Financial advice platform Open Money has made two exciting new senior hires in brand new positions within the business, as it looks to bolster its growing team and finance expertise.

Founded to plug what it calls ‘the advice gap’, Open Money is a service created to help the millions of people who would benefit from financial advice but either can’t afford it, or are unable to access it. Combining sophisticated technology with real people, it provides personalised, tailored financial advice to help people reach their goals.

Open Money’s new Chief Finance Officer is Michael Davis, who joins the business with a wealth of experience in a wide variety of finance and non-finance related roles, predominantly within the regulated financial services industry.

An experienced board member who is passionate about building and leading high performing teams to deliver against complex and far-reaching business requirements, Davis’ areas of expertise include managing large, complex budgets, understanding and leveraging commercial performance, and developing and implementing business transformation programmes.

Davis has previously worked in a number of roles for organisations including HSBC, Towergate Insurance and Co-Op General Insurance. Most recently, he was Chief Financial Officer at ME Group Holdings Ltd, a FinTech start-up, where he was responsible for all aspects of financial strategy and HR, reporting directly into the Group CEO and Group Chairman.

Davis arrives at Open Money with the experience to help build on the existing foundations and team skill sets, driving the company forward as it enters a new period of growth. Working closely with CEO and founder, Anthony Morrow, and the rest of the senior management team, Davis will be tasked primarily with ensuring that Open Money has the right financial strategy in place to reach its impressive expansion targets.

Joining him on the senior management team as Chief Operating Officer is James Higgins, who also arrives with years of experience in driving major organisational change programmes within businesses.

A focused senior leader and market strategist with a proven record of success in delivering innovative financial technology solutions, Higgins is renowned for his ability to infuse teams with cutting-edge strategy, thought leadership, and operational excellence.
Higgins’ areas of direct expertise include financial regulation, new product development and the foreign exchange market. Throughout his career, he has held a number of positions at organisations including Morgan Stanley, BNY Mellon and Access Systems UK Ltd. Most recently, Higgins was International and Complex Payments Lead at NatWest Ltd, where he was responsible for all technology applications and processes.
At Open Money, Higgins will be responsible for software and tech engineering, product development and delivery. He will be tasked with looking at the overall operational business model at various levels, working out the best way to draw upon existing resources, and highlight focus areas of investment in this new period of growth.
His arrival will also enable Morrow to get out into the field and be the face of Open Money, while day-to-day team operations are effectively managed.

On the appointments, Open Money founder and CEO, Anthony Morrow, said: “We’ve been on an exciting journey over the past couple of years, and these new appointments are testament to our ambitions moving forward as a business.

“Both Michael and James bring an extensive wealth of relevant knowledge and expertise in the sector, and they also understand Open Money’s vision and what we are trying to achieve. This will help us massively as we continue to grow further and plug the advice gap, making financial advice accessible for all.”

Premium residential lettings and management business selected by developer Far East Consortium (FEC) for apartments and townhouses at MeadowSide

Premium residential lettings and management business Settio Property Experience has secured its first appointment as recommended partner on a major development in Manchester.

The growing business was selected by developer Far East Consortium (FEC) for apartments and townhouses at its MeadowSide scheme, which on completion will provide a total of 756 properties, bordering Angel Meadow, the largest green space in central Manchester.

Co-founded in 2017 by experienced agents Sam Fitz-Hugh and Chris Parsonage, Settio has offices in Manchester and Singapore dedicated to providing a ‘seamless, high end experience’ for clients including landlords, developers, buyers and tenants.

While the appointment on MeadowSide by FEC represents Settio’s first appointment as recommended partner on such a major residential scheme, the firm already manages a growing portfolio of residential property for developers and landlords in schemes throughout Manchester, with a confirmed pipeline set to reach 400 apartments under management in 2021.

Other schemes in central Manchester where Settio provides its market-leading lettings and management services include Deansgate Square, Axis Tower, Lightbox Media City, Local Blackfriars and Local Crescent, with a strengthening pipeline of properties at Crown Street and Castle Wharf.

Sam said: “Our appointment by FEC represents a landmark achievement for Settio as we make our mark in Manchester with our unique, all-inclusive approach to the provision of five-star property management services on behalf of an increasing number of valued clients.”

Sam and Chris relocated from London, where they worked with internationally renowned developers on large scale sites in prime locations, to meet the growing expectations of clients in greater Manchester and the Far East.

Unlike a traditional agent, the premium, service-driven residential lettings and management business, provides ‘total peace of mind’ to clients, such as those with FEC, by offering an ‘all inclusive’ package covering an all-encompassing range of services from off-plan investment support right through to future resale, all supported by some of the latest property technology.

Sam explained: “The traditional agency model hasn’t changed in 30 years – apart from the introduction of e-mail – and by re-imagining the industry with a fresh approach and higher expectations, we have been able to build our business and fee structure to align our motivations with that of a landlord.

“Our all-inclusive approach gives clients peace of mind in the knowledge that we’re financially motivated to secure the best tenants in the market and retain them with high quality service and management for as long as possible; while a traditional model generates income for an agency, and cost to a landlord, each time a tenancy changes over.’’

Andrew Bradley-Nixon, the Manchester-based sales and marketing director of FEC, said: “The emphasis that Sam and Chris place on their relationship with developers, their provision of an all-inclusive service and keen focus on securing and keeping the best residents were all key factors in our decision to appoint them on our flagship scheme at MeadowSide and we look forward to working with them to strengthen our already healthy pipeline of sales.”

CBRE in Manchester has strengthened its National Building Consultancy team with the appointment of two new directors. Oliver Campbell takes up his role as Head of Fit Out in Manchester and joins Rob Dawes as Director within the Project Management (PM) team to further develop CBRE’s in-house PM capability.

Rob joins from Turner and Townsend where he was Senior Project Manager and prior to that Novo Property Group where he was Development Manager; whilst Oliver joins from Workspace Design and Build where he was Business Development Manager before being made Director in 2017, leading the estimating, design and marketing team, as well as client contact for all consultancy and end user occupiers.

Bringing extensive experience of developing projects from design concept to delivery, Rob has delivered a broad range of schemes in both the private and public sectors, leading design teams on projects up to the value of £40M and directing capital programmes to values of more than £260M, including Capital Planner for one of the largest NHS Foundation Trusts. Highlight projects include a £38M joint venture PRS scheme at Liverpool Waters on the city’s historic waterfront and the £39M Eden Square, Urmston mixed use development.

Oliver brings a breadth of experience having worked within the construction industry for more than 20 years before deciding to focus on the Commercial sector since 2007, starting as a freelance project manager for clients including Bruntwood Estates, Handelsbanken, Arnold Clark, Manchester College and MSP. Oliver worked at Workspace Design and Build for 7 years as Pre Con Director. Oliver is ear marked to work on the delivery of the prestigious RCP fit out at The Spine, the Liverpool base of the Royal College of Physicians, Hilti’s Circle Square fit out and as CRM for HANA’s Manchester based projects.

Stephen Williamson, Senior Director, CBRE’s National Building Consultancy team commented;

“We are delighted to welcome two new directors into the CBRE fold. Both Rob and Oliver have excellent track records in their fields with strong commercial acumen and bring a wealth of expertise and experience to further build and reinforce our Fit out and PM capabilities.”

McCann Manchester has appointed Imogen Tazzyman as Executive Creative Director and Tim Whirledge as Head of Strategy.

Tazzyman is returning to McCann for a second stint, after four years as creative director at Karmarama working across brands such as the British Army and Confused.com. Her appointment sees Dave Price step up to chief creative officer (CCO).

Joining from Droga5, Whirledge who has a number of Cannes, APG and IPA Effectiveness awards under his belt reports directly to McCann Manchester CEO, Karen Buchanan. Whirledge started out at Ogilvy before moving to Cake, AMV and Droga5.

Commenting on his appointment, Whirledge said: “As a Strategist, I’d love to be able to claim moving to a house with a shed and a garden a month prior to a global curfew was just great insight. The reality however, was helping to shape the outlook and output of one of the most respected agency brands in advertising, from the UK’s most creatively exciting city, was just too good an opportunity to pass up.”

Tazzyman added: “The industry doesn’t talk about the north nearly enough for my liking, yet there is, of course, a wealth of talent outside the M25. The opportunity to work with some of the most progressive and inspirational people in the business was a great pull.”

“We are only ever as strong as our people, Imogen and Tim are excellent additions to the agency. As we move forward into a post COVID world, brilliant thinking married with bold creativity to drive meaningful change has never been more important for our clients and their brands. Imogen and Tim will help to deliver this in spades working closely with all our other specialists,” said Karen Buchanan.

McCann Manchester’s clients include, Aldi, Matalan, Magnet, Smyth’s Toy Superstores and HSL and shares its location with a range of other McCann Worldgroup brands including UM, Craft, MRM’s Lab 13, Live and McCann Connected.

Rose Marley will be joining Co-operatives UK as Chief Executive in January 2021. She joins the trade body for Britain’s co-operative sector at a crucial moment, when the economy is looking to ‘build back better’ from the impact of Covid-19.

The new appointment comes at a time when there is a real appetite for different ways of doing business, with co-ops and other forms of social enterprise well-placed in the post-Covid economy. Co-ops are resilient, with new co-op start-ups nearly twice as likely to survive the first crucial five years as other types of business.1

Co-operatives UK is the network for Britain’s thousands of co-operatives – from high street retailers to community owned pubs, fan owned football clubs to farmer controlled businesses – together they are worth over £38 billion to the British economy.

With a strong background in creative industries, technology, the gig economy and entrepreneurship, Rose is a passionate advocate for social enterprise and values-led business.

Rose said: “I couldn’t be more excited about joining Co-operatives UK. There has never been a more important moment to harness the enthusiasm of a new generation for a fairer way of doing business.

“The co-op movement has always been about disrupting the status quo, encouraging people to take responsibility for themselves and others. In the past it was ensuring there was “no chalk in our flour”, now it is about digital platforms, or plastic in our environment or a gig economy that denies young people the stability and training they need to establish themselves in life.”

“We have an historic opportunity now to merge co-operative principles with digital technology to create the kind of sustainable, equitable platforms that society needs.”

She continues, “Over the past 20 years as a social entrepreneur I have worked to increase social mobility, give our young people meaningful employment, a start, a chance in life. I look forward to bringing that same spirit and energy to enthusing the next generation of co-operators about the world-changing potential of the co-operative movement.”

Chair of Co-operatives UK Don Morris said: “We are delighted to have Rose on board. She brings a fresh approach to the challenges facing entrepreneurs, co-operatives, community business and social enterprise today.

In the same way that co-ops are often set up to disrupt mainstream business models – giving ownership and decision making powers to workers, customers and communities – we expect Rose to help us shake up the way that co-ops are perceived.

“Yes, they are best known as high street convenience stores. But they are also tech companies, arts venues, freelancers working collectively, innovators, activists and much more. We think Rose will fit right in!”