MEMBER SECTION: APPOINTMENTS
WHO’S MOVING UP & WHO’S MOVING ON
JAGUAR LAND ROVER Ken McConomy has been appointed to a new role as head of UK public relations for Jaguar Land Rover. In his new position, Mr McConomy will take lead responsibility for all media relations and communications on all product, brand and corporate matters in the UK for Jaguar Land Rover. Ken has worked extensively across Jaguar
Land Rover and held a number of leadership roles in the global PR team. He brings a wealth of knowledge and
experience to the UK press office in a year that will see key new models launched to further build UK sales. Fiona Pargeter, chief PR officer at Jaguar Land Rover, said: “Ken brings
great experience, talent and enthusiasm to the team, and he will lead our PR presence in our home market for both brands. His reputation and extensive media relations in product and corporate communications, will ensure we provide our UK media customers a stronger service and even more stories about our great business in the UK.”
DRAYTON MANOR THEME PARK Drayton Manor Theme Park has welcomed Doug Stuart as its new head of facilities. The 44-year-old father of two, originally
from Mosstodloch, Scotland, now lives in Erdington and brings with him a wealth of experience, having previously worked for Virgin Trains and London Overground. Doug has taken over responsibility for the
day-to-day running of a number of behind the scenes components that all ensure the theme park’s smooth operation. He is responsible for overseeing the estates team, health and safety, park security and stores. His role involves managing the maintenance team, which includes
plumbers, joiners, painters and handy people, dealing with day-to-day reactive maintenance and repairs. It also involves assessing risks and putting control measures into place to reduce risk where possible. Doug said: “It’s a very varied role, which is great. It’s a park wide
management function. It’s like looking after your own little town. The park spans 280 acres and there are around 150 buildings on site, ranging from sheds to office blocks, a lake, wildlife, a zoo, hotel, offices, it’s quite a varied portfolio. When I walk through the park, I’ve got a big cheesy grin on my face; you can’t help but be happy here.”
REGIS PARK HOTEL Birmingham’s four-star Park Regis Hotel, due to open in March, has appointed Robin Ford as its general manager. A serial hotelier, Robin will be responsible
for the overall leadership and direction of the business, as well as the management of a senior team of 15, and all 150 of the hotel’s new employees. He will also play an instrumental role in the expansion of the Park Regis brand into Europe. Robin has a wealth of experience in
hospitality management, having spent 11 years at InterContinental Hotels Group where he was responsible for hotels across the UK, Ireland and Australia. In the last five years, he has held general manager roles at Macdonald Hotels & Resorts, most recently at Hill Valley Golf & Spa Resort in Shropshire. Born and bred in Birmingham, Robin is looking forward to returning to
the city. He said: “This is the fifth opening of my career and I’m excited to be part of creating something new. There are lots of hotels in Birmingham and our challenge is to create something different that will make us stand out. It’s about us generating results through people, putting pride and passion in and offering genuine hospitality.”
58 CHAMBERLINK MARCH 2016
ST BASILS St Basils, the West Midlands based charity that works with young people aged 16 to 25 who are homeless or at risk, has appointed a new chair of its board of directors, Sara Fowler. Sara is senior partner at EY in the Midlands
and succeeds Kathy Halliday, who was appointed chair in 2009. Kathy is an employment lawyer and partner
at Veale Wasbrough Vizards. She said: “I have loved being part of St Basils and will miss my fellow board members, the many staff I have met and of course the young people who continue to astound me by their resilience, imagination and diversity. I wish St Basils the very best; the challenges I know continue but with great staff, a strong board and so many young people in need of support I am sure St Basils will go from strength to strength.” Sara said: “I’m delighted to take on the role of chair and look forward to
working closely with the St Basils team and its board of directors to help raise awareness of the local charity and its purpose to prevent youth homeless in the West Midlands.” St Basils’ chief executive Jean Templeton said: “I have been extremely
fortunate in my time at St Basils to serve under such highly skilled chairs. Kathy has provided dedicated, skilled and compassionate service and I know that Sara will bring her extensive experience and perspective to the role at a time of significant pressure on our work.”
EXTRACARE CHARITABLE TRUST Former Advantage West Midlands chief Mick Laverty has landed a new role at ExtraCare Charitable Trust, which is a provider of retirement villages. The charity was established in 1988 and
supports some 4,400 residents in 17 housing schemes and 14 retirement villages in the Midlands and North of England. The organisation is currently developing five villages in Birmingham, as part of a £200m development programme in partnership with the city council. Mr Laverty has joined ExtraCare as chief
executive, and will lead the charity’s £314 million development programme which, between 2016 and 2019, will see the construction of 1,534 mixed- tenure apartments within six villages. These include Longbridge, Birmingham (2017), Earlsdon, Coventry (2016), High Wycombe (2018), Stoke Gifford (2018), Bedford (2019) and Solihull (2019). He said: “I’m impressed by ExtraCare’s clear vision to create better lives
for older people, providing inspirational homes, award-winning care services and encouraging an active lifestyle.”
MARKS & CLERK Dr David Ward has been appointed managing partner of the UK’s largest firm of patent and trade mark attorneys, Marks & Clerk LLP. Based in the firm’s Birmingham office, he
has been elected for a three-year term at the firm, which has eight offices, more than 150 patent and trade mark specialists and several hundred support staff. Dr Ward was educated in Birmingham,
gaining a BSc and a PhD from the University of Birmingham. He joined the firm in 1996, becoming a partner in 2002, sitting on the UK board for five years, with responsibility for the firm’s HR function and also chairing its business infrastructure committee. He said: “As a firm, we are focusing on supporting innovation across the
country – coming from SMEs, universities, multi-nationals and all other kinds of organisation. We have a young partnership, a strong reputation and a wide and diverse client base, particularly in the West Midlands, where we support a whole range of local SMEs, multi-nationals and universities. “Our clients, both here in the West Midlands and elsewhere, face an
increased need for international, sound IP advice as globalisation continues and technological development accelerates. It will be an honour to lead the business as we continue to work with existing clients and develop and grow our client portfolio.”
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60