Newcastle Building Society has appointed Amanda Shepherd as group chief operating officer. Ms Shepherd joins from Hargreaves Lansdown, where she was chief operating officer. Before that she spent 26 years at Barclays where she led various retail, SME and operational services across the North. She will be leading the operational support and technology functions across the Newcastle Building Society group.
Ms Shepherd said: “I’m thrilled to be joining the executive leadership team at Newcastle Building Society at an exciting time on our journey of growth. The Society’s strategic priority and focus on creating value for members and communities is so unique and I’m looking forward to getting started and begin helping to shape the Society’s future.”
Andrew Haigh, chief executive officer at Newcastle Building Society said: “The appointment of Amanda as chief operating officer is a key step on our programme of strategic change, and how we structure the executive leadership to match our wider ambitions for growth. I’m delighted to welcome Amanda to the Society. Her leadership, expertise and vision align perfectly, and will help deliver our ambitious future as part of our purpose to connect our communities with a better financial future.”
Neil Kennedy has been appointed regional managing director for the North East arm of Robertson Construction. (Image: Robertson Construction) Neil Kennedy has been appointed regional managing director for the North East arm of Robertson Construction. Mr Kennedy has been with the company for over 15 years, and his promotion comes following the retirement of Garry Hope who has been the managing director of Robertson Construction North East since 2016.
In his new role, he will hold overall responsibility for the North East construction business including the management and overseeing of preconstruction, construction, and aftercare on all projects.
In recent years he has worked on notable projects such as construction of the Day Treatment Centre at Freeman Hospital, the Melia hotel on Newcastle Quayside and the refurbishment of Spanish City in Whitley Bay.
He said: “Robertson Construction North East is going from strength to strength having built a reputation for repeat business and excellent quality. It’s an honour to take on the managing director role from Garry Hope. I share his keen focus on building relationships with our clients and supply chain partners, and look forward in continuing to grow the business and deliver for our customers.”
Some of the new appointments at Sanderson Weatherall with head of office, Kevin McGorie. (Image: Sanderson Weatherall) Property Consultancy Sanderson Weatherall has made nine new appointments at its Newcastle office. The firm has made new appointments across its agency, architecture, building consultancy, rating and valuation departments.
The new arrivals include Amy Lamming in agency, Abbie York, Zhana Kokeva and Tasmiya Naseer in architecture, Matty Stewart and Sarah Foster in building consultancy, Ellie McNicholas and Richard Sowerby in rating and Emma Williams in valuation.
Kevin McGorie, head of office said: “It is an exciting time for Sanderson Weatherall in Newcastle and I’m delighted to see so many talented surveyors and architects joining the team as we enter a new phase of growth. We have a highly ambitious team in the region who are focussed on growing the business across all sectors. These appointments are key to our plans and each one of them is already proving to be a real asset to the team and our clients. As a company, it is our priority to foster a collaborative and dynamic workplace where everyone can thrive, and having so many new faces in the team has been a fantastic boost in achieving that.”
Andrew Mason, (left), operations director at JK Lifting Equipment, with James Bright, managing director. (Image: Crest Photography) JK Lifting, the engineering and lifting firm, has appointed Andrew Mason as its new operations director. Mr Mason has taken up the role at JK Lifting following 26 years at energy technology company Baker Hughes. As operations director he will oversee all operational processes and systems at JK Lifting, including HSE, QA systems, process efficiency and auditing. He also has extensive experience in people development, having completed a BA Hons in leadership management.
Mr Mason added: “My focus is on ensuring that the business is in the best position possible to grow. We have a fantastic team here at JK Lifting, working on a range of innovative projects, and I’m looking forward to collaborating with my new colleagues to lift us into an even brighter future.”
Jonathan Yates, managing director at Howarth Litchfield, with four new recruits (Image: Angela Carrington/The Bigger Picture Agency Ltd) Durham architecture practice Howarth Litchfield has made four new appointments. Ezz Maya joins as an architectural assistant with experience gained across the Middle East and UK, Juan Lopez is a Part II architectural assistant, Oscar Anderson, who graduated with a First-Class BSc Building Surveying degree, joins the building surveying team, and Abbie Burnside joins the interior design team.
Managing director, Jonathan Yates said: “I am delighted to welcome this fresh group of talented people who all bring different skills to the team and assist us in strengthening our offer to our increasing number of clients.
“We continue to see growth across all disciplines and because we can provide such a breadth and depth of expertise, we are incredibly busy at the moment with a raft of work underway in conservation architecture, hospitality, student residential, industrial, healthcare, education and commercial projects.”