Manchester law firm strengthen their offering with new recruits

North West law firm, Bermans, who have offices in Manchester and Liverpool, have recently appointed two new recruits in their employment and property departments in line with plans to build on their presence in these areas in Manchester.

Stephen Chalcraft, the first of the recent new recruits joined the firm as a partner in the property department.

He has over 20 years of experience dealing with a wide range of commercial property matters, with specific expertise in complex commercial development and regeneration projects.

Stephen was chair of Pro Manchester’s regeneration and property group for over 12 years and is now a member of the Greater Manchester Chamber’s property and regeneration steering committee.

One of his areas of focus will be the education sector, in particular to exploit his existing links and expertise in the areas of estate management, construction, property, partnering and outsourcing/commercial contracts.

Another focus area will be the housing sector, specifically housing associations and development work for private housebuilders.

The second of the new recruits, senior associate Rob Maddocks, has previously worked for industry recognised legal providers, including an employment law boutique firm in Manchester.

Rob has acted for a wide range of clients ranging from OMB’s to large national and international companies, however he has a particular focus on owner managed SME’s.

He is a regular contributor to national publications and has had articles appearing in People Management and The Telegraph.

As well as working with clients, Rob will also be focusing on developing the firms recently launched employment law website, Praesidium.

The website was recently redesigned to create a more modernised and user-friendly experience, giving HR professionals access to an extensive library of HR and employment law advice and templates.

As well as this, Rob will be rolling out the firms training packages which are designed to assist SME’s and HR individuals on broader subjects such as discrimination, recruitment and disciplinary issues, and more specialist areas such as whistleblowing and sub-conscious bias.

Phil Farrelly, partner at Bermans said “We are delighted to welcome both Rob and Stephen to Bermans and are confident that their experience and know how will bring many benefits for our client base and the firm.

We are always on the lookout for like-minded lawyers who share our culture and are looking for a different working environment. We believe our hard work in recent years has given us a strong platform for the future.”