A BUSINESSiQ round-up of the key moves at influential companies around the North East - who’s in and who’s out

 

Newcastle Building Society

Newcastle Building Society has appointed Iain Lightfoot to head up its financial advice business.

Iain Lightfoot has joined the Society to become Managing Director of Newcastle Financial Advisers’ which provides accessible advice on investment, retirement, inheritance tax planning and protection advice across the North East, North West and North Yorkshire.

  • To get your tickets for the BUSINESSiQ Awards, CLICK HERE

With 32 years’ experience in financial services and advice, Iain has held senior roles with some of the UK’s most well-known banks and building societies, including Skipton and TSB, and joins Newcastle Financial Advisers’ having spent the last five years leading accountancy firm Armstrong Watson’s financial planning team.

Iain said: “At a time when consumer finances are feeling the pressure of rising inflation and the increased cost of living, it’s important that people feel their money is working hard for them, and that they’re able to easily access face-to-face financial advice that’s personalised, authentic and reliable.

“I’m passionate about providing the right environment and culture to deliver financial advice of the highest quality, and working in collaboration with Newcastle Building Society colleagues we’ll continue to deliver on our purpose of connecting our communities with a better financial future, building meaningful, long-lasting customer relationships.”

FW Capital

FW Capital has strengthened its North East Property team with two new appointments. Chris Dixon joins as Senior Investment Executive and Lewis Blakelock as Assistant Investment Executive.

Both will support local property developers with development funding to bring forward commercial and residential development projects. This includes the recently launched £35million North East Commercial Investment Property Fund which is managed by FW Capital and backed by the North East Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP). It aims to address the funding gap in the market and drive economic growth and create new jobs in the North East LEP area.

Prior to joining FW Capital, Chris had a career spanning 25 years with Allied Irish Bank (GB). In his role as Head of the Newcastle Business Centre, he managed a team and mixed portfolio of sectors with a strong specialism in property development and prior was Head of the bank’s Property team.

Before joining FW Capital, Lewis spent 2 years in commercial and residential portfolio management with over five years senior management and leadership experience. He has a first class honours, Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Entrepreneurial Business Management with a level 5 CMI Diploma in management and leadership.

DPP Planning

DPP Planning Associate Director Jen Patterson, has recently been appointed as North East Chair of the Royal Town Planning Association.

Read next:

The RTPI is an international professional body for town planners with more than 27,000 members in 88 countries, responsible for maintaining professional standards and is accrediting world class planning courses both in the UK and interna-tionally.

Jen, who is based in DPP’s Newcastle office, one of five offices run across the UK, has spent more than a decade in the planning sector.

She said: “At DPP we believe that greater collaboration across all areas of the property sector is vital to faster, effective decision-making and I will be bringing that focus to this role.”