Coventry & Warwickshire in business
President & People
New headteacher is named
A Coventry headteacher with 20 years’ experience of primary education in the city has been appointed the new head of King Henry VIII Preparatory School. Gillian Bowser will leave her current position of Headteacher at Alderman’s Green Community Primary School at the end of this academic year to take over at the helm of the independent school for three to 11-year-olds in September. She will replace Nicholas Lovell who joined King Henry VIII Preparatory School, which is based on Kenilworth Road and is part of the Coventry School Foundation, as Headmaster in July 2002. Mrs Bowser is from Coventry and was a pupil at Hollyfast Primary School and Coundon Court School before graduating
and qualifying as a teacher from the University of Warwick in 1995. Her teaching career began at Courthouse Green Primary School, followed by Pearl Hyde Primary School. Whilst undertaking her Headship qualification, she was a leading teacher for numeracy with Coventry Local Education Authority. She went on to be part of the leadership team that helped to bring Moseley Primary School out of special measures. The foundations for taking on her first headship at Alderman’s Green in 2008 were cemented at Walsgrave CE Primary School where she spent three years as Deputy Headteacher.
During her time at Alderman’s Green, the school doubled in size with a £7 million new building and achieved its best ever OFSTED outcome. It was also voted Outstanding School Team of the Year for the Midlands at the Pearson Teaching Awards in 2013, and recently won a Pupil Premium Award for being one of the most improved schools in the country for progress with disadvantaged pupils. Mrs Bowser said: “I am really excited by this new opportunity at King Henry VIII Preparatory School. As part of the Coventry School Foundation, it has an incredible reputation and I share its values which centre on the achievement of excellence and the educational experience that goes beyond the classroom.” Mrs Bowser is the first woman to be appointed Headteacher within the Coventry School Foundation, and her appointment follows on from Julia McNaney recently becoming the first female Chair of Governors of Coventry School Foundation. Mrs McNaney said: “Mr Lovell is retiring as Headmaster after 13 years of exemplary service to King Henry VIII Preparatory School and Coventry School Foundation, and he will be sorely missed by staff, pupils and parents. “The Governors are extremely pleased to be able to bring Mrs Bowser to King Henry VIII Preparatory School. She has the experience and the passion to take the school forward in this new era, and we look forward to welcoming her at the start of the next school year.”
Tax Partner appointment for Burgis & Bullock Midlands-based Chartered Accountants and Business Advisers, Burgis & Bullock has further strengthened its tax division with the appointment of Rosy Hughes as the firm’s private client tax partner. As a Chartered Accountant and Chartered Tax Adviser, Rosy has particular expertise in tax planning and advisory work for individuals, trusts and non-domiciles. She will be instrumental in the expansion of the range and depth of the firm’s tax services, with an emphasis on inheritance, capital gains and income tax planning. Rosy joined Burgis & Bullock as an Associate in April 2014 having previously worked as a Senior Manager for EY across the Midlands and nationally. With more than 11 years’ experience in personal and private client work, she will now be responsible for the department’s continued growth across Warwickshire, East Midlands and London. In addition, Rosy will work closely with Anne Rose, Partner and Head of Tax, to
increase and develop the firm’s tax client base which includes businesses and individuals across the UK and overseas. The firm, which has offices Leamington Spa, Leicester, London, Nuneaton and Rugby has a vast array of experience and knowledge to help with client needs including areas such as personal tax, corporate tax and VAT. Wende Hubbard, Managing Partner at Burgis & Bullock, said: “Rosy joined us from a top tier firm with an excellent reputation and her high level of tax experience will make her a significant asset to the firm. We look forward to her continued support and help in developing and driving the firm towards further success in the future.” Rosy said: “I am delighted to be part of a forward-thinking regional practice that is keen to expand its private client tax base and I am really looking forward to helping the firm in its future growth.”
Further expansion for Leamington agency Following its record start to the New Year, Leamington PR agency, Red Marlin is racing ahead with the addition of a new member to its team. Christie Garratt, a recent graduate in English language and literature, has been appointed to the role of account executive at the specialist automotive PR and communications agency and will provide support across a number of the firm’s accounts. This appointment comes during an exciting period of growth for the company, which has seen it secure a number of new clients since the start of 2015, working across areas such as road safety, alternative fuels and classic cars.
www.cw-chamber.co.uk
Danny Rughoobeer, managing director of Red Marlin, said: “We’re delighted to have Christie join us at such an exciting time. This expansion of our team will help us provide even more comprehensive and innovative campaigns to new and existing clients in Warwickshire and beyond.” Based in the heart of the automotive industry, Red Marlin specialise in providing communications and marketing support for automotive related companies. The team offers a comprehensive range of services including social media, media relations and communications consultancy.
New team members sign up at specialist
Automotive software specialist Cooper Solutions has welcomed three new senior members to its team after enjoying a strong start to the year. The firm, based in Barford in Warwickshire, has brought in Liz Love as product manager, Ben Felt as senior developer, and also added Jade Costa as support manager. The appointments are all new roles and follow a series of new positions created by Cooper Solutions in late 2014. Liz joins the company following 13 years working on software teams in the clinical research industry and will play a key role bridging the gap between Cooper Solutions’ support teams. She said: “I’ll be providing a key support link between the business management and technical support teams, which will allow both teams to concentrate on their respective priorities and strengthen our support to clients. “It is a new role which I’m really excited about and I’m looking forward to making a difference and helping the business continue to grow.” Ben, who lives in Warwick and hails from California, is an experienced software developer who has worked with a string of high-profile brands during his career. “The company has a really talented software team and is constantly moving Cooper Solutions’ products forward,” he said. “I really enjoy both the creative and technical sides of the job and developing new functionality for products on the market and it was clear from meeting the team here that we are a really good fit for each other.” Jade joins the firm with a sales background in the housing market and will be responsible for providing general support to clients, including helping to broker deals between buyers and sellers using Cooper Solutions’ online auction site FullAuction. Cooper Solutions is one of the UK’s leading providers of specialist webbased software to the automotive industry and works with more than 1,500 dealerships to support online car fleet management, tax-banding compliance, used car stock management and auctioning, forecasting, financial and cash management. Managing director Barry Cooper added: “The growth of the business has put us in a fortunate position of having to create a number of new roles across the company. “We welcomed three new members to the senior team at the back end of the year and we’re delighted to follow that up with another three key appointments. “Liz, Ben and Jade have significant experience and skills to strengthen our team, fit the ethos of Cooper Solutions, and have the hunger to progress with the company.”
45