Lunio
Experienced Nick Morley has joined fast-growing Manchester MarTech Lunio as board chair. Lunio works by identifying and removing invalid users such as bots, fraudsters and competitor traffic across marketing campaigns. Morley brings over two decades of experience in the marketing and advertising industry. CEO Neil Andrew described it as a ‘massive appointment’.
PraeSeed (Praetura Ventures)
Jessica Jackson has been tasked to lead Praetura Ventures’ new programme that focuses on deploying equity investment into early stage businesses in the North. The programme is called PraeSeed and will run over five years and look to invest over £6m into 35 start-up businesses.
She said: “Anyone who knows or has worked with me over the years, will know I am a fierce advocate for early stage businesses, and I understand how difficult it is to get funding if you’re a Northern founder. This difficulty is compounded if you’re at pre-revenue stage, but have a great idea or an MVP. So we’ve built PraeSeed. It’s not an accelerator – it’s cohort investing.”
KPMG
Jonathan Holt has been re-elected as chief executive of KPMG UK for a second term until September 2029. He said: “We continue to build an innovative, forward looking firm, which puts what we deliver for clients at the heart of everything we do. I am excited to deliver the next chapter of our strategy for our firm, where I’m lucky to work alongside amazing people every day.”
Northcoders
Manchester-based tech training provide Northcoders has appointed Sarah Byrne as its new HR director.
Par Equity
Edinburgh-based venture capital firm Par Equity has made five key hires across its Scotland and Yorkshire offices. In Yorkshire Sunny Nagi joins as senior investment manager and Elizabeth Young as investment manager. They’ll be working with Giles Moore in the Leeds office helping to support Par Equity’s investment activity in Yorkshire and the north of England. In Scotland, Patricia El-Jichi joins as investment manager, alongside investment analysts Clara Baltay and Oliver Johnston-Watt.
Turing Innovation Catalyst Manchester
Experienced CTO David Turner has joined the Turing Innovation Catalyst Manchester AI Accelerator as Entrepreneur in Residence. He said: “I’ve already witnessed the incredible progress of startups committed to AI solutions for climate, health, and generative AI and it’s great to be a part of the mission.”
Skyrise
Paul Barnard has started a new position as CEO at Manchester data agency Skyrise.
Saffery
Simon Kite, a partner of Saffery, has been appointed to the accountancy firm’s leadership board.