Law firm Ward Hadaway has recruited of six new trainees and one apprentice solicitor into its Newcastle head office. The company has welcomed Lucy Randell, Colette Monahan, Lucy Baxter, Divyanshi Gupta, Eleanor Thurlbeck and Louis Dinsdale to the team. They join alongside Emily Stott, who has started an apprenticeship with the firm, to boost its commitment to developing the next generation of lawyers.
Caroline Jones, recruitment and emerging talent manager at the firm, said: “We’re delighted to welcome new trainees and an apprentice to our Newcastle team. At Ward Hadaway, we believe that nurturing talent and providing the right environment for growth is paramount. Our commitment to employee development is a priority, and we are excited to see our trainees thrive in our inclusive, supportive culture.”
Trainees embark on a two-year training contract, rotating through four practice areas every six months, while apprentice solicitors undertake a six year apprenticeship and follow a similar training structure to the trainee programme.
Left to right: Moja’s new starters Aoife Forbes, Ava Hartington, Lottie Steele (Image: Moja)Newcastle PR agency Moja has made three new additions to its team : Aoife Forbes, Ava Hartington and Lottie Steele. Moja was founded last year by Sophie Milliken and works with entrepreneurs and senior executives to promote them through press and media, awards, networking, podcasts, speaking opportunities, online visibility and book publications.
Ms Forbes has joined as PR nanager and has an extensive background in both in-house and agency roles, Ms Hartington has been appointed as account manager and Ms Steele has joined as podcast and marketing executive.
CEO Ms Milliken, who was recently presented with her MBE for services to business and education by the Princess Royal at an investiture in London, said: “We are absolutely delighted to welcome our hat-trick of new starters. They have all jumped straight into their new roles with huge enthusiasm and skill – I am confident they will help our clients achieve superb visibility, boost their profiles and identify new and exciting opportunities for them all.”
Anthony Piggott, Steph Madeley and Dan Martin of Swarm (Image: Photo Thomas Jackson, Tynesight Photography)Newcastle energy startup Swarm has grown its team with the appointment of a new chief financial officer. Steph Madeley has joined Swarm, a renewable energy business which was founded earlier this year with the aim of changing the way people control the energy used in their homes. She will help shape Swarm’s strategy as the business plans for its nationwide launch in 2024.
Dan Martin, co-founder and CEO, said: “Swarm may be a young business but it’s a fast-growing one, and Steph’s appointment brings us to 10 members of staff. It’s important to us that we appoint the best people out there and Steph is a brilliant addition – the strength of our team shows we’re a business with longevity, that our customers can have confidence in.”
Ms Madeley said: “We’re planning to create a community of people who use renewable energy in their homes and who can escape from rising energy prices, by storing their own renewable energy and selling any excess back to the grid. The idea of being part of a company that wants to give control back to energy consumers really appealed to me and I can feel a real buzz in the team as we start to create our ‘swarm’ of customers – starting here in the North East, and expanding across the UK.”
Chris Ferguson, director at RMT Accountants & Business Advisors (Image: RMT Accountants & Business Advisors)RMT Accountants & Business Advisors has promoted Chris Ferguson to director. Mr Ferguson heads up the Gosforth-based firm’s specialist recovery and insolvency division. Prior to joining RMT in 2019 he spent almost two decades working in senior roles for some of the UK’s biggest professional services firms, predominantly on corporate restructuring engagements.
As well as managing RMT’s formal insolvency appointments, he has extensive corporate advisory experience, and is the North East chair of insolvency and restructuring trade body R3.
He said: “I am delighted to be given the opportunity to formally join the Board at RMT. To be able to directly contribute to the strategic growth of RMT is an exciting one and there’s a huge amount of potential within the business for us to realise over the next few years.”
Matthew Strain, new partner at Sintons (Image: Sintons)Newcastle law firm Sintons has appointed a new partner. Matthew Strain has relocated from London to become a partner in Sintons’ commercial team, which supports businesses regionally and nationally with contracts, shareholder matters and regulation. Mr Strain specialises in commercial structuring, litigation and supporting corporate transactions, and also has experience in high value, complex cases with international dimensions.
He said: “I am very pleased to join the partnership of Sintons at a very exciting time of ongoing growth and progress for the firm. The commercial team has an excellent presence in the marketplace and supports clients across the country at all stages of development in achieving their goals and putting the necessary provision in place for that to happen.”
Karen Simms, head of the commercial team at Sintons, said: “Matthew has an extremely strong track record in commercial work and we are delighted to welcome him to Sintons. Our commercial department is regularly appointed by clients – both new and existing – on a national basis, and our reputation precedes us in terms of both our legal capability and client service.”
