Movers&Shakers

Ey

EY has strengthened its private team in the Midlands with the appointment of a new director.

Anisha Patel will originate and build relationships with both new and existing clients in the privately-owned business market, connecting clients with expertise from across all areas within the firm, including tax and corporate finance.

Patel has more than eight years experience working in mergers and acquisitions and growth capital markets. She joins from BGF, a growth capital investor where she was responsible for leading on origination across Central and East of England.

Squire Patton Boggs

Edmund Street-based Squire Patton Boggs has welcomed Tom Durrant, the former national head of Gateley’s Corporate practice, as the new managing partner of its Birmingham office. He succeeds Charlie Frost, who will become general counsel for the firm’s UK LLP from May 1, 2023.

The move marks a return to Squire Patton Boggs for Mr. Durrant, who qualified at the firm over 20 years ago.

A highly regarded corporate M&A and private equity lawyer, Durrant will play a key role in the ongoing expansion of the firm’s UK and international crossborder corporate and private equity transactional work.

“I am excited to return to Squire Patton Boggs, a global law firm with a strong regional heritage and a collaborative, dynamic and entrepreneurial culture,” said Durrant. “The firm has an impressive pedigree in the Midlands and has enjoyed rapid growth in recent years. I am looking forward to working with new and familiar colleagues on the next phase of the firm’s growth and development as one of the region’s premier practices.”

Tom Addyman, EY’s head of private in the Midlands, said: “As EY celebrates three years of record growth, our work in Private has been at the heart of this. Anisha’s appointment and the growth of our Midlands Private team aligns with the investments we are making across the rest of the country. We are seeing an increased demand for privately owned businesses seeking relationships with partners who understand their needs. I’m looking forward to working with Anisha and developing these client relationships further.”

Centrick

Property management specialist David Clark has joined Centrick as non-executive chairman to support the company’s service driven, national growth strategy.

Clark is well known across the property sector and was until recently chair and co-owner at Mainstay Group, a national residential leasehold and mixed-use asset manager based in Worcester.

He said: “I’m hugely excited to be joining Centrick, which is a fantastic business. I have known founder James Ackrill for some time and we come from a similar business background.

“I owned and managed Mainstay and we had a fast growth story and the company was very successful. I think Centrick can be even better. It is a great brand, it’s full of great people, and it was exciting to be asked to come and work alongside James and the management team to strategically deliver exceptional service.

“The next few years is going to see this business kick on to a national size and presence. It has all the right ingredients to succeed and has a very strong leadership team and that is half the battle.”

Johnson Fellows

Newhall Street-based Johnson Fellows LLP has bolstered its commercial agency team with the arrival of highly-experienced commercial property specialist Richard Bache.

Bache has joined as a partner, having worked in Birmingham and the Black Country over the past two decades for companies including Bulleys, Cushman & Wakefield and, most recently, Pennycuick Collins where he was associate director.

He brings to the Johnson Fellows LLP agency team a wealth of experience in all aspects of commercial property including sales, lettings, acquisitions, valuations, rent reviews and lease renewal. As a partner in the commercial agency department, working alongside Chris Gaskell and Mark Fitzpatrick, he will deal with all aspects of marketing for lettings and sales, as well as search and acquisition work.

He said: “I am thrilled to have joined Johnson Fellows to work with well-respected professionals across all property sectors. The firm has such a wellestablished reputation built on hard work and professionalism. It’s a great opportunity for me and I’m looking forward to dealing with a whole range of properties for existing and new clients.”

Welcoming Richard to Johnson Fellows, partner Chris Gaskell said: “Richard’s knowledge of all aspects of commercial property will be invaluable to the agency team.”