Suzanne Booker
Suzanne Booker has become the interim chief executive for Gloucestershire-based Lilian Faithfull Care, taking over from long-serving ceo Martin Hughes, who has stepped down after 12 years.
Booker has worked for the Cheltenham-headquartered charity for 27 years, leading the organisation's Astell House, St Faith’s and Faithfull House, before taking on the new role of director of care eight years ago.
She is also co-chair of the Gloucestershire Care Providers Association and a recent winner of the 2022 Natalie Bonner Award, for her dedication in the health and social care in the county. Booker will also continue in her role as director of care.
Simon Smith
South West property consultancy Alder King has elected Simon Smith as its senior partner. He will take up his new role from 1 March 2023.
Smith joined Alder King in 2005, becoming an equity partner in 2019 and joining the senior management board in 2020.
The new senior partner-to-be heads up the firm’s residential development and energy teams, having established the energy specialism in 2013 and built it into a market-leading service. He has also been involved in some of the south west’s most significant land transactions for clients including UWE and BAE Systems.
Rob Ellis
Zesta Planning has made number of announcements, not least Rob Ellis becoming a director alongside Oliver Rider and James Griffin at the Cheltenham-based firm.
Ellis said: ‘Zesta Planning has been steadily growing year on year in line with our business plan since inception in 2019, and 2022 has been markedly our best year yet.
‘As a result, we have needed to grow the team to meet client demand and reward existing hardworking employees for their ongoing dedication and expertise.’
Other appointments include the promotion of Kelly Prosser to senior planner and two new staff, John Hinett and Katrina Whittle.
Paul McAninch
Mactaggart & Mickel Group, which has its regional offices in Cheltenham, has appointed a new chief executive officer to oversee its south west investment programme
Paul McAninch takes the job as the group looks to invest significantly in its south west portfolio of strategic land, which already includes 22 sites totalling 1,891 acres.
The investment is part of a wider plan that will include growing the Scottish-headquartered group’s total English strategic land revenue by £33 million over the next five years. It also aims to invest £8 million in new energy efficient private rented homes, as part of a programme to increase the value of its portfolio from £71 million to more than £100 million by 2027.
Simon Stanbrook
Boutique Cotswold hotel, Wild Thyme & Honey, has appointed Simon Stanbrook as its new general manager.
Stanbrook will be responsible for the day-to-day running of Wild Thyme & Honey and adjoining pub The Crown at Ampney Brook.
He joins the business from The Frogmill, near Cheltenham, where he was general manager in charge of a team of 50. His CV also includes The Swan Hotel in Bibury, The George Hotel in Cheltenham and The Manor House hotel in Moreton-in-Marsh.
Simon Thorp
The recent appointment of Huw Warren as sales director at Gloucester Rugby in October has just been made official at Companies House, which flagged up another name to join the ranks of the famous club.
Simon Thorp, who joined the club back in June 2022, has been officially acknowledged by Companies House as a non-executive director.
Thorp is the founder of Onside Law, which specialises in sport, fashion and entertainment industries, and whose clients include England Rugby, Heineken Champions Cup, ECB (England and Wales Cricket Board) and European Tour Golf.
Dr Jonathan Hobson
University of Gloucestershire’s Dr Jonathan Hobson, associate professor of social sciences, has been elected to a national organisation that champions the positive impacts of restorative practice in preventing harm or conflict.
Dr Hobson, from the university’s school of natural and social sciences, has been appointed to the board of the Restorative Justice Council in recognition of his extensive research and expertise within the field of restorative justice and restorative practice.
He will help to shape the organisation’s national strategic direction. He is also part of its national research advisory group and policy and communications working group and sits on the all-party parliamentary group for restorative justice advisory board, alongside his university colleague Dr Anamika Twyman-Ghoshal, and as a board member for Restorative Justice.
Bob Holt
Well-known Gloucestershire business leader Bob Holt OBE has become the interim chief operating officer for Revolution Beauty, based in Kent.
Holt takes the reigns after executive chairman, Tom Allsworth, and Adam Minto, chief operating officer, voluntarily agreed to step away from the day-to-day management of the business to support the independent investigation being carried out by Forensic Risk Alliance and Macfarlanes.
Holt, former chairman of SureServe Group plc, Totally plc and Mears Group plc, will not be a director of the company and will report directly to the group board.
Vasiliki Lambrou
Well-known Cheltenham-headquartered lawyers Sherbornes Solicitors has announced Vasiliki Lambrou as a paralegal at the firm.
Lambrou is fluent in both Greek and English, and can also boast a smattering of Russian. The former University of Gloucestershire student was a part of MEDIMUN in 2017 and 2018, a simulation of the United Nations for students.
Tom Ellis
Solicitors Lodders has appointed its first-ever general counsel, Tom Ellis, who is already a partner in the firm’s risk and compliance team and has been a senior associate at the firm since 2019.
Lodders, which has office in Cheltenham, has an estimated 170 staff and 28 partners, says it is one of only a handful of independent UK law firms of its size to have a full-time in-house general counsel.
Paul Mourton, managing partner, said: ‘Compliance and regulation play an increasingly important part in the legal sector and appointing an in-house general counsel is central to the firm’s risk and compliance agenda and strategy.’
