North-West based law firm, Bridge Law Solicitors, has expanded, with the opening of a new office in Knutsford, which is the law firm’s third office in the North West, joining other locations in Marple Bridge and West Yorkshire. Bridge Law also has an office in London.

The new office on King Street, Knutsford, opens following continued demand for Bridge Law’s specialist services, including dispute resolution, landlord and tenant, contentious trust and probate, family, employment, as well as wills and probate.

The firm’s equine law specialist, Sophie Murgatroyd, will be based at the new Knutsford office, Sophie’s passion for equine activities has seen her become a leader in equine law, alongside her other specialties of private and business litigation, corporate agreements, agricultural law, debt recovery, property disputes and professional negligence.

Sophie, said: “Following Bridge Law’s continued success and growth, we feel the time is right to open another office and there is no better place to do it than in my hometown of Knutsford. I am really excited to offer our exceptional legal services here and look forward to further developing our portfolio of clients.”

Claire Stewart, Director, Bridge Law, added: “After a period of exceptional growth and extremely hard work by all of the team, we are now in a position to expand and offer our services closer to our core Cheshire clients. This is a very exciting time for all of us at Bridge Law and we look forward to getting to know the people as well as the local businesses of Knutsford.”

Just over a year since Lee Marston took over as managing partner of Bury & Bolton based law firm Clough & Willis, the business has secured rises in turnover for several of its departments.

Over the past 12 months, Employment work has jumped by 24%, whilst cases handled by the Corporate department are up by 15% and by 4% in Litigation.

Since becoming managing partner, Lee has managed the firm’s day-to-day operations, driven its strategic growth and continued to develop its people and working practices.

Lee became a partner in 2001 and has headed up the Family team since 2000, is a Resolution Accredited Specialist in the financial side of divorce and children disputes and was a founding member of the Family Law Panel. Lee acts for a cross section of clients and has a particular expertise in acting for the owners of large businesses.

Lee Marston commented: “The last 12 months has been a period of transition and growth for the firm and these results are evidence of everyone’s hard work and efforts. We’ve focussed on delivering the very best service to our clients as well as on our own growth strategy and that approach is starting to pay dividends.”

Lee added: We have also grown our headcount by around 14% in the last year. These new arrivals – both lawyers and support staff – have slotted in seamlessly with our existing team and have also played a big part in this success. Our focus is now on building on these foundations to ensure Clough & Willis is best placed for all future opportunities and expansion.”

Manchester-based ShinDigger brewery is expanding its operations with the support of six-figure funding package from HSBC UK.

The brewery has used funding to make capacity improvements to its current 2,500 sq. ft. warehouse in Ancoats, Manchester. These developments come in the build up to summer 2019 plans for a move to a much larger facility in Salford, with capacity to store 1,000 kegs at the optimal temperature of four degrees, ensuring consistent quality across the range. Prior to moving into its Ancoats site, the business relied on renting warehouse space across the region and transporting beer from satellite brewery sites.

ShinDigger currently supplies beer throughout Northern England and is broadening its presence across the UK. To meet this growing demand, the brewery has also invested in a new delivery van to ensure efficient delivery of its products to pubs and retailers, including select Co-op supermarket stores.

The brewery is also planning to increase its exports across Europe, catering to a new found appetite for craft beer in countries including Italy and Spain. An increased stock capacity and more international contracts are expected to increase its exports by up to 10 per cent over the next year.

The brewery’s expansion, with support from HSBC UK, has already created three jobs with further capacity for growth. The business is expected to increase its turnover by 50 per cent over the next 12 months.

Paul Delamere, Co-Founder and Director of ShinDigger, said:“This expansion is a major development for us and signals the start of an exciting chapter for the brewery. Traditionally, we have always operated as a shadow brewery, creating recipes we love and brewing off-site so found storage could prove tricky. The new warehouse and increased delivery capacity will ensure that our products taste as good to beer fans across the UK and beyond, as they do at our Manchester home.”

Andrew Holgate, Business Banking Relationship Manager for Manchester at HSBC UK, added: “ShinDigger is a great example of how two individuals can convert a shared passion into an international business. Over the past seven years, the brewery has demonstrated an aptitude for developing a unique range of beers that stand out in a crowded market. We’re delighted to be supporting the business in the next stages of its journey look forward to toasting every future success.”

A national enterprise that aims to improve the gender balance in the technology sector has appointed Code Computerlove’s Tony Foggett as a non-executive director.

Tony, who is CEO of the long-established Manchester digital agency, has been involved with InnovateHer, which aims to give girls aged 12-16 the self belief and skills they need to pursue a career in technology – since last summer. He will now be providing additional support to the organisation to help it realise its vision ‘to get girls ready for the tech industry and the tech industry ready for girls’.

The organisation encourages greater equality and diversity in technical roles by enabling pupils to interact with leading employers and industry role models and learn new digital skills.

Acting as a mentor and member of its advisory board, Tony has been helping the Manchester and Liverpool based team develop its educational and coaching programmes including an eight-week after school programme that is being implemented in schools across every borough in  the Greater Manchester combined authority area.

Code Computerlove is also a partner business within the InnovateHer partner network, which ranges from local businesses to global organisations, charities, universities and alternative education providers. The team at InnovateHer works closely with its partner network  to ensure that they are inclusive places to work, sharing best practice and providing advice and support on aspects like recruitment and culture.

Speaking of Tony’s appointment, Jo Morfee, co-founder of InnovateHer, said: “Tony brings more than 20 years’ experience of working in the digital sector and some brilliant insights from his experience of growing a business successfully.  His input has already been invaluable, he has helped us to develop a scalable model so that we can deliver in multiple schools simultaneously. The team at Code have also helped us to design a new web development themed programme, which has now been run in two local schools.  

“Tony is genuinely as passionate as we are about closing the gender gap within the technology sector and his own approach to business is inspirational to us all. I know the girls who recently went into Code Computerlove for training, talks and practical tasks with Tony and the Computerlover team came away full of excitement about career opportunities in the digital sector.

“By seeing first hand the inner workings of a digital agency students get an idea of the different roles within a digital product consultancy. They also had an introduction to coding and were shown how to run an ideation session.”

Jo added: “It’s vital we encourage girls to consider careers within the technology sector at a young age and digital leadership experts such as Tony can make a huge impact on these decisions. We need everyone to advocate for this change, male, female, non-binary or however you identify. Tony  is a true pioneer within the sector and is a real advocate of InnovateHer and our vision.”

Tony Foggett said: “I originally started working with InnovateHer as a company member business. Our industry has for a while been in a talent crisis, and for as long as we fail to get girls more enthused about a career in the technology this will not change.

“I was blown away by InnovateHer’s school programmes and their ability to connect the students to the opportunities within the industry at such a critical stage when technology is rarely a career path considered by girls deciding on their future.

“What’s clear to me now is the role companies need to play in adapting – creating cultures that nurture everyone’s development and work life. It’s not just a case of helping girls be digitally ready, but ensuring that businesses are ready for girls. We need have to have role models within our businesses and at every level be a place where they belong. I’m delighted to be a part of this journey with InnovateHer as I think they will make a lasting and sustainable impact with the model they’ve developed.”