Movers & Shakers
Law firm’s duo ‘shining examples’ of career progression as they earn promotions Consumer champion law firm Lime Solicitors has announced three promotions across its medical negligence and contentious probate teams, including two in the West Midlands. Effective as of May 1, the firm has promoted James Anderson to Partner and Alistair Spencer to Legal Director.
Steve Harcourt President of Coventry & Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce The start of May saw local elections take place across Coventry & Warwickshire, along with the elections for the Mayor of the West Midlands and the West Midlands Police & Crime Commissioner. Whilst the Chamber of Commerce is apolitical, we work closely with colleagues across the political spectrum to ensure our members’ voices are heard on a local, regional and national level and that our region remains a great place to locate and trade a business. We welcome a new Metro Mayor for the West Midlands, Richard Parker, who will take up the mantle from Andy Street CBE, who has served as the first Mayor of the West Midlands since 2017. Our congratulations go to Richard, who we look forward to working with, and our thanks to Andy for his public service and dedication to the West Midlands. We will await the announcement of a General Election…! On an economic front, as Director of Prime Accountants Group we’re pleased to continue our support for the Chamber’s Quarterly Economic Survey (QES). It was promising to see that the latest QES results, from Q1 2024, showed the economic outlook for Coventry and Warwickshire has improved after the first three months of the year. The overall economic outlook now has a score of 60.1, based on the survey results, compared to 55.2 at the end of 2023. This reflects a level of continued optimism for businesses in our region, however we will continue to highlight some of the barriers to growth that are preventing companies from expanding and growing.
James manages the medical negligence team in the firm’s Birmingham hub and runs a large caseload dealing with the full spectrum of medical negligence claims, including catastrophic birth injury claims, surgical errors, GP negligence, cancer delayed diagnosis, diabetic complications, and negligence resulting in death.
When the Warwickshire Law Society reviewed nominees for its esteemed Young Lawyer of the Year award, a certain firm with its head office in Leamington Spa repeatedly surfaced. Not only did CTT Law secure two of three finalist slots – an impressive achievement in itself – but their own Emma Bolochowecki (who is one exam away from being a qualified Conveyancing Technician) was announced as the winner and her manager Laura Toner, Head of Conveyancing, was the first runner-up. To say their Managing Director and Head of Legal Practice, Anthony Mbanefo, is proud of the dedication and talent within his conveyancing team would be an understatement. “We place a lot of emphasis on the identification and development of talent at the firm,” Anthony said. “It was my privilege to be able to nominate Laura for the award, and Laura, of course, nominated Emma. I already considered them both winners, and I believe this award hasn't fully explored their potential. I hope this marks the beginning of numerous awards for them and the entire staff at the firm."
I hope to see many of you at the Golf Day!
Steve
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“I am looking forward to seeing them flourish in their new roles and supporting us as we continue with our aim of becoming the recommended firm for consumers in need of expert legal advice and support.”
Despite her remarkable progress, Emma was surprised by the nomination. She said: "I suffered from a lack of confidence prior to joining CTT Law, so to have been nominated and recognised in something that I love doing is fantastic!” Laura, a Licensed Conveyancer, assumed her role as Head of Conveyancing at the age of just 26. Since joining CTT Law, Laura has played a pivotal role in the conveyancing department’s growth. With 12 years’ experience as a conveyancing legal secretary, Emma made the move to CTT Law in 2021. She made an immediate impact with her outstanding performance. “It was very obvious that Emma was capable of handling more complex work than she was doing,” said Laura. Upholding CTT Law’s commitment to provide training and development, the firm soon included Emma in more specialised legal tasks. In just two and a half years, Emma moved from a paralegal position to that of Junior Fee Earner and most recently Emma was promoted to a full Fee Earning role. Laura emphasises the excellence in Emma’s journey: “To have that progression in just over two years is amazing!” she added.
"When I started, we were a small team; since then, we’ve almost tripled in size," she said. Entering her managerial role with personal goals and aspirations, Laura succeeded in increasing the lender panel membership to include mortgage work and obtaining the conveyancing industry gold standard, Conveyancing Quality Scheme (CQS) accreditation for the firm. Currently, Laura's focus is on steering the team's expansion into associated areas of property law while ensuring the ongoing development and training of staff. Highlighting the broader significance of the two nominations for the team, Laura said: "To be recognised with an award from the Law Society in this region is fantastic. It shows that CTT are amazing, and so are our people.”
From apprentice to partner: firm strengthens leadership team in success story Now with over 16 years of experience, Danielle joined the firm (previously Baldwins) at 16 years old as an apprentice. Having progressed her career with Azets, she is now a partner within Azets’ Coventry office and an ACA-qualified chartered accountant. Danielle provides a range of services to her clients which include accounts, taxation, audit and business advisory. Whilst working with a wide range of clients, Danielle specialises in ownermanaged SMEs and UK subsidiaries of foreign groups. Danielle manages a diverse portfolio of businesses, across a range of industries including construction, engineering, legal & professional services, and retail.
We will be raising funds for The Myton Hospices and supporting the fantastic work they do across Coventry & Warwickshire. If you haven’t booked your place yet, head to the Chamber’s website for more information.
The programmes are designed to help your business succeed and give you free access to an experienced business advisor, as well as offering a range of workshops and events.
Tony Hannington, Partner and Head of Lime Solicitors, said: “We are extremely proud to have promoted James and Alistair, who are both hugely valuable and knowledgeable members of the Lime Solicitors team. Their contribution has been exceptional, and they are shining examples of how our people can build or continue successful careers with us.
CTT Law Ltd celebrates double win at Warwickshire Law Society Awards
Looking ahead to the summer, I am excited to be hosting my first President’s Golf Day, on 21st June at Draycote Hotel & Whitefields Golf Club in Rugby and look forward to welcoming a range of members to the event.
Finally, I would recommend all businesses based in our region check out the range of fully funded Business Support programmes available through the Chamber of Commerce.
Alistair, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, specialises in contentious trusts and probate, acting for private individuals, charities and trustees in a wide range of matters, including claims for financial provision under the Inheritance Act 1975 and disputes concerning the validity of wills. He has a particular interest in claims involving agricultural estates, forged wills and capacity issues.
Accounting and business advisory firm Azets has strengthened its regional senior leadership team by appointing Danielle Hamill as Regional Managing Partner of East and West Midlands. The appointment comes at a pivotal time of growth for Azets, as the business looks to double total revenue to become a £1 billion firm by 2027.
Of her appointment, Danielle said: “I’m delighted to be taking on the role of Regional Managing Partner for East and West Midlands, as we continue to grow in the region. We have an established office network in the area that includes teams in Tamworth, Coventry, Nottingham, Wolverhampton and Stourbridge, and the next stage of our journey looks incredibly exciting. “We’re looking forward to expanding within specialist areas of accounting such as medical
audit, so that we continue to meet the needs of our expanding business, as well as supporting the regional business community.” Richard Goddard, Regional Managing Director of Azets Central and West, added: “Despite the challenging economic background, as a region, we continue to go from strength to strength thanks to a collaborative approach from our teams and clients. “The appointment of Danielle reflects our commitment to support continued growth, so we can continue to meet the needs of our expanding business, as well as helping the growing number of SMEs in the country across complex areas of accounting and business services.” Danielle’s appointment comes after Azets announced Gurj Sandhu was to become the Regional Managing Partner for Azets Birmingham. Both Danielle and Gurj join Azets’ senior leadership team for the Central region. Azets Group has 88 offices in the UK and 189 across Europe.
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