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Fairway to Heaven: Coolair’s Annual Golf Day helps swell the coffers for key workers’ charity

CSR

Sam Whitear

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15/10/2020

Fairway to Heaven: Coolair’s Annual Golf Day helps swell the coffers for key workers’ charity

COOLAIR Equipment Limited, the nation’s leading air-conditioning specialists, have raised more than £2,500 for frontline key workers at their annual ‘Nick Parker’ Golf Day.

The event, which took place at Mere Golf Resort & Spa almost two months after originally scheduled, saw tournament winners receive accolades but no prizes. Instead, money usually spent on prizes was donated to The Care Workers’ Charity which provides support and guidance to those working in the care sector and whose dedication has been so vital over these past few challenging months.

Coolair’s annual Golf Day has been a firm fixture in the Coolair calendar since 1986 and was due to be one of the highlights of the firm’s 40th anniversary celebrations.

However, the impact of the global pandemic forced the event to be postponed.

But thanks to the combined efforts of Coolair and Mere Golf Resort & Spa in making the event Covid-19 safe, 70 Coolair clients and company representatives were able to take to the course for a relaxing, informal round of golf followed by a celebratory barbecue.

Neil Gibbard, Managing Director of Coolair Equipment Limited, said: “I am thrilled we were eventually able to host our annual Nick Parker Golf Day.

“While it might not have been the big event we had originally planned, it was a very enjoyable day and gave Coolair staff the chance to reconnect with the clients who have continued to support us.”

The event, which looked a little different to previous Golf Days due to additional health and safety considerations, saw players enjoy a hot bacon roll before the Shotgun Start at 1pm.

Lunch and refreshments were served on the course and a barbecue on the terrace brought proceedings to a close.

The event was organised by Coolair’s Paul Evans, a Senior Sales and Design Engineer. He said “We have worked with Mere Golf and Spa for many years now and the whole team who looked after us have excelled themselves.

“Due to changing government guidelines the event had to be pulled together at very short notice and every possible effort was made to ensure that everyone attending was safe and comfortable.”

Helen Sharratt, Coolair’s Finance Director, said: “This year more than ever, we wanted our annual Golf Day to be a huge celebration of our fantastic staff and clients.

“To say our 40th year has been the strangest to date would be an understatement. However, we want to try to restore some normality and reconnecting with our clients is paramount.”

Express Solicitors Group increases turnover to £27.4m

Growth

Sam Whitear

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15/10/2020

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Express Solicitors Group increases turnover to £27.4m

Manchester-based personal injury law firm, Express Solicitors, has announced its best ever financial results, with group turnover reaching £27.4m.

Caseloads have grown despite the COVID 19 outbreak by 6.7% to 14,545.

Group turnover of Express Solicitors Limited and its sister company – medical reporting agency – Ontime Reports Limited grew by 29% from £21.3m in 2019 to £27.4m in 2020.

The pandemic brought on numerous challenges for the two companies. During the latter part of its trading year, the strength of the firm’s robust IT infrastructure has paid dividends during lockdown as 85% of staff were successfully working from home within 10 days of the lockdown being announced. Only 12% were furloughed and 3% remained in the office to deal with essential day to day business.

Express Solicitors has also followed this with 45 promotions right across the business including Jennifer Lutton and Seetal Sagar-Jhanji who have been promoted to Partners, bringing the Partnership up to 31. Head count has remained the same at 320 as the planned recruitment and training had to be put on hold from March onwards. The firm has a policy of promoting from within and is proud to carry on the tradition of bringing bright new talent through the ranks.

It has also promoted five Litigation Executives to Trainee Solicitors. The number of new cases has dropped in the past six months due to lockdown with a large proportion of the country furloughed and not attending work, and there has been a steep decline in the number of road traffic accidents and accidents at work. Some reports have shown a decrease of 60% in RTA cases and a 40% decrease in accidents at work during this time, this will impact the business in 12 to 36 months due to the nature of the cases as they conclude. In view of this Express Solicitors has uplifted the anticipated marketing spend by over £2m in the upcoming financial year in order to try to combat this with substantial investment in online marketing as well as the routes that it has used successfully over the past 20 years.

The firm has been approached by numerous firms and brokers of law firms who are looking to exit the Personal Injury market over the last six months, some of which it is pursuing and if successful will increase both turnover and caseloads help cement itself as one of the top firms in England and Wales, which specialises purely in Personal Injury.

Express Solicitors are 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.

GCA Altium appoints Adrian Reed to head of Manchester office

Appointments

Sam Whitear

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15/10/2020

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GCA Altium appoints Adrian Reed to head of Manchester office

Global investment bank GCA Altium has announced Adrian Reed as the new head of its Manchester office to lead the growing team of 21.

Having joined GCA Altium in 2000 as a graduate, Reed has been managing director at the firm since 2012. He specialises in technology focused transactions and has led many notable deals in recent years, including the sale of predictive analytics software business Mobysoft to ECI in October, the acquisition of cybersecurity business TitanHQ by Livingbridge and the AIM IPO of indie gaming business Team 17. He also led the investment in Tonic Games – publisher of recent chart-topping “Fall Guys” – from Synova, as well as the sale of semiconductor services business Westerwood Global to Perwyn.

GCA Altium’s Manchester team comprises 21 professionals and is one of the largest dedicated M&A advisory teams outside of London. In his new role, Reed will lead the team through the next phase of growth.

Reed, who currently sits on the GCA Altium European Strategic Board, is also joining the firm’s UK board as a director.

Phil Adams, CEO of GCA Altium, said: “Adrian is perfectly placed to lead our Manchester office. He combines outstanding integrity with drive, intensity and deep sector knowledge and represents the epitome of what we are about as a business, serving his local market while leveraging our global platform by collaborating closely with our global colleagues, in particular the US, on technology deals.”

Adrian Reed, managing director and head of Manchester at GCA Altium, said: “It is a pleasure and great honour to have the opportunity to lead the exceptionally talented and driven Manchester office. Over the last few years, the GCA Altium business has gone from strength to strength and we have unwavering ambition to continue this growth over the coming years.”

GCA has 25 offices in 14 countries across Europe, the US and Asia and has completed over 100 deals since lockdown, many of which have been in Adrian’s core sector, technology.

GC Angels co-founds female investment collective in the North of England alongside North Invest

Investment

Sam Whitear

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15/10/2020

0

GC Angels co-founds female investment collective in the North of England alongside North Invest

GC Angels’ Jess Jackson has joined 28 of the North’s most high-profile female investors from Northern Investment firms and angel groups to launch a new investment collective designed to break down the barriers faced by female-led businesses when securing investment and drive the number of female investors in the North.

With funds and capital totalling over £450m, the new initiative represents a significant amount of potential investment for women entrepreneurs.

Fund Her North will invest in female-founded organisations across the North of England, through largely female investors, as well as providing a strong network of support to entrepreneurs in both new and established businesses.

The new investment collective was inspired by a 2019 BusinessComparison study, which estimated that less than 1 per cent of all UK venture funding is awarded to all-female teams. Driven by the objective of rebalancing the market, Fund Her North will use a data led approach to shaping the support agenda with a commitment to openly share investment statistics.

A leading voice for female entrepreneurship in Greater Manchester, Jess is an advocate for creating opportunities for female business owners and supporting them to reach their investment goals. She is also determined to increase the number of female angel investors, and create a more equal playing field for women overall.

Since 2018, female founders have raised £5.7m in total with the support of GC Angels, accounting for 41 per cent of GC Angels’ funding in the same time frame.

Jess Jackson, Investment Manager at GC Angels, said: “The North is a really exciting place for entrepreneurs at the moment, but it’s clear that more needs to be done to balance the access to investment available for female-led organisations. That has always been a huge focus for me at GC Angels, and it’s been great working with an inspiring group of women who share this ambition.

“Fund Her North is about doing more to support female entrepreneurs in the North to realise their full potential, and eliminate the barriers that men do not face. It’s a sad truth that only 13 per cent of UK business angels are women, who are more likely to invest in female-led business. We must not accept this for female entrepreneurs, so I’m really excited for our first pitch event on 27th October, and for Fund Her North to be a gamechanger for female entrepreneurs not just in the North, but across the country.”

Fund Her North is aligned with the strategic growth ambition of the Northern Powerhouse, existing to fuel the future of the North of England by facilitating investment in entrepreneurs, start-ups and small businesses. Each of the members of the collective have already made a lasting effect on the region with a combined investment track record of £75.5 million already invested in start-up businesses across the North.

Talking on the importance of Fund Her North, Henri Murison, Director of the Northern Powerhouse Partnership said: ”This is an exciting, targeted initiative which brings together a large group of women inside the North’s most prominent funding organisations to give women founders the advice and connections they need to successfully find the funding they need to scale their businesses.”

GM Businesses urged to seek strength in numbers through new Peer Networks programme

Business support

Sam Whitear

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15/10/2020

0

GM Businesses urged to seek strength in numbers through new Peer Networks programme

Greater Manchester SMEs facing barriers to growth will be enabled to build their own supportive network of local business peers, through a new Government-backed scheme.

The new Peer Networks programme, funded by the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS) and co-ordinated nationally by Manchester’s GC Business Growth Hub, brings together multiple business leaders to collaborate and solve common issues.

The fully-funded programme is open to GM businesses over a year old who employ more than five people, have a turnover of more than £100,000 and an appetite to improve. The programme aims to help SMEs build resilience against a challenging economic backdrop, develop in-house capabilities and ultimately grow.

Each cohort group of up to 11 complementary Greater Manchester businesses will receive specialist support from one of the Hub’s expert facilitators through managed interactive action learning sessions, followed by tailored, one-to-one support for each company.

The fortnightly Peer Network sessions will offer participants regular opportunities to discuss business challenges, gain and reflect on feedback from peers and implement practical solutions. While all sessions will initially be held online to respect social distancing, it is hoped that the programme will evolve into face-to-face meetings in due course.

Richard Jeffery, Director of Growth at GC Business Growth Hub, said:

“At an extremely challenging time for SMEs, the Peer Network programme offers far more than just new business connections. The diversity of fresh perspectives on offer and the structured environment for collaboration offer an invaluable opportunity to business leaders in overcoming shared issues.

“Greater Manchester has always been a hotbed for business innovation and collaboration, so it’s fitting that the Hub has helped BEIS develop and deliver the Peer Networks programme. We’re excited to be working closely with our own network of regional growth hubs to co-ordinate the development of new peer-to-peer groups right across the country.”

The Government’s 2019 Business Productivity Review found that businesses adopting formal management practices, such as peer-to-peer learning, are more likely to achieve higher turnover, better employment levels and productivity growth.

The Peer Networks programme officially launched in August 2020 and will run until March 2021, with a target of recruiting 10,000 likeminded businesses nationwide. Regional Growth Hubs will team up with a range of local business partners to help deliver Peer Networks, including Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs).

Colin Brew, Head of Strategic Relationships at GC Business Growth Hub, said:

“There’s growing evidence that shows the benefits of external advice in improving business performance. Because no two organisations are the same, there’s a vast supply of diverse experience and insight on offer to Greater Manchester SMEs within the local business community, just waiting to be tapped into.

“Peer Networks’ cohorts have been designed to encourage open and honest dialogue between businesses, with targeted follow-up activities to deliver quick results. We’ve found that these relationships, forged on pragmatic counsel, tend to endure and add value to SMEs long after the formal sessions.”

To find out more about Peer Networks, or to register an interest in joining a cohort, please visit https://peernetworks.co.uk/ or speak to your Hub advisor.

Peer Networks is financed by the Government via the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS). The Hub, part of the Growth Company, is also supported by the Greater Manchester Combined Authority and Greater Manchester local authorities.

Manchester HR Tech Firm Symatrix Makes Senior Appointment to Drive Continued Fast-Paced Growth

Appointments

Sam Whitear

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15/10/2020

0

Manchester HR Tech Firm Symatrix Makes Senior Appointment to Drive Continued Fast-Paced Growth

Courquin appointment will fuel expansion of company’s consulting, managed services and outsourcing services

Symatrix, a Manchester-based provider of end-to-end managed services for Human Capital Management (HCM) and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software, has appointed Oracle specialist, Charles Courquin, the former IBM and Oracle executive, as its new sales director to fuel major business growth.

Courquin will focus on powering continued growth across all three of Symatrix’ core service areas: consulting; managed services and fully managed payroll outsourcing. Supported by a multi-disciplined sales and marketing team, he plans to expand existing client contracts as well as winning new business.

Drawing on his background managing alliances and channel sales, Courquin also plans to deliver business expansion for Symatrix through end-to-end partnership deals that enable the company to access more clients while drawing on new skillsets and resource.

In all, Courquin brings 30 years’ experience in technology and application sales to his new role. Before joining Symatrix he was executive partner, and Oracle Practice Leader at IBM Global Services. Key successes include securing the digital transformation programme of the NHS Electronic Staff Record (ESR), believed to be among the largest HR/Payroll systems in the world, supporting 1.4 million employees. He also led the executive relationship for the delivery of the Contracting, Procurement & Finance Programme, among the largest business change programmes across the Ministry of Defence (MoD). During his time at IBM, Courquin was also a strategic advisor to a government Minister in Canada to develop a response to a government payroll project.

Courquin said “Symatrix has been extremely successful in building out existing business and winning new contracts. I see great opportunities to build on that and escalate growth still further across our key service areas of consulting, managed services and outsourcing. My background and experience in technology and application sales as well as in running major transformation programmes, especially in public sector, are ideally suited to this role. I’m really looking forward to making this growth happen.”

Chris Brooks, Managing Director, Symatrix, said: “We are delighted to have Charles on board. He has extensive experience and expertise in key areas of our offerings like HCM, ERP and payroll and in winning large-scale business transformation programmes that deliver growth and ongoing business success. 2020 has been a year of dynamic growth for Symatrix, especially in the public sector space and Charles’s significant appointment will enable us to escalate this even further in the months and years to come.”

Kuits unveils its latest intake of newly qualified solicitors

Appointments

Sam Whitear

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15/10/2020

0

Kuits unveils its latest intake of newly qualified solicitors

Commercial law firm Kuits has offered contracts to five of its latest cohort of qualified trainees after they completed their two-year traineeship.

The newly qualified solicitors will now support a number of the firm’s specialist and award-winning advisory services.

Kuits’ commercial team welcomes Lauren Hemingway and Rebecca Hallam to its ranks, whilst Paulina Kasprzak, Sarah Oskui and Lauren Ogden have taken up roles in the firm’s IP, commercial property and employment teams respectively.

Kuits has also welcomed fresh new talent into the firm with six trainees taken on in 2020’s recruitment round, adding to the seven that are already progressing with their training.

Managing partner for Kuits, Steve Eccleston, said: “We are delighted to have offered contracts to five talented young lawyers. At Kuits, it is part of our ethos to recruit the highest calibre of trainees in the legal sector and after what has been a challenging final few months in their development, they should be immensely proud of their achievements.

“We are also proud that, even during such testing times, we are able to introduce of our new cohort of trainees to the firm. We look forward to seeing them develop as they commence their legal careers at Kuits.”

NEST mastermind and former Esure executive join board of Healthy Investment

Appointments

Sam Whitear

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15/10/2020

0

NEST mastermind and former Esure executive join board of Healthy Investment

Healthy Investment, the mutually owned financial services provider, has appointed two major players in the insurance industry to its board. Elizabeth Boardall and Sue Baldwin have both joined the Bury, Greater Manchester-headquartered friendly society as non-executive directors.

Their appointments mark the latest step in Healthy Investment’s growth strategy as it capitalises on demand for lower-risk investments that reflect the public’s ethical values. Both new directors have held senior strategic roles at some of the UK’s biggest-name life and personal lines insurance companies.

Until earlier this year Elizabeth Boardall was Head of Customer Engagement, Experience and Digital at Royal London, and was a member of its Independent Governance Committee. She latterly worked with the former Pensions Minister Sir Steve Webb to develop the life insurer’s public relations strategy for legacy customers.

Previous roles held by Ms Boardall include Head of Group Strategy at HBOS and Head of Pensions Products, Marketing and Propositions at Aviva. In 2007 she was approached by Government to develop the NEST pension product and proposition which formed the backbone of workplace pensions auto-enrolment.

Sue Baldwin’s career has included senior roles at the innovative insurance firms Direct Line and Esure. She joined the latter in 2000, later becoming Head of Claims and joining the firm’s executive team.

Ms Baldwin steered the claims business through Esure’s £1bn IPO in 2013 and beyond. Under her oversight the department grew to employ more than 600 staff at offices in Manchester and Glasgow.

Since 2016 Ms Baldwin has worked as a non-executive director and management consultant. She is managing director of Baldwin Consultancy and has held senior non-executive positions with Stockport-based Financial and Legal Insurance Company and MSL Legal Expenses.

Steven Spilsbury, Chairman of Healthy Investment, said, “Elizabeth and Sue each bring vast experience to our board. Their expertise in strategy, marketing, corporate governance and culture development will be invaluable as we put our growth plans into practice.

“The uncertainty surrounding the pandemic, the continuing low interest rate environment and the public’s burgeoning demand for investments that reflect their values all present a great opportunity to grow our cautiously managed, ethically invested with-profits funds. Elizabeth and Sue join us at an exciting moment in our 185-year history and I very much look forward to their input as we move our business plan on to the next level.”

Healthy Investment, which was founded in Salford in 1835 as The Independent Order of Rechabites, has its origins in the temperance movement that grew up during the Industrial Revolution. Now based in Bury, Greater Manchester, it provides ISAs, Investment Bonds, Junior ISAs, Child Trust Funds and savings plans to more than 110,000 members.

The society invests members’ money in an ethical with-profits fund that “smooths” returns by holding back a proportion of gains in years of strong investment performance and using these to minimise volatility during years of weaker markets.

Property companies relocate in Altrincham.

Property

Sam Whitear

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14/10/2020

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Property companies relocate in Altrincham.

The privately owned property company Quinta Group along with housing delivery specialist Andmore have relocated to Garden Place, Victoria Street, Altrincham.

They have taken a two year lease on a top floor office suite providing over 500 sq ft having completed a full refurbishment.

Quinta Group, managing director Alexander Clarke said: “Quinta was formed in 2016 and has grown at a steady pace and with a growing team we needed a larger office. Garden Place provides bright quality office space located just round the corner from the buzz of the Altrincham markets and town centre”.

Quinta focuses on property development and development management. In Altrincham it sold 39 Stamford New Road, a mixed residential and retail scheme and is currently working on revitalising several other properties and sites in the town, St Johns Medical Centre, Old Market Place and Stamford Brook Road as well as on-going developments in Newcastle-under-Lyme and Madeley Heath. The company is looking for further development opportunities in its own right or as joint venture partnerships.

Chris Andrews, director, Andmore said “Following a number of recent land transactions, we are pleased to be expanding our projects in Altrincham. Garden Place provided us with the ideal location together with the opportunity to create the office space to match our criteria.”

Andmore, a housing specialist, focuses on bringing modern family housing to market including in Madeley Heath, Staffordshire, Knowsley and the Greater Manchester areas. As part of the growth phase of the business they are expanding their construction delivery expertise and expect to appoint new staff in the coming months to drive this growth.

Daniel Lee, director, Regional Property Solutions, who manage and let the building on behalf of the landlord Garden Place Altrincham LLP, said: We took over the management of this Grade A 10,000 sq ft multi-let office building in the new year and are encouraged that despite lockdown we have let this and one other suite of 2,500 sq ft. post lockdown. We are now receiving enquiries for the newly available first floor accommodation of 2000 sq ft.”

LEGAL 500 RANKING SUCCESS FOR CLARKE WILLMOTT’S MANCHESTER OFFICE

Awards

Sam Whitear

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14/10/2020

0

LEGAL 500 RANKING SUCCESS FOR CLARKE WILLMOTT’S MANCHESTER OFFICE

National law firm Clarke Willmott LLP has been recognised as a Top Tier firm in the latest Legal 500 guide which ranks the UK’s top lawyers and organisations.

Clarke Willmott received prestigious Top Tier rankings for nine of its specialist practice areas, up one from last year’s results. Top Tier areas for the firm are Intellectual Property; Corporate Tax; Crime, Fraud and Licensing; Commercial Litigation; Debt Recovery; Employment; Personal Injury; Professional Negligence and Family.

The Manchester office has been named as a Top Tier firm in the Technology, Media and Telecoms category, specifically in Intellectual Property. There was also particularly good news for the office’s Family and Personal Tax, Trusts and Probate teams, which both rose a tier in the directory’s rankings.

The office has also been recommended in seven further specialist practice areas; Corporate and Commercial, Commercial Litigation, Insolvency and Corporate Recovery, Employment, Construction, Social Housing and IT and Telecoms.

Additionally, two partners in the Manchester office have been listed in the elite ‘Leading Lawyers’ list, the Legal 500’s guide to outstanding lawyers.

Susan Hall is a leading lawyer in Intellectual Property and IT and Telecoms while Roy Crozier is a leading lawyer in Intellectual Property.

In the Next Generation list, Clarke Willmott Manchester’s Lindsay Felstead has been named as one to watch in Social Housing while senior associate Andrew Stone has made the Rising Stars list for his work in Intellectual Property.

A further 16 recommendations were made for lawyers from the Manchester office.

Roy Crozier, head of Clarke Willmott’s Intellectual Property team and head of the Manchester office, said: “We are delighted with our numerous rankings in the Legal 500 again this year both for our specialist practice areas
and for individual lawyers.

“I am particularly pleased to about our Top Tier ranking in Intellectual Property and the higher rankings for the Family and Personal Tax, Trusts and Probate teams. This guide features the best of the best so to receive such
impressive results again this year really showcases our strength.

“The Legal 500 is among the most prestigious industry guides and rankings are partly based on client feedback which is a great indication of the quality of our work and the services we provide.

“The recognition reflects the time we invest in developing relationships with our clients, our high level of service and our straightforward approach.”

The Legal 500 series is widely acknowledged as the world’s largest legal referral guide. It is an independent guide and firms and individuals are recommended purely on merit.

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

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