pro∙manchester welcomes new directors

Financial and professional services organisation pro∙manchester has announced the following new directors to the board:

Ann Alexander
Ann was founding and managing partner of nationally renowned clinical negligence law firm Alexander Harris, which she merged with Irwin Mitchell in 2006. Through her new business Alexander Macdonald LLP, Ann specialises in delivering media and other communications training for businesses nationwide. She also provides business development advice for a broad range of businesses across the North West and sits on the boards of three national charities and pro∙manchester’s communications committee.

John Allen
John is chairman of Barclays commercial bank. He is also non executive of Barclays Wealth for the north of England and works in an advisory role to promote the team’s external profile. He has been with the firm since 1971 and has held a number of key positions during this period, including serving as assistant general manager for private banking in Switzerland, based in Geneva.

David Brierley
David has spent almost 25 years in Manchester’s insurance market and established Bridge Insurance Brokers Ltd’s specialist environmental unit in 2001 after a career in underwriting and commercial insurance management. As a regular speaker throughout the UK, David takes every opportunity to showcase the thought leadership which exists in our city region. He is an active member of pro∙manchester’s skills group and serves on the Northern Board of the Investment Property Forum.

Austin Hutchinson
Austin is a founding partner of Mutual Financial Management LLP, a wealth management and independent financial advisory firm in Didsbury. He has 10 years financial services experience and holds the Advanced Financial Planning Qualifications. He also attained the MBA Prize as the top performing MBA student. Austin chairs the corporate steering group for Manchester charity Five Stars Scanner Appeal and has been a member of pro∙manchester for three years. He has been a membership committee member for the past 12 months.

Philip Kenny
Philip is a chartered surveyor with 30 years experience in construction. He is an executive director of Sanderson Weatherall, based in the Manchester office, and heads up the building consultancy team. He is particularly interested in continuing professional development and is currently training a team of commercial energy assessors. During his 15 years working in Manchester, Philip has been an active member of pro∙manchester.

Steve Sankson
Steve is regional director at The Royal Bank of Scotland in Manchester.  He heads up the bank’s commercial operations across Greater Manchester and South Lancashire, a role which involves managing six commercial banking centres and more than 200 staff.  Steve and his teams provide funding solutions to businesses across the region with a turnover of £1million to £25million. 

Alex Solk
Alex is an associate and sustainability team leader at Sheppard Robson and provides support to projects in developing their sustainable design credentials. He received a major commendation as a future leader, from Emap Construct, in an industry search of more than 400 entrants earlier this year and the 29-year-old is also the youngest member of the senior management team at his firm’s Manchester office. He is chairman of the future pro∙manchester group.