SOLICITORS Darling and Stephensons has welcomed two new members of staff to its successful house purchasing and sales team.

Tricia White and Martin Waters have joined the Darlington office to expand the firm's growing share of the house sale and purchase market.

Mrs White has joined the firm as a conveyancing executive working alongside colleague Justine Wardle. Originally from West London, she now lives in Darlington having moved to the area two-and-a-half years ago to be closer to her grandchildren.

Mr Waters, from Ripon, joins the firm as resident conveyancing solicitor, following a legal career which has seen him working in the legal department of Scotland Yard.

The firm, with offices in Darlington and Barnard Castle, provides a property service in both areas.

Partner Philip Stephenson said: "Our share of the house purchase and sales market has increased due to our team's commitment to quality, client care and value for money. The expansion of our team will enable us to deliver an even better service to our clients."

* Commercial law firm Robert Muckle has added two new members of staff to its team, with the arrival of Pam Loch as an associate in its employment group, and Ava Madon as an associate in the property services group. Before qualifying as a lawyer, Mrs Loch worked as a technical consultant for pensions in Scottish Equitable's legal department where she qualified as an associate of the Chartered Insurance Institute.

She is dual qualified as a lawyer in Scotland and England and Wales, and has great experience in all aspects of contentious and non-contentious employment law as well as conducting Employment Tribunals. Mrs Madon joins the firm from CMS Cameron McKenna, in London, where she dealt with a range of commercial property work, in particular acting for investment funds on high value investment purchases and for national retailers and supermarkets on pre-lets and site acquisitions. She has also dealt with the property aspects of large transactions such as the Channel Tunnel Rail Link.

* Pubmaster, the UK's leading independent tenanted/leased pub company, has appointed two experienced non-executive directors to the board of Pubmistress, the group's holding company. Adam Mills qualified as a chartered accountant in 1966 and was a partner in the accountancy firm Spicer and Pegler for 11 years, latterly heading its corporate finance division. He is executive chairman of the sporting surfaces technology company TurfTrax Group, a director of Platinum Fund Managers and non-executive chairman of IFX Group, the financial trading and spread betting company. Roger Lane-Smith is executive chairman of DLA (formerly Dibb Lupton Alsop), the professional legal services firm. He has extensive corporate finance and mergers and acquisitions experience, and is a non-executive director of sports goods retailer JJB Sports , industrial/defence contractor MS International and national service retail chain Timpson. He is also a council member of the CBI.

* Leisure operator Vimac has recruited a new member of staff to their head office team. VickiI Hollinshead has joined the company as PR and marketing manager. She will be responsible for all marketing activity and will handle public relations for the business. She brings with her experience in both the brewing and retail industry, spending almost three years at Federation Brewery before moving on to Durham Pine.