GENSOCIAL
Lifelong carer Peter Norman has been appointed general manager at Belong Newcastle-under-Lyme.
Peter – whose career in social care spans over two decades – took on the position of acting general manager at the Newcastle care village in May and has supported the facility to be ‘largely Covid-free’ for several months.
Peter, from Nantwich, said: “After working alongside the dedicated team at Belong Newcastle over recent months, I am really pleased to be taking over the reins on a permanent basis. I have always been a strong advocate of Belong’s values and village model and they have enabled us to provide our residents with the best possible care during this difficult time.”
Belong’s chief operating officer, Stacey McCann, said: “Peter has been an invaluable member of Belong’s management team during the pandemic, ensuring our customers and colleagues in Newcastle-under-Lyme have remained safe and in high spirits. We have every confidence in his ability to support the continued success of the village and its provision of high-quality care.”
An accountancy firm has appointed its youngest ever manager.
Stafford-based Howards Chartered Certified Accountants has promoted 24-year-old Jenna Hands to the role after four years at the firm.
Matt Bailey, managing director, said: “I have always had a ‘promote-from-within’ philosophy and am extremely proud of Jenna and her achievements. She has worked her way up and her dedication and accountability has earned her the trust of some of my major clients – and now holds the record of being our youngest manager ever!”
Jenna said: “I joined just after I’d passed my AAT exams and Matt then supported me through my professional ACCA qualifications. I finally completed all 11 exams in June last year, at the same time as putting my all into my job. I am passionate about this company because it is a large firm in the area but still independently run. It is a great team here and everyone helps each other.”
IT provider 848 Group has appointed a new business development manager.
Mike Spink has joined the Stafford company in the role with more than 30 years’ experience.
He said: “In the past 30 years my attitude has changed drastically. I have become more and more involved in understanding the requirements of a customer and prefer to work with them on more of a partnership basis. I look at how we make Microsoft applications work best for business using out-of-the-box capabilities, rather than taking a ‘one size fits all, let’s re-engineer the wheel because we can’ approach.
“Because of my experience, I often understand what will work and I appreciate the amount of effort it will take, so I can have upfront conversations early on so businesses can make decisions quickly.”
Kerry Burn, CEO at 848 Group, said: “We are delighted to have Mike on the team. He’s completely in sync with our culture, he’s a very credible business development manager and knows the software we work with like the back of his hand. He’s going to be a valuable member of the team and will support our upward trajectory of growth well.”
A family-run firm of solicitors has made its first new appointment since the UK came out of lockdown in July.
Lichfield-based Adcocks Solicitors – which has an office in Birmingham and client facilities in West Bromwich – has appointed Kerry Davies to head up its private client services department.
The 40-year-old, who hails from Rugeley, said: “My husband and I are originally from Rugeley and when we decided to move back to the area, I wanted to join a firm not dissimilar to my previous one and Adcocks fitted the bill.
“Everyone’s been lovely and welcoming, so I already feel like I’ve settled in.”
Senior director Mark Adcock, said: “We are delighted to reveal that we are expanding and to welcome Kerry to the family. She will be a great addition to our private client law team.
“Especially so as she brings with her experience in a new area of private client work for us, namely divorce and family law, an area we haven’t covered for many years.
“I’m very pleased that we have been able to recruit someone of Kerry’s calibre to the practice to manage and grow our private client services.”
Chartered accountancy firm Mitten Clarke has welcomed Dave Roberts to the board as a non-executive director.
Dave has joined the Stoke-on-Trent company with over 20 years IT experience leading large technology teams – and previously a group CIO at a £3 billion turnover payment and fleet services company.
Operations director James Beardmore said: “Never before has technology proven so fundamental to business. Effectively and securely communicating with our business partners and clients is at the very core of what we do.
“Dave’s high-level strategic innovations will be a fantastic asset as we make fast-paced technology advances, delivering an exceptionally slick and efficient customer experience. This will put us at the forefront of our industry.”
Joining earlier this month, Dave already has plans to transform the technological approach at Mitten Clarke.
He said: “It’s an exciting time to be joining the Mitten Clarke board, as we accelerate the business’ growth trajectory. I’m looking forward to steering initiatives as we invest in robust and dependable technology, with a sharp focus on the requirements of our clients.
“It’s fantastic to be part of such a dynamic team.”
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Commercial and industrial electrical contractor One Way Electrical has appointed a national business development manager – taking its total workforce to 13.
The Stoke-on-Trent company has continued to grow despite Covid-19 and carry-out design, build and maintenance projects throughout the UK.
Managing director Wayne Bennett said: “We have a strong business plan and have built a reputation for project managing electrical projects across diverse business sectors; now we’ve secured the services of Chris Buckley. Chris has 30 years of experience in the electrical trade, most recently working as a senior sales development manager. He knows our company as he’s supplied us with parts in a previous role and he’s got an extensive knowledge of the industry.”
Chris said: “One Way Electrical has an excellent reputation and it’s my aim to build on that, picking up more market share. There’s always something new in the electrical sector and One Way are well placed to develop additional opportunities.”
