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Ward Hadaway solicitor nominated for national diversity legal award

Awards

Sam Whitear

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31/10/2018

Ward Hadaway solicitor nominated for national diversity legal award

A solicitor from Ward Hadaway’s Manchester office has been nominated for a national Diversity Legal Award.

Fameeda Shafiq, a solicitor in the Licensing & Regulatory team at Ward Hadaway based in the firm’s Manchester office will go up against competition from across the country after being shortlisted in the Rising Star category of the UK Diversity Legal Awards.

The awards aim to recognise, promote and celebrate equality, diversity and inclusion across the legal profession. The ceremony will be held at Grange St Paul’s Hotel in London on Wednesday, on 21 November

Fameeda has worked on initiatives with the British Pakistan Foundation (BPF) and Greater Manchester Chambers of Commerce (GMCC).

The BPF was set up in 2010 to ‘unite, engage and empower’ the British Pakistani community in the UK. Part of this vision for businesses and professionals includes the Legal Forum which has been set up as a platform for nurturing, inspiring and networking for those who wish to become lawyers and judges in England & Wales.

It aims to deal with concerns regarding the entry/recruitment, progression and representation of British Pakistanis within the legal profession. BPF intend to deliver this by way of professional workshops, seminars, mentoring and internships, networking events, thought leadership and newsletters.

As a member of the steering committee, Fameeda has assisted with the development of this initiative within the North West region.

She is also on the steering group for the GMCC’s Asian Business Development Network, to help promote businesses and professionals from the North West region.

This network was created to engage with the Asian business community and professionals. It provides a platform for connecting with its members – not just for Asian professionals but all businesses that may be interested in opportunities to connect and develop.

Both the BPF and GMCC have shared objectives in trying to ensure better representation and progression for Asian businesses and professionals. Fameeda will continue to represent the organisations and help them achieve these objectives.

Fameeda, said: “I am pleased and honoured to be nominated for this award because diversity and inclusion is really important to me. While it is exciting to receive recognition, it’s also a good time to remind people that there is still much work to be done on diversity and inclusion in the legal sector to ensure it is sustainable.”

Martin Hulls, Managing Partner of Ward Hadaway, added: “We are extremely pleased that Fameeda has been recognised for her ongoing efforts to nurture a multicultural and inclusive legal profession. It supports our vision of making Ward Hadaway a great place to work for all.”

Manchester airport marks hat trick of milestones in £1bn transformation

Blog

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31/10/2018

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Manchester airport marks hat trick of milestones in £1bn transformation

Manchester Airport is celebrating three milestones in its £1bn transformation programme.

Firstly, a topping out ceremony was held to mark the extension to Terminal Two reaching its highest point after just more than a year of construction.

The topping out ceremony was attended by some of the apprentices working on the scheme to mark the end of the structural work and aims to bestow good luck on a building.

The terminal is more than doubling in size through the project, which will make it one of the busiest in Europe.

Secondly, a 45m, 85 tonne bridge that will connect the terminal extension with the new multi-storey car park was lifted into place. It took four days and two cranes to install the link, which will open to passengers when the extension opens in 2020.

Time-lapse footage of the installation was today released to bring to life the scale and complexity of the process.

Finally, the main structural work has also been completed on the car park building and will be fully completed by the middle of next year.

The milestone celebrations were shared with apprentices who are working on the transformation – the biggest investment in Manchester Airport’s 80 year history – and local businesses that have secured contracts as part of it.

Andrew Cowan, CEO of Manchester Airport, said: “It is exciting to mark these milestones as they demonstrate how much progress has been made on our transformation programme since starting work just more than a year ago.

“Hopefully this gives our customers an appreciation of how soon they will be able to start making use of these new state-of-the-art facilities.

“This scheme will be transformational, not just in terms of the buildings being created, but the experience we will be able to deliver to passengers and airlines.

“It is also making a major contribution to skills and employment in the region and that is why it was great to share the occasion with many of the people who are working on the project.”

Further expansion for Avison Young Manchester team

Appointments

Sam Whitear

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31/10/2018

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Further expansion for Avison Young Manchester team

International commercial real estate firm Avison Young continues to grow its Manchester team with a string of new appointments and promotions.

Promoted from senior surveyor to associate director are James Goode in the industrial team and Harry Skinner and Mark Cooke from the office agency team.

James has 10 years property experience and a broad agency background having held roles both client side and working within agency teams. Key clients include Stoford Developments, Bericote, Peel Land and Property and Sladen Estates.

Harry joined the company six years ago as a graduate and has since played a key role in securing lettings, sales and acquisitions for clients including BMO Real Estate, London and Scottish, Millerbrook Properties, PD Properties and Bruntwood.

Mark joined the company three years ago having previously worked for NAI Fuller Peiser and BNP Paribas and represents clients including Peel, CEG, Kames Capital, Fujitsu and Royal London.

Also joining the office agency team is graduate surveyor Scott Meakin who qualified with first class honours in Real Estate (BSc) from Nottingham Trent University. Before joining Avison Young Scott had previously worked in student investment, development, auctioneering and valuation and is now studying for his APC.

Surveyor, Glenn Taylor, joins the asset management team having previously run his own business and most recently worked with Scanlans for over a decade. Glenn has particular expertise in dealing with challenging management sites and was instrumental in obtaining positive outcomes of NHBC and Zurich Insurance claims, for mixed-use developments throughout the North West of England.

Also joining Glenn in the eight-strong asset management team are Emma Dutton who joins as administrator and Ceryn Coughlin in the role of property accountant.

Commenting on the changes to the team, managing director Mark Williams said: “The past year has been one of significant growth and expansion for the Manchester team and we are continually looking to recruit the best new talent, from industry, direct from University as well as promoting internally. James, Harry and Mark have been core members of the team for many years and were integral to its success in securing some of the most-high profile transactions in the North West this year. Investing in our staff and strengthening key departments will help us to achieve our significant growth ambitions.”

British Business Bank appoints its first Chief Marketing Officer to head new Demand Development Unit

Appointments

Sam Whitear

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31/10/2018

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British Business Bank appoints its first Chief Marketing Officer to head new Demand Development Unit

The British Business Bank has appointed of Angelene Woodland as its first Chief Marketing Officer. The British Business Bank is the government-owned business development bank dedicated to making finance markets work better for smaller businesses.

The new role has been created to lead the Bank’s new Demand Development Unit. The new unit will build the profile of the Bank and its positioning and relationship with smaller businesses across the UK, to enable SMEs to seek the finance best suited to their needs.

Manchester-based, Woodland joins from Bupa UK where, since 2011, she held a number of positions across Marketing and was Director of Marketing Communications, leading all Bupa UK’s brand, acquisition and retention marketing strategy across all customer segments and business lines. She was previously Bupa’s Director of Consumer Marketing and Sales. Prior to Bupa, she held senior roles at Shop Direct Group and the British School of Paris.

Keith Morgan, British Business Bank CEO, said: “Angelene has a wealth of industry experience and I am delighted she is joining our organisation at this exciting stage in our development. I look forward to welcoming her to the British Business Bank in this newly-created role and working with her to ensure smaller businesses across the UK are encouraged and enabled to seek the finance best suited to their needs.”

Angelene Woodland, said: “I am delighted to be joining as Chief Marketing Officer and am excited to be working with an organisation that has such a strong purpose at its core – to make finance markets work more effectively for small businesses, so that they and the people they employ can prosper, grow and build UK economic activity. The creation of the new Demand Development Unit at the British Business Bank is testament to the focus being put on delivering a customer centred and compelling proposition to market, that meets the demands and needs of our customer segments. I cannot wait to drive forward the brand and customer engagement strategies with the team and to encourage and enable smaller businesses across the UK to seek the finance best suited to their needs.”

Travel firm recruits Code Computerlove for international growth

Blog

Sam Whitear

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31/10/2018

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Travel firm recruits Code Computerlove for international growth

Independent travel company Travel Counsellors, an award-winning, global organisation delivering personal, corporate and leisure travel services in seven countries, has appointed Code Computerlove to enhance its online recruitment experience by putting the company’s franchisees at the centre of its digital strategy.

With a Manchester headquarters and sister offices in Ireland, the Netherlands, Belgium, South Africa, Australia and the UAE, Travel Counsellors enables 1800 experienced travel professionals across the globe to run their own business from home, providing the technology and support to deliver a highly personal, tailor-made travel service that’s available to the company’s customers around-the-clock.

Code will be supporting Travel Counsellors with its ambitions for further international growth, through facilitating the recruitment of more customer-focussed professionals to become ‘travel counsellors’, not only providing them with a new career path, but the opportunity to enjoy uncapped earning potential and improved work/life balance by running their own travel business.

Travel Counsellors Director of Digital and Innovation, Waseem Haq, said: “We’re pleased to be working with Code Computerlove to bring to life our unique company culture and ensure that our focus throughout the digital experience is on our people – whether that’s professionals looking to start a new corporate or leisure travel business franchise with Travel Counsellors, the recruitment of new support team members to our Manchester HQ and global offices, or the brilliant people already working within our company community.

“We’ve concentrated on the user experience and worked closely with Code to ensure that potential new travel counsellors and support team colleagues can fully immerse themselves in our culture, engaging in all that we have to offer before deciding to begin a new career opportunity with us. We choose our external partners carefully to ensure they thoroughly appreciate the focus, care and attention we give to the people who make up our Travel Counsellors community, both in the UK and in six more countries across the globe. The collaborative partnership we have developed with Code means that their team has become a natural extension of ours, sharing the focus we have on bringing our peoples’ stories to life and providing memorable, multi-channel digital experiences.”

Travel Counsellors already works with Code’s sister company, MediaCom North, responsible for the business’ search capabilities, and the two agencies will work side-by-side to bring new features and drive more value from a digital recruitment platform.

Code Director, Steve Peters, said: “We began our exciting journey with Travel Counsellors with in-depth user research to shape our strategies, followed by ongoing implementation of new features that will deliver the biggest impact at each stage of release.

“By working with MediaCom we’re able to look at the strategy as a joint entity and ensure the end-to-end media to on-site experience is seamless and optimised for key audiences, delivering greater results.”

The winners of the 2018 Manchester Hoteliers’ Association Awards revealed

Awards

Sam Whitear

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31/10/2018

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The winners of the 2018 Manchester Hoteliers’ Association Awards revealed

Winners of this year’s Manchester Hoteliers’ Association Awards have been announced during a ceremony attended by more than 600 people.

Nine prestigious awards, including Outstanding Contribution to Hospitality, were given out at The Principal Manchester as the region’s hospitality industry toasted the 2018 Ball.

In total almost £37,000 was raised for MHA’s chosen charities.

Paul Burton, of Hilton Manchester Airport, landed the Outstanding Contribution to Hospitality accolade while Mentor of the Year Award sponsored by Businesswise Solutions went to Kevin Hobson, Malmaison Manchester.

Manchester Hoteliers’ Association (MHA) Chair Adrian Ellis praised all who attended for ‘another fantastic spectacle’ and wished entrants, winners and those shortlisted all the best for the rest of 2018 and the new year.

He said: “This year’s theme for the MHA Ball was The Greatest Showman and it didn’t disappoint.

“First and foremost, people came together and had a great time celebrating another great 12 months for hospitality in this great city region.

“The calibre of entries was once again very strong with more people submitting entries than in 2017. The winners all did themselves proud, as did everyone who had any involvement in an event designed to showcase the vast array of talent that exists in our industry.

“It’s also fantastic that MHA has raised almost £37,000 for our chosen charities, Breast Cancer Care, The Christie, Hospitality Action and Mustard Tree.”

Entertainment during the 2018 MHA Ball included a fire artist, stilt walkers, aerial acts, Northern Sopranos, Anita Ryan singing over dinner, Bloomsbury Function Band, Ice Entertainment and a DJ to close.

Category sponsors for the 2018 MHA Ball included Mint People, Polka Dot, Businesswise Solutions, Caterer.com, Springbank Flowers, Vision Events, Manchester Metropolitan University and Street Cars.

Event partners were Williams of Flint, Bidfood, Wellocks, Grandpa Greens, Manchester Smokehouse, Matthew Clark, Wenlock Spring, Illy Coffee, The Linen Company, Ice Entertainment and Giraffe.

Manchester Hoteliers’ Association 15^th Annual Ball and Awards Winners 2018

Back of House Customer Service sponsored by Mint People

Lois Marland, Holiday Inn Manchester City Centre

Bright idea Award sponsored by Polka Dot

Team Member Consultative Committee, AC Hotel Manchester Salford Quays

Front of House Customer Service sponsored by Street Cars

Hakan Keskin, Mercure Manchester Piccadilly

Mentor of the Year Award sponsored by Businesswise Solutions

Kevin Hobson, Malmaison Manchester

Outstanding Contribution to Hospitality sponsored by Manchester Hoteliers Association

Paul Burton, Hilton Manchester Airport

Rising Star Award sponsored by Manchester Metropolitan University

Aidan Hull, Holiday Inn Manchester City Centre

Top team Award sponsored by Springbank Flowers

Conference and Banqueting Team, The Principal Hotel

Unsung Hero Award sponsored by Vision Events

Robbie Peterson, Mercure Manchester Piccadilly Hotel

Young Chef of the Year sponsored by Caterer.com

Robert Lavery, Malmasion Manchester

Weston Homes looks to recruit 350 in Manchester

Sam Whitear

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31/10/2018

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Weston Homes looks to recruit 350 in Manchester

Leading housebuilder Weston Homes Plc is focusing on youthful Manchester, home to one of the largest student populations in Europe, in its plans to recruit 350 new staff over the next 18-24 months: required to deliver the company’s £2 billion (GDV) new homes development pipeline.

The company’s recruitment drive in Manchester will culminate in a special Weston Homes Open Recruitment Event which will be held on Saturday 10 November (from 9am to 3pm) at The Lowry, Ballroom 1 at Pier 8, The Quays, Salford, M50 3AZ.

In the lead up to the Recruitment Event on the 10 November, Manchester’s population of 545,000 people will learn more about Weston Homes as the company rolls out a local promotional campaign including advertisements, recruitment videos, radio advertising and social media.

At the Weston Homes Open Recruitment Event at The Lowry, visitors will be able to meet with Jane Stock, Human Resources Director, and other members of Weston Homes’ Human Resources team to learn more about the company and the various forthcoming opportunities.

Visitors to the Manchester event, who are open to relocating for their next career move, will be able to learn about the forthcoming opportunities in engineering, planning and design, technical, commercial and construction. The company is looking for people from Manchester with a variety of different experience levels in these disciplines, to work at their head office in Essex or on their diverse range of developments in the South East.

Established in 1987 Weston Homes currently employs over 470 people, and has a development pipeline of 7,500 new homes, with a completed value of £2 billion. Due to this pipeline, the company is forecast to double in size over the next five years and needs to create 350 new roles across all disciplines within the business.

Weston Homes creates best in class residential property developments across southern England, focusing on economic hubs including London, Cambridge, Peterborough, Reading and Dartford. The company has in-house divisions covering design, planning, technical, manufacturing and construction.

Bob Weston, Chairman & CEO of Weston Homes, said: “Weston Homes has £297 million of forward sales and we have a 7,500 unit pipeline in order to keep up with customer demand. One of the challenges facing us is finding new employees to help maintain our fast rate of expansion. Our Weston Homes Open Recruitment Event in Manchester on 10th November is all about enabling people to come and meet with us, to learn more about our company, what a fantastic place it is to work, and the highly rewarding careers and benefits packages we offer. Manchester is a wonderful and vibrant place with a huge pool of talented people and we are excited about our recruitment drive’s focus in the north of England.”

Jane Stock, Human Resources Director at Weston Homes, added: “Alongside recruiting for these 350 roles we would like visitors to our open recruitment event in Manchester to learn about our passion for continually developing, rewarding and challenging our people. We aim to retain our people and ensure they have fulfilling careers with Weston Homes. We have a dedicated Learning Academy with a full-time Learning and Development Consultant focused purely on developing our employees and helping them be the best they can be. We offer internal development programmes including leadership and management, together with a suite of personal effectiveness courses and workshops.”

Far East Consortium and Alliance Manchester Business School host Northern Gateway tour for Chinese business leaders

Energy

Sam Whitear

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30/10/2018

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Far East Consortium and Alliance Manchester Business School host Northern Gateway tour for Chinese business leaders

Delegates from China enjoyed a fascinating tour of Manchester’s past – and a close-up view of a bold new vision for up to 15,000 homes on the north side of the city centre.

23 senior Chinese business and government officials were in the city on the latest instalment of the UK-China Infrastructure Academy, run by Alliance Manchester Business School (Alliance MBS) and backed by the Department for International Trade.

The visit to the city centre’s largest green space and park, MeadowSide, and the 390 acres Northern Gateway site taking in the Irk Valley, was hosted by Hong Kong-based development company Far East Consortium (FEC).

FEC introduced the Chinese party to the rich industrial and social history of the area, and led them on a tour of the Northern Gateway site. This investment partnership with Manchester City Council is planned to deliver up to 15,000 homes across north Manchester over the next fifteen years.

The Northern Gateway is forecast to generate more than £4bn of investment value by unlocking the residential development potential of 13 million sq ft of land from north of Victoria station through to New Cross, the Lower Irk Valley and Collyhurst.

The tour began at FEC’s £200m MeadowSide residential scheme which will provide 756 apartments, townhouses and penthouses and spearheads the transformational plans.

Gavin Taylor, Regional General Manager, said: “Far East Consortium (FEC) is working with Alliance MBS and the Department for International Trade to enhance UK-China commercial cooperation in infrastructure and development.

“We were delighted to host this part of the visit and support this programme, which brings opportunities and understanding between Chinese and UK businesses. We are glad to playing a part in the UK mission to attract further high-quality Chinese investment to Manchester and the UK.”

The visit was part of the week-long programme focused on regeneration projects, and included opportunities to learn from academics from Alliance MBS and industry experts as well visits to Wirral Waters, Manchester Science Partnerships and Sutton Cancer Care Hub.

The Academy is an executive education programme offering courses, seminars and workshops over the next three years (2018-2020). Previous programmes have focused on energy and rail and have heard speakers including the Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham; Former Chief executive of Manchester City Council, Sir Howard Bernstein; Chief Executive of the Greater Manchester Combined Authority, Eamonn Boylan; and Chinese Consul General to Manchester, Dr Sun Dali.

Following the launch of the programme earlier this year, Minister for Investment, Graham Stuart said: “In 2017, China’s direct investment into the UK more than doubled to over £15 billion and as an international economic department, we’re excited to be involved in attracting foreign investment to all the regions of the UK through initiatives such as the UK-China Infrastructure Academy.

“China as a world leading economy and the UK’s sixth largest trading partner is an important market for British companies and the Academy is a great opportunity to strengthen our trading relationships with China.”

Be the Business’ Mentoring for Growth launched nationally after successful Greater Manchester pilot

Sam Whitear

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30/10/2018

0

Be the Business’ Mentoring for Growth launched nationally after successful Greater Manchester pilot

Businesses across Greater Manchester are invited to join a new mentoring scheme which pairs senior figures from some of the UK’s biggest companies with ambitious SME leaders.

Following a successful pilot phase in Greater Manchester and Greater Birmingham and Solihull, Mentoring for Growth is now expanding nationally, and a new cohort of Greater Manchester businesses are being invited to join the scheme.

Leading companies which have already signed up as mentors include Accenture, Amazon, BAE Systems, Be the Business, BT, Cisco, EY, GSK, John Lewis Partnership, KPMG, McKinsey, Siemens UK and Sharing in Growth.

Combined these organisations have committed to provide over 130 high calibre mentors, offering SMEs the chance to gain invaluable insights and advice from some of the UK’s most successful businesses.

Mentees will benefit from expert support and advice over a twelve-month period to help them improve the productivity of their firms. Mentors will offer their personal expertise, inspiration and practical advice on a one-to-one basis to help local firms overcome any potential barrier to growth.

The Greater Manchester Mentoring for Growth programme is being led by GC Business Growth Hub, which has great local knowledge and a rigorous process to match prospective local mentees with the best possible mentor.

The Hub was closely involved in delivering the successful pilot scheme earlier this year and has been able to draw on mentors from its existing initiatives, including the Greater Manchester Manufacturing Champions Network, to accelerate the matching process.

Richard Jeffery, director of GC Business Growth Hub, said: “Mentoring is a very effective way to drive business growth and yet, as Be the Business’ research shows, many SMEs in the region have not benefited from this form of support.

“Of those that have, it’s clear the process can have a positive, transformational impact on the way they do business. I’m also proud that the Hub’s role in this programme at the pilot stage has helped lead to it to being rolled out nationally.”

Sir Charlie Mayfield, Chairman, Be the Business, said: “Mentoring is a proven way to help ambitious leaders become even more successful, and with Mentoring for Growth, some of the UK’s leading businesses are lending their experience. The feedback from our pilots in Greater Manchester and the West Midlands has been fantastic, so I am delighted that many more SMEs will be able to benefit from being mentored.”

Business Secretary Greg Clark, said: “Small businesses are the backbone of our economy which is why our modern Industrial Strategy is building the environment that ensures they continue to thrive.

“Mentoring for Growth delivered fantastic results during its pilot phase and is a great example of what can be achieved when large businesses share their insight with our small businesses to improve their productivity and help them grow.”

One of the pilot Mentoring for Growth programme participants in Greater Manchester was Rick Leach, company owner of Oldham-based Precision Pallets. He was matched with mentor Donna Blinco, an experienced business woman who currently leads the Lean improvement, Engagement and Communications team at GlaxoSmithKline in Cumbria.

Rick said of his experience: “Mentoring wasn’t something I’d ever thought about before, but taking part in the pilot proved to be a great introduction and Donna and I hit it off immediately.

“Initially we focused on manufacturing, productivity and workflow. I wasn’t really sure where to start, but Donna helped to change this. We also started thinking about areas like waste and management of staff. This directly led to some important re-organisation in the business, and crucially I’ve started delegating more too.

“I’m still working with Donna and we regularly talk on the phone, particularly around long-term planning for the business. The way I work has certainly become more structured and I’m also looking at working with other mentors, as well as encouraging some of my senior staff to also take part, too.”

Strategic Land Group boosts headcount with new hire

Appointments

Sam Whitear

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30/10/2018

0

Strategic Land Group boosts headcount with new hire

The Strategic Land Group (SLG) has boosted its headcount with the appointment of Guy Horswell as Land and Planning Assistant.

SLG is a specialist land promoter headquartered in Manchester. Its current portfolio has the potential to deliver around 2,500 new homes with a GDV of circa £400m.

Horswell joins SLG from Stags where he was Planning Assistant, supporting on a range of planning matters, including unilateral undertakings, pre-application enquiries, Neighbourhood Plans representations and permitted development rights.

Paul Smith, Managing Director of Strategic Land Group, said: “2018 has seen our portfolio continue to grow, with new sites coming on board throughout England and Wales – however, we remain committed to providing our clients with the very best advice and level of service and bringing Guy on board will support that continued focus. I’ve no doubt that Guy will be a great support to our team as we continue to expand, working with our landowner partners to release underused sites and bring new locations forward for much-needed new homes.”

Guy added: “The Strategic Land Group is a well-respected firm, largely due to its commitment to client care, focus on results and the technical talent and expertise within the team. It’s also a fast-growing business with sites spanning the country and I’m looking forward to working alongside Paul and supporting the team as SLG continues to grow.”

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