engineers, connecting communities with sustainable, decarbonised infrastructure, and creating developments which offer a high quality of life.”

Neil Humphrey, Waterman’s chief operating officer who retains responsibility for the Group’s wider Infrastructure & Environment segment, said: “I’m delighted to see Andrew rewarded for his continued commitment and leadership.

“He has played a vital role in shaping our strategic land offering in particular, and this new position will allow him to continue growing the wider infrastructure and environment consulting business.

“Working closely with both public and private sector clients to provide excellent support for developments across the UK, Andrew will be central to delivering our strategy of planned growth in the coming years.”

Carsten Sjoerup, CentralNic group

Global internet platform company CentralNic Group has announced the appointment of Carsten Sjoerup in the new role of chief technology and product officer.

Carsten is an industry leader and joins CentralNic from GoDaddy where he was CIO. In this role he was responsible for infrastructure, technical operations, 24x7 monitoring, IT Service Management, product engineering, research, software development, consolidations and migrations – leading a team of 600+ across the US, EMEA, and Asia.

Prior to GoDaddy Carsten was CTO at Host Europe Group (“HEG”), which was acquired by GoDaddy in December 2016. In this role he led the integration and consolidation of multiple acquisitions into HEG (before integrating HEG into GoDaddy), including by building a migration engine and process still in use today. He was also in charge of modernising and automating the technologies and processes to ensure a unified platform.

Ben Crawford, CentralNic CEO, commented: “We are delighted to have Carsten join CentralNic Group. He is Europe’s leading expert in our industry in integrating companies and launching new products.

“His new role of chief technology and product officer is a strategic position which will support CentralNic on its roadmap to become a world leading online services provider. His superb track record and commitment to excellence and innovation positions him ideally to join our leadership team.”

Jay Squier, Native Land

Jay Squier has been appointed to the board of Native Land as director of commercial and mixed-use.

Jay will be responsible for Native Land’s 550,000-sq-ft portfolio of office developments across central London.

He has 16 years’ experience in complex commercial, residential and mixed-use developments in central London. He is currently responsible for delivering the commercial elements of the 1.4 million-sq-ft Bankside Yards development, which will be the UK’s first major regeneration project with zero emissions in operation.

Alasdair Nicholls, chief executive of Native Land, commented: “Jay has played an integral role in the delivery of some of Native Land’s most successful developments over the last ten years and brings considerable experience to the board, not least with current commercial projects like Arbor, which aims to set new standards for the contemporary workplace.”

Jay said: “With the continued evolution of thinking around workplace and place making, the role of commercial and mixed-use development in cities presents exciting challenges which Native Land is well placed to meet.

“I’m excited to be joining the board at such a time and look forward to playing a part in the company’s growth into a leading developer of large-scale, sustainable projects, while retaining an emphasis on quality, innovation and relationships.”

Nicola Pickering, Encompass Corporation

Encompass Corporation has announced the appointment of Nicola Pickering as VP customer success and delivery.

Nicola, a senior leader who has worked across client success management, programme delivery and product design, joins the Encompass executive team in this newly-created role.

She will be responsible for leading the company’s global Customer Success and Delivery Services functions, ensuring an evolving list of customers continue to get the best from the Encompass product.

Nicola comes to the business having spent more than eight years with industry leader FICO, steering client success and, latterly, business operations. She has also held positions at National Grid and Capital One, among others.

Wayne Johnson, CEO and co-founder, Encompass Corporation, commented: “We are delighted to have someone with Nicola’s business leadership experience join the team at such an important time in our growth journey.

“Her knowledge and understanding of how to deliver the best possible service for customers will be crucial as we scale globally.

“I am looking forward to seeing our customer-facing teams continue to flourish under her guidance. I know this, combined with Henry’s new role, which will see him use his vast expertise to help us further our impact across the market as thought leaders, will stand us in good stead moving forward.”

Nicola said: “I am delighted to join Encompass on their journey to be the solution of choice for the automation of KYC.

“It is clear that our people and our customers are at the heart of Encompass’ values, as is shown by this newly-created Executive-level role, which puts customers at the forefront once again. I am honoured to be part of leading what is an incredible team.”

Jamie O’Neill, Independent Growth Finance

Independent Growth Finance (IGF has appointed Jamie O’Neill as its asset based lending (ABL) director

Jamie has 12 years’ experience working in the ABL industry, starting his career in 2008 at RBS Invoice Finance on their fast-track development programme.

He said: “The IGF approach to relationship lending and their ability to provide borrowers and advisers alike with clarity, is exactly what’s required at present. Lenders like IGF who can work alongside a management team and deliver when required have never been more important.”

Michael Fletcher, commercial director at IGF, added: “We are delighted that Jamie is joining the team. Jamie will play a vital role in further building relationships with leading advisers and investors in the region as we push for further growth.”