Rebecca Reeves promoted to the board of directors at Dacre, Son & Hartley 

Rebecca Reeves, a human resources (HR) professional with more than 17 years’ experience, has been promoted to the board of directors at Dacre, Son & Hartley in Yorkshire.

Reeves has worked for Dacres for four years as its HR manager. Before that she worked in both the private and public sector for a range of businesses including Johnson and Johnson, Bupa and the Freight Transport Association.  Last year, she also became the compliance support manager at Dacres. Rebecca completed her CIPD qualification at Huddersfield University in 2010 and became a Chartered Member of the CIPD in 2012. Since then, she completed IOSH Safety for Directors and Executives in 2019 and IOSH Managing Safely in 2021.

Reeves said: “I have overall responsibility for HR and Health and Safety across the firm, delivering people management and wider business improvement solutions that have a positive impact on business performance. I am incredibly passionate about the role I undertake at Dacres and enjoy supporting all 117 members of our team and working with them to develop their full potential.

“In the four years I have been with Dacres, I have thrived on every challenge put before me and I am incredibly grateful to be offered such a fantastic opportunity. Dacres is a thriving business, with a great team, that is committed to delivering great service to our clients.”

Patrick McCutcheon, head of residential at Dacre, Son & Hartley, added: “Since Rebecca joined us, she has focussed on change management initiatives, including recruitment and retention, policies and procedures, health and safety compliance, learning and development, and employee engagement strategies.

“Rebecca plays a very important part in our business and in her new role, she will ensure we focus on recruiting and retaining the best talent in Yorkshire, as well as supporting our team and board to achieve its commercial objectives.”

Fine & Country branch opens in Cambridge

Business partners Francis Plant and Allan Harrison have opened a Fine & Country branch to complement their existing property auction firm in the east of England.

The new branch, which will be managed by Elizabeth Hammond, will specialise in the sale of properties throughout London and the East of England.

Plant said: “We knew we needed the force of a capable and recognisable brand behind us be able to break into the upper quartile of the Cambridge property market. The move into the Fine & Country brand will enable us to reach more prospective customers than ever before.”

Fine & Country Cambridge is operating from Milton Hall, located on the outskirts of the city just a few short miles from the newly operational Cambridge North Train Station.

Plant added: “With our territory stretching from the London commuter belt in the south of the city right the way up through the cathedral city of Ely and the ‘home of horseracing’ in Newmarket, our client base is very broad. We are lucky enough to serve people from all walks of life looking to buy or sell with Fine & Country.”

Nicky Stevenson, managing director of Fine & Country UK, commented: “Francis joins the network with the kind of motivation and ambition we strive for within Fine & Country. He has a sound business model and endless opportunities ahead of him with the Cambridge territory. I look forward to watching him and his team achieve great successes with the brand.”

Irwin Mitchell announces new senior associate appointments

Law firm Irwin Mitchell is expanding its property division with the recruitment of three new senior associates to its Northern office teams.

Jill Crawford is joining the Planning and Environment (P&E) team, Sarah Swann the real estate transactions team, both primarily based from the Manchester office and Thomas Freeman is joining IM’s national Real Estate Disputes (RED) team and will be based in the Sheffield office.

The new appointments take Irwin Mitchell’s property division to 28 partners and 150 qualified lawyers. Both P&E and RED sit within Irwin Mitchell’s Property Division. P&E is now a team of ten and RED a team of 20.

Crawford, who will split her time between Irwin Mitchell’s Manchester and Birmingham office, joins from BLM where she was a senior associate in the Environment and Regulatory team.

Swann has joined Irwin Mitchell’s Manchester office from Knights in Manchester. She joins the transactional team, which recently recruited Stelios Coutsavlis as a new partner, also from Knights.

Freeman has also joined from Knights PLC. He has considerable experience in all forms of property litigation but has particular expertise in landlord and tenant matters.

Adrian Barlow, partner and director of legal services, real estate at Irwin Mitchell, said: “All three new joiners are a great addition to our property team and will enhance the firm’s real estate offering in the north and around the country.”