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162 new employees at Express Solicitors during last 12 months including clinical negligence partner and in-house barrister

Clinical Negligence Partner – Carol Brooks-Johnson and new in-house barrister – Garreth Duggan have been appointed by Manchester-based personal injury law firm, Express Solicitors. The pair are just two of 162 new appointments made by the firm from September 2020 to August 2021.

Carol Brooks-Johnson joins Express Solicitors as Head of Clinical Negligence and heads up a busy department of nine, including three Associates.

Express Solicitor’s second in-house barrister, Garreth Duggan joins in-house barrister and partner Nyssa Crorie in the firm’s advocacy department, which now has a team of five employees with further growth planned. Instead of outsourcing the work, the firm made the decision to launch an advocacy department in 2016 to provide seamless delivery to clients and achieve success where other barristers turned down work.

As the firm has a policy of promoting talent, its senior roles are usually filled from within, but Express Solicitors has taken on a further 160 employees in the last year, from trainee solicitors and litigation executives to new claims handlers.

The appointments have been necessary as Express Solicitors has recently acquired two law firms, as well as large amounts of personal injury cases, which comprise mainly of road traffic accidents. Express Solicitors is in a strong financial position to make cash-up-front offers to acquire more law firms and caseloads, and has plans to do so over the next 12 months. In addition, with marketing spend at over £8m during the last financial year, the firm has seen rapid organic growth, with many more clients coming onboard.

The appointments come on the back of news that Express Solicitors Group had its best ever financial results from April 2020 to April 2021, with group turnover up by 14% from last year to £31.3m and caseloads growing by 36% to 19,015.

Express Solicitors’ Managing Partner, James Maxey said: “It’s been a busy year for our HR and training departments, who’ve worked hard during lockdown to recruit, onboard and train the talent we need at the firm to offer a first-class service to our clients and to help us continue to grow.

“We’re delighted to have Carol on board; she has over 25 years’ clinical negligence experience and will undoubtedly lead the department with great skill and expertise. In addition, Garreth will really bolster our advocacy department, which we grew after the success of bringing in our first in-house barrister. We’ve found the team has won many cases that other barristers turned down, so it is proving to be of real benefit to our clients.”

Express Solicitors has 389 employees and is ranked in The Lawyer Top 200. Its lawyers and the firm are recognised in The Legal 500 and the firm is noted in Chambers and Partners. Express Solicitors specialises in personal injury and accident claims, clinical negligence claims and serious injury cases.

Partner promotion at Beever and Struthers chartered accountants and business advisors following double digit growth for two years in not-for-profit division

Michael Tourville has been promoted to partner at accountants and business advisors Beever and Struthers within the firm’s social housing and not-for-profit sector team.

Michael joined Beever and Struthers as an audit trainee in 2008 and was appointed as an audit director in 2018.

Based in Beever and Struthers’ London office at 15 Bunhill Row EC1, Michael provides a range of assurance services including external audit, internal audit, and consulting. Michael is also a specialist in service charges and leads the firm’s
service charges certification and advisory work across the UK.

Michael said: “I’m delighted to be a part of a dynamic firm. I’m proud to work with such a dedicated and professional team able to deliver such outstanding client service resulting in a huge range of new opportunities for the firm”.

Maria Hallows, head of social housing and executive partner at Beever and Struthers, said: “We are thrilled that Michael is a partner with the firm and is testament to the hard work put in by him and our team. We continue to be very proud of our
reputation and standing within the social housing sector and promoting Michael to Partner reflects our continuing investment in the sector built on delivering a first-class service to our clients.”

Fellow executive partner Caroline Monk added: “We continue to invest in the future of our firm, and Michael has been instrumental in helping us deliver consistent performance across our locations.”

Formed more than 100 years ago, accountants and business advisors Beever and Struthers have a strong not-for-profit reputation based on the provision of high quality, tailored services to the UK social housing sector. The firm is one of the
UK’s leading independent accountancy practices with offices in Manchester, London, Birmingham, and Blackburn.

Among its core strengths is a substantial not-for-profit division that ranks among the Top Three providers of audit and assurance services with many of the leading UK Private Registered Providers amongst its clients. The not-for-profit division
has seen year-on-year growth of over 25 per cent in each of the past two years, with a similar level of growth predicted in 2022.

Alongside this growth the Risk, Audit and Assurance team has doubled in size.

In September of this year Beever and Struthers formed a partnership with Pareto Financial Planning to provide their staff and clients with award-winning independent financial and wealth management advice. The two Manchester-based firms
will work closely together to ensure staff and clients of Beever and Struthers benefit from tailored and strategic financial advice and support.

Beever and Struthers is a member of HLB International, a dynamic network of independent professional accounting firms and business advisors. HLB International is a leading global network comprising locally well-established member firms
which mostly rank among the top 12 nationally. HLB International is present in 150 countries, with 25,000 staff including partners in 700-member firm offices worldwide.

About us:
Beever and Struthers was founded in 1898. The firm has a strong reputation built on a long-established tradition of providing high quality advisory and accountancy services.
The firm is ranked amongst the top independent accountancy practices and has 17 partners and 200+ employees spanning four locations Manchester, Blackburn, Birmingham, and London.
The firm has a significant not for profit, charity and social housing division and ranks in the top three providers of audit and assurance services to the social housing sector in the UK.

Manchester’s Fraggell Productions secures client win with coding bootcamp provider Northcoders

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Social media video production agency Fraggell Productions has secured a client win with Northcoders PLC, an industry leading provider of training programmes for software coding.

Fraggell Productions will be responsible for supporting both Northcoders’ B2C and B2B offering as the business prepares for national expansion.
Fraggell Productions, located in Manchester, will also focus its efforts, over the next three months, on managing the coding bootcamp’s paid social, while creating video content for the brand so that more people learn to code and get hired as a result.

Northcoders, which was founded by Chris Hill, represents a step-change in the coding industry. Applications for their accessible training programmes have risen as the UK moves away from the pandemic and more individuals seek a career change. As the national reach of Northcoders expands across the UK, it also aims to launch new products in Q1 of 2022, in order to diversify its revenue streams.

Fraggell Productions has built up a strong reputation in the direct-to-consumer sphere, having also observed a rise in demand because of Covid. This means they have been able to adapt and embrace the changes to offer brands precisely the content they want and have come to expect as audience expectations shifted.

Fraser Cottrell, Co-founder of Fraggell Productions, said: “Northcoders is the biggest game-changer in the coding industry in recent years and it’s now our job to raise further awareness of their brand through paid social. We love to flex our creative muscles and we hope to provide impactful content which reflects their level of ambition, while attracting a host of new customers.

“We worked with Northcoders several years ago and our partnership was extremely rewarding. We’re confident this will continue as we get started on the next exciting phase.”

Charlotte Prior, CFO of Northcoders, added: “We’re excited to welcome back the team at Fraggell Productions. They are great to work with and nail the brief each and every time. After the pandemic it was important that we re-address our marketing strategy and how we can use paid social media to our advantage, and we knew that Fraggell Productions were the right people for the job.”

This is the latest partnership in a host of new client wins for Fraggell Productions over the past six months, which include The Protein Works and Beauty Bay.

Fraggell Productions also counts PrettyLittleThing, BoohooMan, Lavish Alice, LADBible and Papa Johns among its impressive portfolio of clients.

Council seeks new development partners as town centre regeneration gathers pace

Bolton Council is seeking new development partners as it bids for government levelling up funding to help deliver three key sites in the town centre.

As circumstances have changed over the last 18 months, the council has reached a mutual agreement with previous developers to surrender their options agreements on redevelopment schemes at Crompton Place, Trinity Gateway and Le Mans Crescent.

However, Bolton Council has moved rapidly to begin a new procurement process.
It is expected that new developers will be confirmed as early as December this year.
Once selected, the developers will consider whether existing plans need to be amended for the sites in question.
However, the council owns the intellectual property assets prepared under previous proposals, including designs, consents, warranties, technical reports and architect plans.
This will ensure a rapid start to new schemes.
Bolton Council leader, Cllr Martyn Cox, said: “Although re-procuring development partners will extend the development process, removing all option agreements gives us a much better chance of securing a levelling up fund grant from government.
“The work already undertaken in relation to these projects means the new developers will start from a more advanced stage than would normally be the case and will therefore be in a position to start construction as soon as possible.”
The Council will be using the Pagabo Procurement Framework to select suitable developers, assisted by advisers JLL.
There are a number of high-profile developers on the framework who have a track record for delivering large scale schemes within Greater Manchester and know the difficulties that Councils face to bring such schemes forward.
The expressions of interest from the developers will allow them to access the data and detailed information and present the council with their ideas to deliver the first phase of this important scheme for Bolton.
Once the selected proposals are delivered, they will add to the visible progress already being made in relation to the town centre regeneration programme.
Despite uncertainties and delays caused by COVID-19, there is impressive momentum under way with numerous development schemes currently being delivered in Bolton Town Centre, including Central Street, Moor Lane bus station, YMCA, Westbrook (on the corner of
Lower Bridgeman Street and Manchester Road), Church Wharf, Bark Street.
Additionally, Bolton Council have recently been successful in securing £23.9m of government grant funding through the Towns Fund, which will be used to deliver four major projects in and around Cheadle Square and Ashburner Street.
A further £10.73m has been secured from the GM Brownfield Fund and this will be used to undertake site preparation work on five town centre development sites.
The government’s Future High Street Fund has also provided £13.27m for the redevelopment of Farnworth town centre.
This funding support means Bolton has been able to continue to deliver its regeneration plans, despite difficulties caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.

A challenge shared is a problem solved – Innovate Manchester opens new revenue stream for Dsposal

The idea that to innovate you must collaborate has become an article of faith in the 21st Century global economy. As we move through a period of intense change driven by advances in digital technology, and with added concerns over our collective impact on the environment, there’s a sense that the most valuable and disruptive ideas can be hatched by small and medium-sized organisations working in partnership with bigger players… 


Innovate Manchester: Facilitating Innovation 

Aimed as supporting the region’s forward-looking businesses, Innovate Manchester was created by MIDAS and GC Business Growth Hub.  

Taking place across the region and part of GC Business Growth Hub’s wider Innovation Service, Innovate Manchester is a series of unique and pioneering events; aimed at helping its local SME community, as they help overcome whatever challenges are facing our large collaborative partners.  

Innovate Manchester consisted of a series of open access webinars featuring expert panel discussions and focused Innovation Labs, where a business’ specific challenges were identified and discussed. The events became an essential platform for both SMEs to also identity collaborative approaches to help potential partners innovate their products, services and business operations 

Just one example of successful collaboration, Innovate Manchester initiated and helped accelerate the ongoing collaboration between GC Business Growth Hub collaboration partner and Italian pharmaceutical company Chiesi Farmaceutici S.p.A., which has over 400 people based in their UK affiliate located in Heald Green, and the smart waste software provider Dsposal, an SME also based in Manchester. 

An opportunity to make a positive change 

Chiesi came with a compelling challenge for SMEs to discuss: over 70 million inhalers are used in the UK every year to treat respiratory conditions, of which most will be disposed of as household domestic waste. 

The majority of inhalers are made from plastic casings and some contain an aluminium canister and fluorinated gas propellant. As there is no separation process for an inhaler’s components at municipal waste processing plants, all the device’s constituent parts often end up in landfill sites. Not only does this constitute a significant amount of waste material, but the propellant that remains in some inhalers can leak into the atmosphere. 

Chiesi is committed to reducing the environmental impact of its products and supply chain – and one of its key objectives is to avoid inhaler devices being consigned to landfill. To this end, Chiesi decided to explore how the waste processing system could be managed in order to capture and recycle the inhaler’s component parts after it has been thrown away. 

The Innovate Manchester event was the ideal opportunity to share the challenge and draw on the expertise of a wider circle of SMEs that they otherwise wouldn’t have engaged with.  

One of the SMEs in attendance that took up the challenge was Dsposal. Chiesi’s problem resonated with the business strongly, as not only does it specialise in modernising waste processes and circular economy service design, but its team have a lot of combined expertise in pharmaceuticals, the healthcare sector and supply chains.  

This combination of skills and experience meant that Dsposal was uniquely well-placed to work on the issue at hand. 

Facilitating a collaborative approach.

Through the delivery of immersive Innovation Lab sessions, virtual workshops, expert-led talks and dedicated break-out sessions, Dsposal got to grips with the question posed by Chiesi and worked through how waste management software and behaviour change campaigns could be utilised. 

Being embedded in the waste industry, Dsposal was able to advise on how the sector operates and the obstacles that would need to be overcome.  

Dsposal considered the problem as part of the bigger system – and how changes to one aspect of the waste system will impact others, helping to ensure that the eventual solution would be fit for purpose. 

Consultants at MIDAS and GC Business Growth Hub facilitated follow-up sessions between the two organisations, where a ‘proof of concept’ scheme is now in place and is currently being piloted. 

Overcoming the challenges 

The new concept was launched in January 2021 and will run for 12 months, at the end of which the results will be evaluated and shared with relevant stakeholders for consideration and to assess the feasibility of upscaling. 

The connection built between Dsposal and Chiesi through the Innovate Manchester programme has grown into a strong working relationship. Since the Innovation Lab, supported by GC Business Growth Hub, the two businesses have developed an opportunity with Innovate UK and an additional Manchester-based SME, Reply, on a human-centred research project around designing sustainable plastic solutions 

Dsposal’s ability to look at people’s behaviours around waste has been an important aspect of helping Chiesi understand how inhalers are used and how people feel about them. This has highlighted a number of opportunities to make the devices more environmentally friendly by rethinking how they’re designed, operated and disposed of when no longer needed or usable.  

At a cultural level, being exposed to Dsposal’s insights expanded Chiesi’s thinking and its appetite to tackle a challenge it had previously believed was too difficult to overcome. 

For Dsposal, a key learning has been that, aside from its software development capabilities, its institutional knowledge of the waste industry is a key asset that has value for other businesses. This awareness of how its in-depth understanding of supply chains and waste management, combined with a systemic problem-solving approach, can support other organisations in their circular economy or sustainability ambitions and has encouraged it to engage in similar collaborative projects. 

A bright future together 

Moving forward, Chiesi is willing to explore new avenues with Dsposal to further improve the sustainability of inhalers and both businesses are looking forward to an effective long-term collaboration. 

Chiesi is particularly aware that navigating the waste and medicines regulations remains a difficulty for pharmaceutical companies and having an established relationship with an expert SME in this area will be highly advantageous.  

“The exercise with the team and our relationship with Dsposal has been an extremely positive experience enabling us to accelerate our plans for inhaler recycling which is a key component of our B-Corp programme in the UK,” a Chiesi spokesperson said.  

Sophie Walker, founder of Dsposal, commented: “The opportunity that was unlocked through the Innovate Manchester programme has been really beneficial for Dsposal. It established a productive relationship with Chiesi, laid the foundations for our successful Innovate UK bid and opened our eyes to a whole new revenue stream. It’s been brilliant.” 

 

SMEs looking to access specialist support and engage with large organisations to develop new products and services can contact us for more information: 

Innovate Manchester is part-financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) 2014-2020, as part of the GC Business Growth Hub Innovation Support Programme. 

Siemens technology helps Hallé venue win top architecture award for sustainability

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The Oglesby Centre extension to Hallé St Peter’s in Manchester won three RIBA 2021 awards

Hallé St Peter’s, the historic rehearsal venue and community centre for the world-famous orchestra, has scooped a top architecture award for sustainability, thanks to its partnership with Siemens.

The Oglesby Centre, a £4.3M three-storey extension to the historic recording and rehearsal venue in Manchester, won three gongs from RIBA (the Royal Institute of British Architects) in its 2021 awards: a RIBA National Award 2021, RIBA North West Award 2021, and RIBA North West Sustainability Award 2021.

While judges praised the venue as a “highly successful and sophisticated piece of urban architecture”, they hailed the Hallé’s “thorough sustainability strategy” and focus on reducing energy use, which performs well against RIBA’s 2030 Climate Challenge targets, aimed to help architects design towards net zero.

Judges said this was a notable achievement because performance spaces like those provided in the Oglesby Centre, have traditionally been very “energy hungry”.

The Hallé credits its partnership with Siemens in making the Grade II listed, 150-year-old church highly energy efficient.

Supporters of the Hallé for over 20 years and major sponsors since 2011, Siemens volunteered its technology expertise during the design of the Oglesby Centre and implemented an integrated digital solution. This involves hundreds of sensors monitoring and automatically adjusting temperature, air quality and lighting to achieve optimal room conditions. Meanwhile, Siemens’ innovative Green Leaf controls notifies the room user of unnecessary energy consumption to encourage them to actively save energy.

These systems, as well as Siemens’ industry-leading fire monitoring device, Cerberus Pro, and a CCTV security system, are linked into Siemens’ digital building management system, Desigo, an intuitive platform that can be used to keep the building and its users safe and secure.

David Butcher, Chief Executive of the Hallé, said: “The Oglesby Centre has won lots of awards since it opened in 2019, so to be named one of RIBA’s buildings of the year, and win recognition for its sustainability, is the icing on the cake.

“The sustainability and energy efficiency of this magnificent facility was also at the heart of our design. Working with Siemens we have been able to find state-of-the-art solutions to achieve our goals of meeting the challenge of climate change while reducing operating costs, so more resources can be dedicated to nurturing future generations of musical talent.”

While Siemens’ technology is expected to help Hallé St Peter’s cut its operating costs by 35% through energy reduction, it also became invaluable during the pandemic.

Martin Glynn, Venues Director for the Hallé, explained: “The technology has enabled the building to keep running. During the first coronavirus lockdown, while it was closed and all activities cancelled, it allowed us to effectively manage the building and ensure energy efficiency and security. Then, to honour our commitment to ensure our musicians and choirs, especially young people, would continue to get face to face music tuition, the building management system allows us to close off parts of the building to segregate groups for rehearsals, prevent them from mixing and keep them safe.

“The technology has been tested like no one expected and passed with flying colours.”

Robin Phillips, Siemens Manchester Site Director, said: “I am delighted that the Oglesby Centre has received recognition from RIBA and that Siemens has played a part in helping achieve that success.

“It has been fantastic to be able to bring together our experts in our building technologies and smart infrastructure to create a safe, comfortable and highly energy efficient building, which has allowed the venue to continue to be the principal rehearsal and recording venue for the world-famous Hallé orchestra, youth orchestra, choir and youth choirs, as well as provide a range of unique opportunities to participate in music and other creative art forms.”

The architects of the Oglesby Centre were Stephenson STUDIO, based in Manchester.

Altrincham, prime office investment sold for £2M

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Garden Place, a town centre freehold office investment, in Altrincham, has been sold by Private Investors for £2M to IGP Investment Ltd

Garden Place, an architecturally impressive, four storey building comprising 10,101 sq ft, occupies a prominent corner position on Victoria Street and Garden Lane within a few minutes’ walk of the prime pedestrianised Stamford Quarter, George Street and the celebrated vibrant Market.

The high spec offices are let to a good tenant mix, on effective FRI leases currently producing £149,000 per annum.

Daniel Lee, managing director, Regional Property Solutions, who sold the building on behalf of the private investors, said:

“This is the first prime multi-let office investment to be sold in the town centre this year. It attracted a great deal of interest with a robust level of quality bids on the day setting a bench mark in Manchester’s most affluent and sought after suburb”.

Regional Property Solutions and Ryden acted for the vendor and Christopher Dee LLP for the purchaser.

Bespoke International has recorded growth to over 800 employees in its first two years of operations.

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Bespoke International has recorded growth to over 800 employees in its first two years of operations.

The company, a fully integrated global outsourced customer service centre, was founded in late 2019 by Warrington-born CEO Mark Thomason and his co-directors.
Bespoke boasts major clients in the financial, retail, telecoms, travel, utilities and insurance sectors.

Mark, who lives in Cheshire and operates as a strategic consultant in the UK, is one of the founders of the international call centre industry in South Africa.
Bespoke Managing Director Rob Muschamp and Finance Director Daniel Halfpenny run operations from the company’s Durban base. Services include voice calls, online chat and email communications.

Mark attributed Bespoke’s rapid growth to having attracted the ‘right clients’, recruiting to match company culture, investment in technology before and during Covid; and the unique offer of UK strategic consultancy that works seamlessly with operational activity in South Africa.

“We’re proud to be in the position we are in,” said Mark, 53, who previously grew a call centre business in the rainbow nation into a major global BPO firm that employed more than 10,000 people.

“But this is just the beginning for Bespoke International as our mission is to be the best outsourced customer service centre in the world. Earlier this year South Africa was voted number one outsourcing destination in the world for the first time.

“It didn’t come as a surprise as not only are providers in South Africa more competitive than Europe, America and other offshore geographies – which comes at a time when businesses across the globe are under huge pressure to drive profit by cutting costs – there’s also a close cultural affinity and high quality levels of service coupled with a great work ethic.”

Bespoke clients include Utilita, the UK’s largest pre-pay energy supplier, a global e-commerce company and one of the UK’s largest green energy providers.

Mark added: “What’s unique about Bespoke’s offer is that I’m based in the UK as a strategic consultant; which means potential clients meet me, and me only, face-to-face before onboarding with our operational team in South Africa. UK clients also get a monthly review meeting with the CEO in person, whereas with other offshore BPO companies you’d only ever deal with the sales or business development staff.

“And, while the fact that we’re offshore does mean there are significant cost savings to be had,” said Mark “it’s irrelevant without quality, which means we invest heavily in preparation, planning and the design of bespoke training paths to ensure our focus is always on continuous improvement. We strive to achieve, as a minimum, the same level of performance as our clients or partners in-house teams.”

Major commercial property companies in line for film & TV exposure

The leading locations agency for Britain’s nations and regions, UK Locations, has secured exclusive rights to represent the property portfolios of Bruntwood and Kinrise as film and TV locations. The mutually beneficial partnerships will see UK Locations adding over 100 highly sought-after commercial properties across Birmingham, Leeds, Manchester and Liverpool to its library.

This is a fantastic opportunity to showcase some of Britain’s most impressive buildings and it comes as demand for film and drama locations across the UK is rapidly increasing, providing a welcome economic boost for all concerned.

Lauren York, Managing Director at UK Locations, says, “Britain’s film and TV industry is growing at a staggering rate. In 2020, film and high-end TV production spend was at £2.84 billion – down just 20% on the previous year, which is remarkable against the backdrop of the pandemic. As a long established and highly experienced locations agency, we’re in a prime position to help property owners tap into this lucrative revenue stream – and we’re thrilled to count Bruntwood and Kinrise among our partners.”

The iconic Grade II listed Martins Bank Building in Liverpool, which was acquired by Kinrise in July, has already been booked as a location for a prime time BBC drama, with two further bookings for productions by Netflix and Apple TV in the offing. Bruntwood’s properties are proving equally popular, with Disney+ securing access to one within days of it being made available.

But the benefits of partnering with UK Locations don’t stop at the financial gains, according Bruntwood’s Senior Asset Manager, Jordan Musker: “As a company whose fundamental purpose is to create thriving cities, we are delighted to have joined forces with UK Locations to make ours and our civic and academic partners’ assets available to a booming industry that’s creating thousands of jobs across the UK’s nations and regions and boosting the economy overall.”

Co-founder at Kinrise, Sam Lawson Johnston, says the agreement with UK Locations will also give its landmark buildings the exposure they merit. “We specialise in returning buildings to their former glory, with a real focus on natural light, subtleties of design and attention to detail. Our intent is to reveal character and restore the original features. We’ve invested in some truly magnificent buildings and getting them featured in films and on TV is the ideal way to make sure they’re seen and appreciated by people far and wide.”

UK Locations plans to partner with a growing number of commercial property owners across the UK, establishing itself as the leading location agent outside of London providing outstanding, exclusive and high-end commercial and residential locations for film and TV drama. The company’s decision to add more commercial properties to its locations library comes as part of a 5-year growth plan for UK Locations developed under the Goldman Sachs ‘10,000 Small Businesses’ programme.