Law firms Brabners and Morecrofts, finance specialist, Bathgate Business Finance, and digital consultancy MGISS have all announced new hires

Brabners, based in Liverpool, Manchester and Preston has appointed Andrew Waugh to head up its 95-strong real estate practice, which counts retailer Home Bargains among its key clients.

An experienced lawyer, developer and commercial director, Mr Waugh brings with him extensive client-side experience having influenced strategy via senior legal and commercial roles within FTSE plcs and private organisations including Urban Splash.

The new role will also benefit from Andrew’s experience as director of private real estate group 53N which he founded in 2008. The property development and asset management business completed numerous acquisitions while supporting the delivery of complex public and private partnership schemes valued upwards of £150m.

Mr Waugh said: “We are ultimately in the midst of a period of great challenge across the property industry. As such, I consider it a privilege to lead a team that has real strength in depth and is influencing important decisions across our core markets in the North West.”

Morecrofts Solicitors in Liverpool has added another solicitor to its private client team following the qualification of Kate McEvoy.

Ms McEvoy will be based primarily at the firm’s office in Crosby, specialising in Court of Protection and Wills and Probate matters, after completing a two-year training contract at the firm.

Paralegal Rebecca Lacey has also qualified as a legal executive and will continue to work in the family law team at the firm’s Allerton Road office, while fellow paralegal Katie Nguyen has recently passed the latest module of her legal executive qualification.

Eleanor Cockrell, an associate solicitor in the family care team , has successfully been reaccredited in Children Law by The Law Society, which provides a recognised quality standard for practitioners representing children in legal proceedings.

Alison Lobb, managing partner at Morecrofts, said: “Morecrofts has a long tradition of providing pathways for women in the law and this commitment is reflected across all parts of the firm.

“Kate has been a member of the Morecrofts family for almost three years and we are so proud to have supported her development to date. We have no doubt she will continue to develop into an excellent solicitor and a valued member of our award-winning private client team.”

West-Kirby based finance specialist, Bathgate Business Finance, has welcomed property finance specialist Ben Humphreys as business development manager.

Mr Humphreys  brings more than 15 years’ experience to the team, having worked at companies including Wirral Chamber of Commerce, St James’s Place Wealth Management, Ingard Financial and Skipton Building Society.

He joins Bathgate Business Finance from Wirral Chamber, where he was director of membership and growth, driving the recruitment of new members and directly managing relationships with the chamber’s strategic partners and its professional business members.

He said: “Having a BDM dedicated to the property sector presents a fantastic opportunity to generate new ideas and respond quickly and effectively to changes in the market. I’m looking forward to using my expertise and depth of understanding of the sector to structure finance in such a way that delivers the best possible outcome for both future and existing clients.”

MGISS has appointed Dave George as technical lead within its professional services division. 

Working alongside organisations such as Northumbrian Water Group, Sir Robert McAlpine and Carnell, Mr George will lead a team of specialists developing applications and services using the latest geospatial technology in the utility, infrastructure and environment sectors.

A pioneer in the transformation of geographic data from 2D to 3D, Mr George has a particular interest in future proofing data capture, integration and in-field workflows to support emerging technologies such as Augmented and Virtual Realities, machine learning and Artificial Intelligence.

He said: “The geospatial sector is facing a number of opportunities with technologies such as VR and AI making headlines. However, the challenge is to achieve maximum returns on investment in geographic information technologies to inform strategic asset management.”