New faces occupy rooms at the top
WATKIN Jones has appointed a new chair-designate and CFO-designate. In April the north Wales-headquartered firm announced that as part of its long-term board succession planning, Grenville Turner had given notice of his intention to retire as chairman during 2021 and that Phil Byrom, chief financial officer, had also given notice of his intention to retire in 2022. The board has announced the new appointments.
Alan Giddins has been appointed as non-executive director and chairdesignate with immediate effect. It is intended that Mr Turner will step down from the board in October 2021 and that Mr Giddins will take over as chairman, having allowed time for an orderly handover.
Mr Giddins is currently chairman of Hill & Smith Holdings, the FTSE 250 international group creating sustainable infrastructure and safe transport solutions, having joined in October 2017 as the senior independent director, before assuming the role of chairman in October 2019. Mr Giddins is also a non-executive director and investment committee member of Big Society Capital Limited, the UK’s largest social impact-led investor.
Sarah Sergeant has been appointed to the board as chief financial officer-designate with effect from October 6, 2021. Phil Byrom will step down from the board, and Sarah step up to CFO after a suitable handover period.
Ms Sergeant is currently the chief financial officer of the UK and Ireland region at Compass Group, the FTSE 30 food and support services company. She has held a number of senior finance and operational roles over her 13-year tenure at Compass, including group financial controller, M&A director, and CFO of the Asia Pacific region, based in Singapore.
Capital Law adds to its financial services team with a raft of new appointments.
Cardiff and London-based Capital Law has added to its financial services team with a series of new hires.
The new appointments have joined the firm’s other 15 financial services lawyers, who work collaboratively drawing on multi-disciplinary expertise across the fintech, insurtech and financial services sectors, alongside crypto assets and blockchain, banking and insurance.
The financial services division focuses on regulatory, lending and commercial issues, alongside contentious work, Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) investigations and offers employment and immigration advice for financial institutions.
Charlotte Gregory joined the firm from Browne Jacobson as a senior associate, bringing a wealth of knowledge in regulatory compliance, product design and FCA enforcement matters, as well as having spent many years defending insurance-backed litigation and advising on policy coverage.
Phillippa Ellis has experience as both a solicitor and a barrister specialising in criminal law, prosecution and defence. She joins Capital from the Serious Fraud Office as a senior associate, specialising in financial and economic crime including fraud and bribery and corruption investigations.
Solicitor Charlotte Hanson, with both domestic and international experience and a history of working with large international insurers and corporate clients, brings a corporate insurance perspective to the team. Previously at Clyde & Co, she has been heavily involved in a variety of insurance claims, in addition to noncontentious advisory work, such as professional indemnity, casualty claims, property damage and acting as coverage counsel in large-scale disputes.
The team also has a growing number of juniors who are training in this specialist area. Ferial Khan and Sallyanne Caswell, who joined the team as paralegals, will start solicitor training contracts with Capital in September, making way for new paralegal Hafash Hardi, who joined the team last month.
Andrew Mazeika recently qualified as a solicitor, specialising in providing regulatory advice to Fintechs, banks, crypto-asset businesses and consumer credit institutions.
The Royal Mint has announced the appointment of Caroline Webb as new chief marketing officer.
The appointment takes the Royal Mint’s executive team to 50/50 representation, led by Anne Jessopp, who in 2018 became the company’s first female chief executive in 1,100 years.
Ms Webb will oversee brand, marketing and product strategy at the
Royal Mint as the company, which is based in Llantrisant and is one of the largest employers in Wales, continues its reinvention as a premium consumer brand – looking to attract new customers and expanding into overseas markets.
Ms Webb has previously worked at brands such as TM Lewin, Oak Furnitureland and BAA Retail. At the Royal Mint she will be tasked with overseeing customer-centric campaigns for the UK and overseas.
Software development company Box UK has appointed Allie Brock as head of ecommerce.
Ms Brock has been tasked with overseeing the provision of highquality ecommerce solutions for clients and developing new products and services.
Box UK says Ms Brock has helped deliver sophisticated software platforms for international clients such as Okdo and RS Components. She has specialised in multilingual and multisite installations and complex technological ecosystems.
Ms Brock previously worked across a number of roles, including lead business analyst, agile coach and head of support, enabling the company to better understand and respond to client needs and providing one-to-one support.
To see more of the latest appointments in the business community, visit www.business-live. co.uk/wales