People & Companies News and Deals
Graham Stow CBE of InStaffs Chairman The High Sherriff of Staffordshire has pledged his commitment to promising Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire’s regeneration after formally accepting the role of chairman of InStaffs. Graham Stow CBE believes the county is one of the UK’s few remaining undiscovered ‘gems’ and is in an ideal position to make the most of wide-scale regeneration, a one-million plus population and desirable central location. The Freeman of the City of London replaces Richard Barnes (former CFO of Waterford Wedgewood), who has stepped down after five extremely successful years in charge that have seen the M6 Toll Road open, the A38 corridor grow in popularity and, importantly, Stoke-on-Trent laying the foundations for its transformation. Importantly, his tenure also saw the creation of over 10,000 jobs. “This is a very exciting opportunity and I’m delighted to have been invited to help guide the next stage of InStaffs’ development,” explained Graham, who is a Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Curriers and a passionate military historian. Board Members The Catesby Property Group has secured a string of former plc industry big guns to serve on its board. Previous operations director on the main board at Taylor Woodrow plc, Graeme McCallum has stepped out of semi-retirement to join the Stratford-based business. He joins Catesby as a non-executive director. The second non-exec director, Mike Tanner, brings thirty-four years experience in the building and construction industry to Catesby. In addition to the non-executive directors, Catesby has also appointed John Scott as an operations director. Simon Heath has been appointed as group accountant to support a number of development projects, bringing seven years experience from similar roles. Senior Surveyors Harris Lamb is continuing its expansion strategy with the appointment of two senior surveyors to be based in their Stoke and Worcester offices. Richard Mounsey has joined the Harris Lamb Stoke office and Fiona Mellor has joined Harris Lamb to further strengthen the valuation team and will be based in the company’s Worcester and Birmingham offices.		Julie Robinson and Matt Burgin of Stoford Developments Two Promotions Stoford Developments has appointed two new directors. Julie Robinson, who joined Stoford from ProLogis in 2001, has been promoted to financial director with responsibility for financial strategy and management accounting. Matt Burgin has been promoted to director after joining Stoford as a construction manager. Two New Trainees Wakemans has taken on two new trainee quantity surveyors. Neil Jones from Sutton Coldfield and Corrine Murray from Edgbaston. Director Developer Ashfield Land has expanded with the appointment of former Burford Group director Mike Forster as a director. Mike will work on Ashfield Land’s £250m nationwide property portfolio, as well as expanding Ashfield’s development programme. Staff Changes CB Richard Ellis’ valuation team in Birmingham has been given a double boost following the appointment of James Harris and Inderjit Sidhu. Senior surveyor James has worked as a qualified valuer for two years, and joins from the commercial valuation team at DTZ. Inderjib qualified as a chartered surveyor in October 2007. Before that he worked at the Valuation Office Agency. In a further boost for CB Richard Ellis’ Birmingham office, Philip Swift has joined the building consultancy and design team as a senior designer and Jeremy Valerio has been appointed as a surveyor in the asset management team. Prior to joining CBRE, Jeremy was an estates surveyor at City Property Management Services Ltd in Birmingham, before moving to join Colliers CRE as a surveyor. Meanwhile, surveyor Ben Gray has made the move from CBRE’s asset management department to strengthen the investment team. Head of Retail Estate DLA Piper has named Birmingham based partner Kathy Toon as national head of retail estate. Kathy joined the firm seven years ago and has established a national reputation as an expert in retail property. Director Wolverhampton Development Company (WDC) has announced the appointment of Will Evans as director of development. Experienced in delivering positive change through urban development, Will joins WDC from Walsall Regeneration Company. Managing Director Simons Group has announced that Dominic Hayes has been appointed managing director of its property and development business, Simons Developments.