Law firm Farleys Solicitors has added another specialism to its Serious Crime team with the recruitment of Solicitor and Higher Courts Advocate Gareth Hawden, who brings over 10 years of firearms law experience to complement the teams existing expertise across complex, specialist and serious criminal defence.

Representing clients across the country, Gareth advises a wide range of businesses, organisations and individual certificate holders in relation to firearms legal and regulatory issues, including ownership, use and licensing.

He has a proven track record in licensing appeals, in addition to representing those involved in firearms offences, and is an experienced advocate in the Magistrates, Crown, and Coroner’s Courts.

Ranked as a ‘top tier’ criminal defence firm for over 17 years by Chambers & Partners and the Legal 500 Guides to the Profession, Farleys’ Serious Crime team acts for clients across the country in a wide range of serious and complex cases brought by various prosecuting authorities, including the NCA, SOCA, and Regional Organised Crime Units.

Gareth commented: “I am delighted to have joined Farleys and such a reputable team. Firearms law and licensing is complex and brings severe sanctions for those who do not comply or understand the complexities. Taking early advice is always crucial in any firearms situation to ensure you are effectively and strongly represented.”.

Paul Schofield, Partner and Head of Department commented:

“Gareth has a wealth of experience and a proven track record for delivering first class advice and representation to clients. We are delighted to welcome him to our team here at Farleys as we continue to maintain our position and reputation at the forefront of serious and complex defence cases.”

Manchester-based international HR software and employment law advice service, BrightHR is delighted to announce the appointment of Jenny Marsden as Associate Director of Service.

Jenny joined the Peninsula Group, which was started by award-winning entrepreneur Peter Done, over eight years ago as Service Manager. In that time, she has delivered multiple online offerings across the business, ultimately moving to the Group’s global flagship product, BrightHR.

While at BrightHR, Jenny has helped the organisation reach 100,000 active users worldwide and overseen the BrightHR app to make it the highest-rated HR app in the Apple App Store.

Throughout the pandemic, Jenny has also worked in collaboration with BrightHR’s various departments to make sure small business owners receive super service and engage with BrightHR’s innovative array of newly launched products, such as the Furlough Navigator and Back to Work Navigator.

As Associate Director of Service, Jenny will be spearheading and developing BrightHR’s global service engagement and delivery strategy. She’ll focus on supporting BrightHR’s clients and users digitally through multiple contact channels.

Commenting on her appointment, Jenny Marsden said:

“I feel incredibly privileged and excited to be part of the leadership of BrightHR at such an exciting and crucial time. BrightHR has worked extremely hard to develop a unique proposition in terms of service and delivery. We will continue to build on those successes and help BrightHR become even better at delivering great experiences for our clients.

“For the remainder of this year and into 2021, we will be advancing our super service and providing much-needed advice and support to businesses throughout the pandemic. Innovation in process and systems is crucial, and BrightHR has the desire, the knowledge, and the people to remain at the forefront of service delivery.”

Alan Price, CEO of BrightHR, added:

“I’m pleased to announce Jenny’s appointment as Associate Director of Service. Here at BrightHR, we aim to recognise those who deliver consistently super service, and there is no one within the BrightHR business who delivers that more than Jenny. As a business, we invest in developing and training our best talent, and Jenny is testament to this.”

“With Jenny’s extensive experience and enthusiasm, she will continue to play an integral role in developing our service team and delivering the personalised service that BrightHR prides itself on, especially as business owners continue to navigate uncertain times ahead.”

Integrated agency Social has appointed Diana MacCarthy as Managing Director of its Manchester business.

MacCarthy has been promoted after two years as Director of PR and Marketing at the £2.6 million, seven-year-old Northern Quarter based agency.

A former weekly and national journalist, MacCarthy is an experienced strategist whose credentials span property and the built environment, social care and social impact.

The agency’s Head of PR Becki Ord and Head of Marketing Tony Whittingham have both been promoted to Associate Directors, joining MacCarthy to form the leadership team of the agency’s Manchester operation, which services a national and international client roster.

Property, regeneration and professional services specialist Ord joins Whittingham, a property sales and marketing lead generation strategist, to make up the senior leadership team supporting Social Manchester’s growth drive.

Said MacCarthy: “As a proud Mancunian, I’m well chuffed to be at the helm of Social Manchester’s growth ambition and to be leading a team of talented tacticians delivering work underpinned by AMEC-recognised evaluation practices.”

Agency Founder John Quinton Barber added: “Di’s promotion to Managing Director at Social Manchester is brilliant news. We are creating a business that really invests in colleague progression and I’m thrilled for Di, Becki and Tony who have grasped the opportunity to lead and grow our business with both hands.”

Social prides itself on meaningful work that improves lives and makes a positive social impact. The agency’s work revolves around six key pillars including its built environment proposition Social Place alongside Social Care, its social value arm Social Good, Social Lab strategic consultancy, Professional Services specialism and its creative services portfolio.

First Internet has expanded its team with the appointment of business development specialist Andrew Redfern.

Andrew, 31, joins the Greater Manchester digital marketing agency following over 12 years in B2B and B2C business development roles, as an in-house commercial lead and in consultative roles.

At First Internet, his aim is to build on the success the award-winning outfit has enjoyed over the last few months: the 15-strong team has combined existing client growth and awards with new client wins across a number of sectors including tech, health and safety and chemical and beauty.

Andrew will be reporting to the board of directors including Julaine Speight, who comments: “Our heritage is very much in the northwest but over the last 10 months we have started working with clients much further afield and this is something we’re keen to build on. Andrew has strong contacts across the UK as well as a proven track record in building existing businesses and start-ups, so he will play a very central role in our expansion.”

Says Andrew: “It’s an exciting time for digital: public online behaviour continues to evolve and businesses need to embrace this, while adapting their everyday systems and marketing output to perform remotely. I’m really looking forward to engaging with First Internet’s existing portfolio of clients and building new relationships that will build on the agency’s hugely successful organic growth.”

First Internet is an award-winning full-service digital marketing agency – services include website design and development, UX design, SEO, social media management and content marketing. Clients include PZ Cussons, Peak ai, Citation, Metro Rod, Sew Direct and more.

The new hires include three graduates that will add a fresh perspective, plus seven hires from agencies and brands across the region.

JBH will prepare the graduate level hires to be PR experts during a time where it is increasingly hard to enter into the industry. This mixture of graduates and senior PR experts will help drive the agency’s success.

The PR landscape in the North has been developing throughout 2020 and the smaller PR agencies have been flourishing and are now in the position to expand their teams compared to the larger agencies in the North.

Many businesses were impacted by COVID and although challenging, the lockdown was a time where JBH thrived and were able to utilise their adaptability to continue to deliver high-quality campaigns.

JBH recently announced that they have had their best six months ever and have taken on a raft of new clients including D2C mattress brand OTTY and Internationally renowned genealogy brand MyHeritage.

Jane Hunt, cofounder of JBH – The Digital PR Agency said: “The last few months have been crazy, we’ve won so many new accounts and now we are on a big recruitment drive to find the best PR talent in the North West.”

JBH is also upscaling their office space in the Iconic Express Building in Ancoats to contain their ever-growing team.