Category Archives: Appointments

Appointments, North of England, Property

Landwood Group’s Anna Main Enjoys Rapid Rise to Board Director

Manchester-based property group Landwood has announced the promotion of Anna Main to the main company board – within months of joining the business.

Anna arrived at Landwood Group to head up its new commercial asset division and it is the success of this team that has led to her swift promotion to board director.

Since she moved to Landwood from Avison Young, the group has taken on new instructions to manage assets for a clutch of new clients, property trusts and funds as well as from existing Landwood Group clients such as FRP and Grant Thornton.

Anna, 41, heads a team of five in the commercial asset division and even during the Covid-19 lockdown they have continued to win new business. The team is now set to expand to cope with the increased workload with recruitment underway.

Anna comments: “I came here to bring a fresh approach to asset management and am delighted with the results so far.

“The period of lockdown has forced businesses to take stock of their agreements, their income streams and in some cases they’ve not been satisfied. The Landwood team is extremely hands on and we all have years of experience in improving portfolio performance, generating strong returns.

“As businesses re-open, we are really looking forward to building an even larger client base of high-net worths, property trusts and property owners who appreciate Landwood’s higher level of service.”

Landwood Group managing director Mark Bailey says: “Anna has made a real impression in a short space of time – as we hoped she would.

“It’s been a period no one could have predicted, but Anna and her team have been agile to spot opportunities and grown their arm of the Landwood business significantly. The outlook is very strong.

“On behalf of everyone at Landwood Group, I’d like to say a massive ‘well done’ to Anna.”

 

Appointments, Midlands News, News

SMART Balustrades expands team with new production manager

Staffordshire-based SMART Balustrades has recruited a new production manager to drive and coordinate growth of the manufacturing side of the business.

Tom Dopierala has joined the company, which is part of the Unitech Group, with a wealth of experience in manufacturing and a background as an experienced welder and fabricator.

SMART Balustrades provides a range of bespoke glass and stainless-steel balustrades and glass Juliet balconies, which are manufactured at its Burntwood production facility. The firm has extensive experience in the fit-out sector and works heavily in the hotel and leisure markets.

Due to a continued demand for its specialist products and having previously outsourced a lot of the manufacturing processes, SMART Balustrades now does much of this in-house, and as production manager, Tom will be responsible for leading the manufacturing processes onsite.

David Hough, managing director of SMART Balustrades, said: “We’re pleased to welcome Tom to the SMART Balustrades team. His newly created role as production manager will allow us to bring more manufacturing processes in-house. Being able to take on more of these processes has great benefits to our clients; as we can be more competitive on price and can control quality and lead times.

“Tom has the ideal expertise for this position having previously worked within manufacturing for our sister company Unitech Engineering for nine years, before working for another balustrade company. He came highly recommended and many have spoken of the quality of his workmanship.

“In the short time he’s been with us, his attention to detail and the quality of his work is exceptional. Most importantly he’s a good guy and is a great fit with our team. I’m sure he will have a longstanding and successful career with us.”

On his new role as production manager, Lichfield-based Tom, said: “SMART Balustrades is operating in a large and competitive market and has proven to be a highly professional company with great potential for further expansion, so I’m delighted to have joined the team.

“With over 16 years of experience in engineering, fabrication, welding and machining, the role is ideal for me. My main responsibility is to organise the manufacturing process, whilst ensuring the company provides its customers with the best service, precision and high-quality standards, always on time. I’m relishing this new challenge and the opportunity to make a difference.”

With the COVID-19 pandemic affecting the construction industry and some developments currently on pause, much of the SMART Balustrades team are working remotely, with manufacturing staff safely distanced according to government guidelines in the factory.

SMART Balustrades was set up by brothers David and Jonathan Hough and its current commercial portfolio includes luxury hotels, universities, retail and leisure facilities.

Appointments, Manufacturing, Midlands News, News

SMART Balustrades expands team with production manager

Staffordshire-based SMART Balustrades has recruited a new production manager to drive and coordinate growth of the manufacturing side of the business.

Tom Dopierala has joined the company, which is part of the Unitech Group, with a wealth of experience in manufacturing and a background as an experienced welder and fabricator.

SMART Balustrades provides a range of bespoke glass and stainless-steel balustrades and glass Juliet balconies, which are manufactured at its Burntwood production facility. The firm has extensive experience in the fit-out sector and works heavily in the hotel and leisure markets.

Due to a continued demand for its specialist products and having previously outsourced a lot of the manufacturing processes, SMART Balustrades now does much of this in-house, and as production manager, Tom will be responsible for leading the manufacturing processes onsite.

David Hough, managing director of SMART Balustrades, said: “We’re pleased to welcome Tom to the SMART Balustrades team. His newly created role as production manager will allow us to bring more manufacturing processes in-house. Being able to take on more of these processes has great benefits to our clients; as we can be more competitive on price and can control quality and lead times.

“Tom has the ideal expertise for this position having previously worked within manufacturing for our sister company Unitech Engineering for nine years, before working for another balustrade company. He came highly recommended and many have spoken of the quality of his workmanship.

“In the short time he’s been with us, his attention to detail and the quality of his work is exceptional. Most importantly he’s a good guy and is a great fit with our team. I’m sure he will have a longstanding and successful career with us.”

On his new role as production manager, Lichfield-based Tom, said: “SMART Balustrades is operating in a large and competitive market and has proven to be a highly professional company with great potential for further expansion, so I’m delighted to have joined the team.

“With over 16 years of experience in engineering, fabrication, welding and machining, the role is ideal for me. My main responsibility is to organise the manufacturing process, whilst ensuring the company provides its customers with the best service, precision and high-quality standards, always on time. I’m relishing this new challenge and the opportunity to make a difference.”

With the COVID-19 pandemic affecting the construction industry and some developments currently on pause, much of the SMART Balustrades team are working remotely, with manufacturing staff safely distanced according to government guidelines in the factory.

SMART Balustrades was set up by brothers David and Jonathan Hough and its current commercial portfolio includes luxury hotels, universities, retail and leisure facilities.

Appointments, News

VIOOH names CMO and CPO in further leadership appointments

VIOOH, the premium marketplace for digital out of home (OOH), has made two strategic senior hires as the business continues to invest in its ambition to become the world’s leading programmatic out of home marketplace.

The newly created roles see Helen Miall named Chief Marketing Officer while Jon Block becomes Chief Product Officer.

Miall is best known for her tenure as EMEA Head of Marketing at adtech firm Turn, during which time the company grew from a startup to one of the world’s leading DSPs before its eventual acquisition by Amobee in 2017.

She has also held senior marketing roles at O2, Microsoft Advertising and Air France and, most recently, was Global Head of Marketing at Parkopedia.

At VIOOH Miall will be responsible for helping advertisers understand how the unique features of programmatic out of home can help them deliver high-impact advertising as a complement to existing multi-channel digital campaigns, in a bid to grow the overall category.

She will also support the company’s growth into further global markets and accelerate adoption, working with their partners in each location.

Meanwhile Block brings a wealth of experience in product development, having held leadership roles at ITV, Amobee and Videology where he played a key role in driving forward the broadcast industry’s adoption of programmatic.

He joins VIOOH from search intelligence business Captify where he was SVP of Product.

Block will be charged with overseeing and defining VIOOH’s product vision, strategy and development, to create a next-generation platform that will allow OOH media owners to significantly increase their revenues through programmatic trading.

The appointments are testament to VIOOH’s belief that programmatic holds the key to effective out of home advertising for brands as they adapt to the new post-Covid environment.

Jean-Christophe Conti, CEO of VIOOH, said: “For a number of years now, digital out of home has been the media industry’s most exciting growth market, much like search in the late 1990s.

“But we are just at the beginning of the journey with programmatic out of home which, through precision targeting and data-driven decision making, is delivering more effective campaigns and enhancing the performance of other digital channels.

“This may be a challenging time for OOH but the market has enormous potential and I believe VIOOH has the capability to drive true growth, on a global scale.

“Helen and Jon bring with them years of invaluable experience in programmatic and a proven track record in building global market-leading products and brands.”

VIOOH, which is also recruiting to expand its product and engineering teams, is preparing for what is expected to be a period of rapid growth as the world emerges from lockdown and advertisers and media owners move programmatic out of home from experimentation to being an integral centrepiece of digital media plans.

Data and programmatic technology means that digital out of home is becoming an essential part of any brand’s media campaign and VIOOH is working to bring new revenue streams to media owners while maximising existing ones.

These appointments complete the new leadership team at VIOOH, following the appointment in March of Gavin Wilson as Chief Revenue Officer.

Appointments

Jamie Gunn appointed as Chief Financial Officer at Mapp

Mapp, the insight-based customer engagement platform, has announced the appointment of Jamie Gunn as Chief Financial Officer.

Jamie will work with the Mapp leadership team / management board to take the business to new levels of success. Jamie will be based in London, where he will oversee Mapp’s global operation.

He will work closely with Steve Warren, CEO, Mapp, in managing Mapp’s investors’ interests and investments in the business; ensuring that the company is suitably funded; planning for its future; improving financial performance; and complying with all statutory fiscal, legal and HR laws.

Jamie has more than 20 years’ experience of working in financial roles and joins Mapp from SmartFocus, where he worked as Chief Operating Officer / Chief Financial Officer for three years.

Previous to SmartFocus, Jamie has worked in leadership positions at Realeyes, Masternaut Group, and Picsolve. In addition to the UK, he has lived and worked in the US, France, Italy and Spain.

Steve Warren, CEO, Mapp, comments: “I am very pleased to announce the addition of Jamie to our global leadership team. As a highly commercial, results-oriented CFO, he has a wealth of experience in working for SaaS and marketing automation companies that with help Mapp to continue our global growth.”

Jamie Gunn, Chief Financial Officer, Mapp, adds: “I am very much looking forward to sharing my experience in close cooperation with Steve and the management team. I was convinced that this would be a great opportunity by a combination of Mapp’s innovative technologies, their international focus and track record, and their future potential.”

Appointments, News

Personio hires Zalando’s SVP Finance Birgit Haderer as CFO, further expanding executive team

Personio, the provider of an all-in-one HR software solution, has appointed Birgit Haderer as Chief Financial Officer. Starting her new role in June, the former Zalando SVP Finance and Goldman Sachs VP will be tasked with further scaling Personio’s finance, legal and BI departments. By establishing a scalable organisational structure, Haderer will play a crucial role in supporting company growth and long-term business strategy.

With a strong tech focus and a proven track record in defining finance strategies across various industries in both Germany and the USA, most recently Haderer was integral in building and later heading the finance department at Zalando, one of Europe’s most successful internet businesses. There she led the team that orchestrated the company’s $668 million IPO in 2014, which was at the time the largest German tech IPO since Telekom’s IPO in 2000.

Personio aims to become the leading HR platform for small and medium-sized enterprises in Europe. Haderer’s experience from nine years at Goldman Sachs and seven years at Zalando will help Personio achieve these ambitious growth objectives.

Hanno Renner, co-founder and CEO of Personio: “Birgit has a great talent for choosing the right organisational structures and strategies for different phases of company growth, having supported several businesses in scaling and going public. This makes her the perfect fit for the CFO role as we look to bring Personio’s already well established finance division to the next level to further support Personio’s growth and enable its European expansion. I’ve found Birgit to be a great sparring partner, and I’m delighted to welcome her on board.”

Birgit Haderer: “It’s a very exciting time to join the Personio team and support the company’s goal to digitize and transform HR through its leading software. Equipped with a strong team, culture, and shareholders, Personio has the potential to become a European success story, just like Zalando. Personally, I am also looking forward to taking a deeper dive into the software space, applying my scale-up knowledge and helping steer the company on this journey.”

Haderer is the second internationally-experienced executive to join Personio in 2020, following the appointment of former Head of Dropbox Business EMEA, Geraldine MacCarthy as CRO in March. With yet another high profile executive added to Personio’s management team, the tech company has reached another milestone in its European growth strategy.

Appointments, Law

Joint Social Housing Heads announced at Clarke Willmott

Two partners at national law firm Clarke Willmott LLP have been announced as new joint heads of the firm’s Social Housing Sector.

Vicky Kells, Partner, who leads the Social Housing Finance team, and Lindsay Felstead, Partner, who leads the Housing Management team will jointly lead the sector across all of the seven regional offices.

Both are already actively involved in the sector as part of the firm’s Social Housing management team.

The appointments come as previous head Kary Withers steps down from the role to become Managing Director of the Property Services Division, taking over from Graham McIntyre.

Clarke Willmott CEO, Stephen Rosser, said:

“We are delighted to announce that Vicky Kells and Lindsay Felstead will be joint heads of our Social Housing Sector.

“Both Vicky and Lindsay are integral to the sector and have extensive experience and connections within social housing so the sector will be in very capable hands.

“Both are already heavily involved in decision making as part of the management team and I know they have some big ideas for the sector in coming months.

“I’m pleased these planned changes have been able to take place despite the challenges faced recently due to the coronavirus outbreak.

“It is an exciting time of change at the firm with Kary Withers taking the helm of the Property Services Division and we’re looking forward to continuing our property teams’ success over the next financial year.”

Vicky Kells has 21 years’ experience and specialises in secured lending and large-scale due diligence exercises (including stock transfers) within the affordable housing sector. She has extensive experience of working with
housing associations, including large national RPs and Welsh RSLs, and lenders on all property security aspects of loan facilities, private placements and bond issues.

She said:

“I’m excited to get started as joint head of sector alongside Lindsay. We have already started making plans for how we want to position ourselves in the next few months and how we build on the excellent
reputation we have gained while Kary was in charge.”

Lindsay Felstead has 18 years’ experience in social housing, providing representation on behalf of local, regional and national Housing Providers and Local Authorities in all aspects of housing management.

Lindsay is dual qualified as a barrister and routinely represents clients in court seeking anti-social behaviour injunctions, possession claims based upon complex issues of hoarding and seizure of controlled drugs and
committal proceedings.

She said:

“Kary has done a fantastic job of heading up the sector and as a result we have seen an increase in instructions from retained and new clients as well as an increase in turnover. Vicky and I hope to build on this
good work and continue providing our clients with the high-quality service they have come to expect.”

Clarke Willmott LLP is a national law firm with seven offices across the country, including Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, London, Manchester, Southampton and Taunton.

For more information visit www.clarkewillmott.com

Appointments, News, Technology

Tech Company Asset55 Makes New Hires As Demand For Digital Soars

SOUTH Tyneside-based Asset55 has made eight new appointments in a reaction to a world that is shifting increasingly to digital in light of the coronavirus.

SaaS technology company Asset55 is defying the global climate by taking on new staff including three engineers, four software developers and a business development manager to cope with demand for its oil and gas solutions.

Having recently moved into bigger offices at The Beam on the former Vaux site in Sunderland, the entire team have now found themselves working from home.

Duncan Brown, a director at global oil and gas technology company, Asset55, explained: “The vast majority of our clients are outside of the UK, which means that Asset55 can be located anywhere. We are well used to using technology to work remotely with clients round the world and put home-working measures in place as part of our business continuity plans in January, after seeing the effects of coronavirus on China.

“Given the current industry challenges in the oil and gas sector and now Covid-19, it’s even more important that we support our customers with our skills and experience and our continuous focus on cost and safety efficiencies.

“Operators will be looking to make up time that will be lost due to oil and gas project delays going forward, therefore we need extra people on board to help them through these challenging times.

“We are delighted to welcome our eight new people on board and are really looking forward to working with them to solve safety, integrity, schedule and cost challenges offshore through our software and consultancy-led services.”

Asset55 has been a key player in the oil and gas technology and services market for eight years.

Owned by North East entrepreneur and CEO, David Frame and chairman Mike Rudd, the business is supported by in-house engineering consultants who understand the needs of the sector and act as a “knowledge core”.

Appointments, News

Okta Appoints Technology and Financial Services Veteran David Bradbury as Chief Security Officer

Okta, Inc. (NASDAQ:OKTA), the leading independent provider of identity for the enterprise, has announced the appointment of David Bradbury as Chief Security Officer. Bradbury brings more than 20 years of security and engineering experience to Okta and will report directly to Todd McKinnon, Okta’s Chief Executive Officer and co-founder.

Bradbury has built an international reputation for leading security teams and delivering solutions at scale. Most recently, as Senior Vice President and Chief Security Officer at Symantec, Bradbury was responsible for all global security programs, including oversight of the organization’s move to the cloud. Additionally, a significant amount of Bradbury’s career has been spent in security at some of the world’s largest banks, including ABN AMRO, Barclays, Morgan Stanley, and the Commonwealth Bank of Australia. Bradbury joins Okta as the company sees continued demand for its cloud-based identity platform to drive remote work, enable digital business, and combat an increasingly evolving threat landscape.

“The security of our customers has always been our top priority, and the significance of Okta’s vision of enabling any organization to use any technology has only been reinforced amidst the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Todd McKinnon, Chief Executive Officer and co-founder, Okta. “I’m excited to bring on an industry veteran like David who will scale and accelerate our efforts to serve our customers, achieve the highest security standards, and continue to pioneer Zero Trust security. David’s experience working with established, global technology and financial organizations will provide valuable expertise to both the Okta team and our thousands of customers, as we stay agile to meet the needs of the changing world.”

“Identity has been woven into experiences throughout my entire career — from my days at IBM deploying identity solutions to securing some of the world’s largest financial institutions,” said David Bradbury, Chief Security Officer, Okta. “I’m thrilled to join and lead Okta’s team of dedicated security experts during such a pivotal moment in history. The current environment has forced us all into a new way of working and has necessitated an acceleration towards a Zero Trust approach to security. Identity continues to be the foundation of Zero Trust and the Okta Identity Cloud has the answer for those security and technology leaders looking to securely enable workers today and in the future.”

Bradbury’s appointment follows recently announced security advancements and product innovations within the Okta Identity Cloud at Oktane20 Live. New announcements included the introduction of Okta Lifecycle Management Workflows for secure, no-code automation of complex identity-centric processes as well as Okta FastPass to deliver passwordless authentication experiences. Okta FastPass is powered by the Okta Devices Platform Service — one of six Okta Platform Service technologies — to deepen the connection between user identity and device identity. Last month the company also announced several new integration partnerships with leading endpoint protection and management providers VMware Carbon Black, Tanium, and CrowdStrike to combine device risk analysis with access decisions to advance Zero Trust security.

For more information please visit: https://okta.com

Appointments, Law

Aaron & Partners celebrates success of newly qualified solicitor

Legal firm Aaron & Partners is celebrating the success of its latest trainee, Natalie Antenbring-Unwin, who has qualified as a solicitor in the firm’s Dispute Resolution & Insolvency team.

Natalie, who joined the practice as a paralegal in 2016 after graduating from the University of Law in Chester, completed her training programme with the firm and will now take up a permanent position in its Shrewsbury office within the Dispute Resolution and Insolvency team.

Natalie said: “I’m incredibly grateful for the opportunities I’ve had whilst training with Aaron & Partners and for the support the firm has given me during my training contract. It feels great to be able to say that I’m now a qualified solicitor.

“Working as part of such a great team of highly experienced and knowledgeable lawyers has already been an invaluable experience and I’ve learnt a huge amount here. I’m looking forward to the new role as a qualified solicitor and being able to continue to learn and develop and ultimately to assist our clients.”

Natalie has also gained the Higher Rights of Audience qualification, meaning she can represent clients in the High Court of England and Wales as a solicitor advocate.

Stephen Taylor, a Dispute Resolution & Insolvency Partner at Aaron & Partners said: “Natalie is an excellent lawyer who has demonstrated all of the qualities that we look for. I have no doubt that she will enhance the Dispute Resolution Team within our Shrewsbury office.

“As a firm, we are passionate about giving people the opportunity to develop and learn and Natalie has worked hard to get to this stage. During what is an incredibly uncertain time for many, it’s fantastic to be able to celebrate some positive news.”