Gloucestershire business appointments

Gloucestershire business appointments round-up: August 2022

From a new MD at a fast-growing bookkeeping firm and a new team at Savills in Cheltenham, to a former marine made head chef at a family run river boat business and an addition to The Golden Valley Development team, SoGlos names some of the key Gloucestershire appointments for August, in partnership with Hooray Recruitment.

By Andrew Merrell | Published Wednesday 31 August 2022

SoGlos rounds up some of the key appointments in Gloucestershire from August 2022, in partnership with recruitment experts Hooray.

Peak holiday season made for a quieter month in August, but there were still appointments more than worthy of mention – including a new managing director at fast-growing firm BookCheck, a new associate director at a county architects, a former marine appointed head chef at English Holiday Cruises, and a new team at Savills in Cheltenham.

Robert Starnes – Roberts Limbrick

Gloucester-headquartered architects Roberts Limbrick has appointed Robert Starnes as an associate director at its practice.

According to the firm, ‘Rob brings many years of experience working across a range of sectors, including education, healthcare, sport and leisure, and master planning’.

Previously based in the South East of England, Starnes has 'led many projects through from design stages to completion' and is highly skilled in building information modelling software.

James Wetherall – BookCheck

Stroud-based outsourced bookkeeping with management information and payroll specialist, BookCheck, has appointed James Wetherall ACA as its new managing director.

Wetherall will work alongside the founding managing director, Anthony Pilkington, who becomes executive chairman of the fast-growing business.

Wetherall has been ‘a very successful new client manager’ for BookCheck since December 2021 and is a chartered accountant. Pilkington said the appointment 'will strengthen the management of the company and allow us to develop strongly’.

New team unveiled at Savills Cheltenham

Phil Bates, Iain Powis, Sarah Owen, Omer Basharat and Chris Jarrett

Savills Cheltenham has revealed a new-look team at its Cheltenham property sales and lettings business with several key appointments after what its head of office, Chris Jarrett, described as ‘a record year’.

Iain Powis now heads up the residential development sales team, moving from the Savills Oxford office; Phil Bates is named associate director to the residential sales team, joining from Hayman-Joyce in Broadway; Omer Basharat joins as residential development sales manager; and Sarah Owen as lettings coordinator.

Gethin Evans – The Golden Valley Development

Gethin Evans has been appointed to lead the communications and marketing team for what promises to be the major transformational project of the modern era for Gloucestershire – Cheltenham Borough Council’s £400 million-plus Golden Valley Development.

It is predicted that the scheme, on land to the West of GCHQ, will not just create a headquarters for the National Cyber Innovation Centre, but 12,000 new jobs, 3,700 homes, as well as new leisure facilities and open spaces.

Evans has worked for organisations including Chelsea Building Society and Robert Welch Designs Ltd, and on major campaigns such as British Sandwich Week and the PAPA Awards.

Emily White – Gloucestershire County Council

Emily White has been appointed director of quality, performance and strategy for adult social care at Gloucestershire County Council, joining the local authority from the Care Quality Commission (CQC), where she worked to improve performance and implement policy, digital and regulatory changes.

She has extensive experience of adult social care, having held several senior strategic and operational roles over the last 10 years and has been described by the council’s executive director, Sarah Scott, as ‘a huge asset’. White will take up her new role from Monday 31 October 2022.