Issue 4 | Page 38

WEAR BUSINESS

APPOINTMENTS

children safeguarding advice to NHS trusts and academies , along with being a member of Resolution ( an organisation made up of family lawyers committed to resolving family disputes ), the Local Family Justice Board and the Law Society ’ s Children ’ s Panel .
KAREN EVE , THE BRIDGES The new centre director of Sunderland ’ s showpiece shopping centre the Bridges has revealed a mystery ambassador helped convince her to take up her new role .
Karen Eve recently took over the top job at the centre after years of experience in property management which led to her winning a number of prestigious awards .
And she disclosed that the final clincher in coming to Sunderland was the support she got from an unexpected quarter .
“ I came to look around the city because I didn ’ t really know it at all ,” said Karen .
“ As I was walking around I got chatting to a community police officer and he said he would show me around .
“ He was a fantastic ambassador for the city . He showed me the Auditorium next door to the Fire Station , the Vaux site , Minster Park and lots of other areas across the city centre .
“ I felt so welcome and I realised that Sunderland was obviously a city on the up .”
Karen joins the Bridges from Teesside , where she oversaw the running of the Castlegate and Wellington Square shopping centres in Stockton-on-Tees and Captain Cook Square Shopping Centre in Middlesbrough , along with two multi-storey car parks and a business centre .
Karen is hoping to bring some of her biggest passions to Sunderland , including placemaking and working closely with local community organisations .
CASSANDRA SPENCELEY , RICHARD REED SOLICITORS An award-winning solicitor-advocate , recognised for her dedication in representing children and young people , has returned to her Wearside roots .
Cassandra Spenceley has joined the team of specialist children panel lawyers at Sunderland ’ s Richard Reed Solicitors and will also be taking up a seat on the board as a non-owner director .
That means the firm will be able to significantly increase specialist services in its family law department .
The appointment is a return to the city where Cassandra first trained for a legal career , before moving on to work on Tyneside with one the region ’ s top law firms . She is a specialist in safeguarding issues involving children and is regularly instructed to represent children and young people in the Family Court in what are often complex cases about their welfare .
At the same time Cassandra has provided
STEVE WALMSLEY , JOHN CONWAY , CRAIG MARTIN AND SALLY PIETRYGA – PFF GROUP Manufacturer PFF Group has made four key appointments at its Washington site following a contract win to produce PPE for the NHS .
The contract from the Department of Health and Social Care will see PFF manufacture 360 million disposable polythene aprons .
The company has invested £ 2m in new equipment and created 100 jobs to deliver the contract .
John Conway has been appointed general manager of the plant and production manager Sally Pietryga has been promoted to site operations coordinator and data capture manager , while shift managers Craig Martin and Steve Walmsley are promoted to shift production managers .
Washington-based PFF is one of the UK ’ s largest independent food packaging manufacturers , providing packaging solutions to supermarkets , multi-national food manufacturers , food service and fresh produce companies across the UK .
JOANNE REGAN , AZETS Azets , the UK ' s largest regional accountancy and business advisors to SMEs , has promoted Joanne Regan to regional managing partner for its North-East offices .
The firm says the key appointment demonstrates Azets ' commitment to growing the business in the region .
Azets has offices in Sunderland , Crook ,
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