Businesses with operations all over the North West have announced a string of top hires and promotions over the last week.
The likes of Booking.com and On The Beach are among those who have made major announcements.
Below, BusinessLive rounds up the latest hires and promotions that we feel you should not miss.
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DAM Health
James Stevens has joined DAM Health - the medical diagnostics firm founded in Liverpool - as the new chief operating officer.
Mr Stevens qualified in 1998, spending more than 15 years of his career in emergency medicine in South England, mainly Redhill and Reading, and then the North West before moving into major management roles.
He held titles such as business performance manager, divisional director and finally head of operations at the Countess of Chester Hospital, which treats more than 425,000 patients each year and has over 3,000 employees.
Mr Stevens said: "I was overseeing everything that functions within the hospital, from A&E right the way through to discharge as well as ambulances, CCT and external partners and everything in between.
"I decided I then wanted a change and, through a colleague, heard about the project at DAM Health."
Booking.com
Booking.com has welcomed 12 new software developers into its Manchester-based team as part of its ongoing partnership with Tech Returners, an organisation specialising in upskilling engineers to return to the tech industry after a career break.
Booking.com’s trips division, which will move into its new £100m home at Manchester’s Enterprise City later this year, has created the roles having sponsored its second cohort of candidates through Tech Returners’ ‘Your Return to Tech’ programme.
The eight-week course is designed to tackle the industry's well-documented skills shortage and provide software developers - the majority of which are women - with a free route back to high-quality employment after a career break.
Manchester India Partnership
Raam Shankar has joined the Manchester India Partnership (MIP) as board member.
Mr Shankar is the founder and CEO of Equitus Design Engineering and Innovations.
Raam will be The MIP board representative of TiE UK North, replacing Vikas Shah.
He said: "It’s a great honour to join such a dynamic partnership and I look forward to tackling the five key pillars outlined in MIP’s ‘2030 Roadmap’.
"It’s no secret that my homeland of India became the fastest growing economy in the world in the 2021/2022 financial year."
JMW Solicitors LLP
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JMW Solicitors LLP, which has offices in Manchester, Liverpool and London, has announced a new management board as of November 1.
Managing Partner Paul Walker is due to retire from the firm on October 31 having worked at JMW for over 33 years.
The new management team will comprise Marc Yaffe, Warren Martin and Chris Sutton.
Mr Yaffe will become JMW’s managing partner while Mr Martin will become joint senior partner, initially sharing the title with Joy Kingsley until April 2023.
Current head of operations Chris Sutton will be become CEO of JMW.
Olliers Solicitors
Criminal defence firm Olliers Solicitors has announced a string of promotions at its Manchester-based office.
Toby Wilbraham, Alex Preston, Zita Spencer and Laura Baumanis have been promoted from senior associate to partner.
Helen Buxton and Alex Close-Claughton have been promoted from senior case worker to associate, while solicitor Lily Grundy also steps into the more senior role of associate.
The team changes follow promotions earlier in the year for Matthew Corn and David Philpott to partner, as well as the appointment of solicitor, Heather Crossthwaite and a number of paralegals.
Mather & Co
Manchester-based visitor experience designer Mather & Co has appointed Kim Kherlopian as its new managing director.
Mr Kherlopian has spent the last three and half years working as project/build director at Mather & Co and previously spent 15 years as CEO of a multi-faceted museum fit out company.
He said: "I’m incredibly excited to take on this new challenge, as I step into the role as managing director for Mather & Co and look forward to expanding upon all the great work that has already been done.
"I am proud to be surrounded by an amazingly talented and creative team and look forward to the challenges of delivering the Mather and Co vision for years to come."
On the Beach
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Manchester-headquartered On the Beach has announced that chief marketing officer Zoe Harris is joining the board as an executive director.
She joined On the Beach as chief marketing officer in January 2021 from GoCo Group, where she had been since 2018.
She said: "It means so much to me to work somewhere that genuinely puts their customers front and centre. I'm incredibly proud of the lengths that On the Beach went to for our customers through a very difficult couple of years, and am looking forward to continuing working alongside colleagues and the Board to give our customers experiences that will ensure they holiday with us year after year."
Alcedo Care Group
Alcedo Care Group has appointed Kirstie Poole as service development manager.
She will support the Bury, Blackburn and Preston offices of the home care provider, providing ideas and strategies to facilitate growth, and supporting the registered branch managers and their teams with ongoing professional development and training.
She said: "I had heard really great things about Alcedo Care and identified with the company’s family values and culture.
"I’m delighted to join such a fast growing and well regarded business and want to use my skills and knowledge to ensure that all of our clients in the Lancashire area receive safe and effective care delivered with compassion in the comfort of their own home and that our offices achieve outstanding CQC reports."
Fairmont Recruitment
A tech recruitment firm has appointed a new managing director as part of its strategy to expand internationally.
Manchester-based Fairmont Recruitment has promoted Mark Pugh to the role of MD while CEO Jack Donohue and director Andy Ward focus on new opportunities in the USA and UAE.
Fairmont Recruitment recently signed a five-year lease on 2,100 sq ft of space in 53-55 Mosley Street, Manchester and plan to grow their headcount from 13 to 20 by the end of the year.
Mr Pugh said: "We’ve exceeded all our financial targets and remain extremely ambitious in terms of our future growth.
"We know the US is a buoyant market and less saturated than the UK. Jack and Andy will embark on opening up a foothold in the US while my role will be to look after the UK, both from a delivery perspective and operationally."
Assetz Capital
Manchester-based marketplace lender Assetz Capital have appointed Sinead Moynihan as relationship director, covering the whole of the UK.
Operating out of Cheshire, she will be working as part of the company’s UK North Team directed by regional director Andrew Fraser.
She said: "I’m delighted to be joining the team at Assetz Capital and I’m really looking forward to working with all of my brokers and national housebuilder clients. The growth plans are really exciting, and I share the ambition - I can’t wait to get started."
Blume
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Manchester-based Blume has appointed Rob Gough as head of engineering to lead its in-house team.
Mr Gough has worked with a range of different technologies in a variety of domains, from healthcare (System C) to online retail (On the Beach), fintech (Open Money) and automotive (Wejo).
He said: "I’m really excited to join Blume at such a transformational stage in the company's development and to work alongside some incredibly talented people.
"I am certain this will be an exciting journey as the business evolves, and I look forward to advancing Blume’s technological capabilities to provide new and innovative products to our clients."
Acumen Financial Partnership
A West Lancashire based independent financial adviser (IFA) has appointed a new financial planning co-ordinator.
Kellie Williamson joins the 21-strong team at Acumen Financial Partnership, which is headquartered in Burscough.
She said: "With five years’ experience in financial services, I have recently moved to the area from the Midlands.
"It’s a very close knit team of advisers and support staff and everyone has been really welcoming which is helping me to settle in the area."
Pixel Kicks
Pixel Kicks, the Manchester based digital agency, has appointed Joe Tynan as its newest junior web developer.
He has joined from Teegee digital in Leyland where he worked for four years.
Mr Tynan said: "I really enjoyed my years working for a very small agency as it gave me the opportunity to work on a wide variety of projects and be hands on with clients.
"However, I knew the time was right to move on and Pixel Kicks felt like the right fit – especially because of the high calibre of work it delivers and its diverse range of clients."
The ONTO Group
Manchester-based The ONTO Group has added to its team by appointing Rachel Picton as customer success executive.
She said: "My journey with The ONTO Group has been an exciting one so far and I very much look forward to growing further with the company and firmly solidifying this new role.
"Our clients are of the utmost importance and I will strive to ensure that a best-in-class service remains at the heart of everything that we do."
Maxwell Bond
Manchester-based tech recruiter Maxwell Bond has added to its client services team with a number of hires.
Account manager Lauren Hamer and delivery consultant Hannah Pask have both recently joined the company.
Founder Steven Jagger said: "Our client services team is fundamental to our philosophy of going above and beyond for our candidates, clients, and people.
"The recent growth and acquisition of new clients has led to a need to separate the client services team into a brand-new division. Already we have grown this team from zero to eight people and are looking to scale this further to over 25 by the end of next year. This is unprecedented growth for a new division.
"You can see from our client feedback why this works and why it important in differentiating us from any competition."
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