This week's London appointments

Tasha Amponsah-Antwito, Rise at Seven

Search-first creative agency Rise at Seven has appointed Tasha Amponsah-Antwito to head up their SEO team following the firm’s global expansion.

From speaking at Brighton SEO and being featured in WARC, Tasha joins the team with experience across web search, eCommerce, and video search with omnichannel.

Having worked in the industry for almost 9 years, she has worked with over 20 fashion, beauty, and travel brands, global superbrands such as Gucci and Ralph Lauren as well as leading the Global SEO team for LEGO.

The hire comes after Rise at Seven’s announcement that they plan to open an NYC office after setting up in Sheffield, Manchester, and London. With a roster of US-based clients including Interflora, PrettyLittleThing US, Next Vacay, among others.

They are now expanding to NYC to get access to a new pool of creatives and digital talent. They already have 102 members of staff and are looking to hire senior positions across the UK and US; including US Digital PR Manager, Content Manager.

On Tasha’s appointment Richard Lawrence, technical director of Rise at Seven, said: “With experience in search across multiple platforms, Tasha brings a huge amount of value to the SEO team and we are really excited to have her on board.

“From app store and YouTube optimization to gaining search visibility on marketplaces such as Amazon, she has broad expertise that will be integral to further building on Rise’s ‘search everywhere’ approach in 2022.”

New head of SEO Tasha Amponsah-Antwi commented: “I’m excited to be joining the team as Rise is totally shaking up the industry with innovative results-driven work.

“I’ve been researching and talking about how as SEO’s we need to be building strategies beyond just the website and traditional search, and take into consideration other platforms and how this influences a user’s search journey.

“I feel like Rise is the perfect place for this forward way of thinking and committed to being the first to implement new SEO strategies in the industry!”

Oliver Barrett, Rockwell

Mixed-use property developer, Rockwell has today announced the appointment of Oliver Barrett as Land Director.

Oliver Barrett, who joins Rockwell having helped build the Amazon Real Estate Team, brings significant large-scale acquisitions experience and expertise to the company.

Barrett had previously held the role of Head of Property at Lidl GB, where he oversaw a team of acquisitions and construction managers for store openings in London and spearheaded the planning team on Lidl’s new 250,000 sq ft Head Office in Tolworth.

The appointment comes at an exciting time for Rockwell, with the landmark, award-winning £151m mixed-use scheme, Vetro, set for completion in mid-2022, and several upcoming project milestones and strategic acquisitions in the pipeline in the coming months.

The London-based property developer is now seeking to continue expanding its operation across the capital in the near future.

Commenting on his appointment, Rockwell’s land director, Oliver Barrett, commented: “I am equal parts proud and excited to be joining the Rockwell team as Land Director, and I look forward to identifying and bringing forward landmark schemes for this industry-leading property developer.”

Nicholas Mee, Rockwell MD added: “We are all delighted to welcome Oliver to the team as Land Director, and we have every confidence that his knowledge, skills and experience are exactly what Rockwell needs to build effectively on our exciting project portfolio.”

Jane Galvin, Santander UK

Santander UK today announced the appointment of Jane Galvin as head of corporate clients within its Corporate and Commercial Banking (CCB) division.

Jane will start at the beginning of February and will be a key member of the CCB senior management team led by Tim Hinton.

Jane will lead the Corporate Clients’ Relationship teams, made up of several regionally-based teams across the UK which include Industrials, Consumer and Business Services, together with the national sector-based teams covering Real Estate, Social Housing, Local Government and Education.

In her role, Jane will be responsible for driving the CCB division’s growth strategy, as well as supporting their clients’ growth and international expansion and for ensuring a client experience second to none.

Jane joins Santander UK from HSBC UK, where she was Managing Director of Corporate Banking UK and led their UK corporate banking team from 2017-2021. Prior to that she spent more than 30 years at Barclays (1985–2017) and held a number of roles and senior positions across Retail, Wealth and Corporate Banking.

Tim Hinton, head of corporate & commercial banking, Santander UK commented: “We are delighted to welcome Jane to the CCB team as we continue our exciting journey to develop and grow our corporate and commercial banking business.

“Jane brings a wealth of expertise and experience in delivering for her clients as well as a deep understanding of international markets and how we can support companies with overseas expansion. Her presence will be invaluable as we seek to support more UK businesses and deliver on our ambitious plans over the coming years.”

In addition to over 30 years’ experience in Financial Services, Jane is also a past chair of CBI East of England and has held non-executive director positions on charitable boards.

Colette Henshaw, Tilney Smith & Williamson

Wealth management firm, Tilney Smith & Williamson, has bolstered its tax practice by appointing Colette Henshaw to lead the launch of a new Business Rates offering.

Colette is an MRICS Business Rates Tax Specialist with 13 years of experience in the commercial property industry, the majority of which she has spent working as a Business Rates adviser. She joins Tilney Smith & Williamson as Head of Business Rates from Cushman and Wakefield where she was a Partner.

Tom Shave, head of London tax at Tilney Smith & Williamson commented: “I am delighted to welcome Colette to Tilney Smith & Williamson to lead the launch of our new national Business Rates service offer. I look forward to working closely with her to build out our capability across multiple geographies and real estate asset sectors.

“Business rates tax is commonly one of the largest real estate overheads for owners and occupiers of real estate in the UK and I know many of our clients will benefit greatly from Colette’s considerable experience and expertise in this space.”

Colette added: “Tilney Smith & Williamson has a revered business tax offer with a market leading real estate focus.

“This serves as an attractive and natural platform from which to launch a market leading national business rates advisory team to complement the existing offer. I am truly excited to be a part of the great tax practice expansion plans at Tilney Smith & Williamson.

“Business Rates Tax is one of the key real estate costs and is becoming more complex in terms of its assessment and challenge. It is key for occupiers and owners of commercial property liable for Business Rates to seek advice at the earliest opportunity to ensure liabilities are kept to a minimum.”

Collette added: “With the 2023 Business Rates Revaluation fast approaching on 1 April 2023, now is a crucial time for ratepayers to start to review their current and anticipated liabilities to inform budgeting and alignment with business strategy.”

Dan Conway, Tom Berry, FRP

Specialist business advisory firm FRP has expanded its London-based restructuring team with two new senior hires.

Dan Conway joins as a partner from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), while Tom Berry joins as a director from UK Government Investments (UKGI), together bringing a combined 40 years’ public and private sector experience.

Dan spent the first 18 years of his career at BDO in audit, assurance and restructuring roles. This included leading BDO’s corporate streamlining and liquidation team and a two-year secondment to Barclays Bank as part of its remediation programme providing redress to customers who were mis-sold interest rate hedging products.

Dan joined the FCA in 2015 and has since worked across a range of specialist teams and on many of the FCA’s largest resolution cases. In 2019 he was appointed to design the FCA’s supervisory approach to minibonds, and in 2020 was given responsibility for delivering the regulator’s resolution strategy for distressed regulated firms.

Commenting on his appointment, Dan said: “FRP has built an impressive reputation in the industry for its quality of service and the expertise of its teams. Regulated firms have specific considerations to address when they face financial distress, and it’s essential they receive the right support as they navigate the restructuring processes.

“I’m looking forward to applying my first-hand experience of working with the regulator and with financial services businesses to help them through these procedures, and to ultimately secure the best possible outcomes for all stakeholders involved.”

Tom Berry – a chartered accountant – also began his career in audit at BDO before moving to Deloitte in 2006. In 2008 he joined Deloitte’s corporate restructuring group, working on major cases beginning with the insolvency of Woolworths and the regulatory response to the global financial crisis, and latterly served as an assistant director in its public sector restructuring team.

In 2018 he was appointed as an assistant director within UKGI – a body wholly-owned by HM Treasury, providing corporate governance and corporate finance services across the UK government.

Here, he served within the Special Situations Group focused on sectors and corporates where the risk of an economic shock could impact major employment or assets of national interest. Most recently, he worked with Government departments to support their economic response to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Commenting on his appointment, Tom said: “FRP has been making its mark by delivering positive outcomes on restructuring cases for some of the country’s biggest names. These remain challenging times for businesses, but the right restructuring solutions can help protect and recover value.

“In this role, I’ll be coupling my in-depth experience of Whitehall with my experience in the private sector to help businesses and public sector organisations successfully confront issues head-on and respond with constructive, effective and sustainable strategies.”