Movers & Shakers: Philip Hoddell becomes president of Suffolk & North Essex Law Society

Philip Hoddell, who is head of the firm’s private client department, has previously held the posts of vice president and honorary secretary with the society, and been involved in SNELS for more than 20 years.

He takes on the role of president for one year to represent local solicitors at a regional level, and to help to promote the interests of the area’s legal firms to the national Law Society.

The 50-year-old from Colchester said: “It’s a real honour to be chosen to represent the many lawyers in the Suffolk and North Essex area.

“The law society was founded in 1825 and exists not just to help lawyers but to help clients receive top-quality advice by making sure that their legal representatives are always aware of the ever changing nature of UK law.

“I’m looking forward to my year in office, and will be hoping to have a positive influence on the work of other lawyers in the eastern region as well as encouraging our profession to work together to better serve our clients.”

Birkett Long has offices in Chelmsford, Colchester and Basildon.

: : David Prince has been announced as the new chief conciliator at the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (Acas).

Mr Prince was previously Acas eastern area director based in Bury St Edmunds, before being promoted to become Acas regional director for London, East and South East in 2011, and is a very experienced mediator and conciliator.

In his previous role, he had overall responsibility for dispute prevention and resolution during the 2012 London Olympic and Paralympic games and is credited with helping secure a virtually dispute-free games.

Acas aims to help unions and employers resolve their workplace disputes through its free and impartial collective conciliation service.

The chief conciliator is head of the profession and leads on high profile and large scale disputes.

Acas chair Brendan Barber said: “I am delighted that David Prince has been appointed as our new chief conciliator.

“He succeeds Peter Harwood who has given outstanding service assisting in the resolution of countless difficult disputes.

“David’s wealth of experience in employment relations with both employees and employers will be invaluable in his new role.

“David had overall responsibility for dispute prevention and resolution during the 2012 London and Paralympic games. His strategic role and his team’s hard work ensured that the games remained dispute free.

“Research has shown that our collective conciliation work brings a very significant benefit to the economy, assessed as £76 for every £1 spent.

“This is because of the potential impact when disputes are not resolved.”

David said: “I am very pleased to be taking on this role and to build on Peter Harwood’s excellent work during his time as chief conciliator.

“For over 35 years, Acas has been helping to resolve workplace disputes and we have a success rate of about 90% where parties either settle through us or go back into direct talks.”

During 2013/14, Acas was involved in more than 850 national and regional disputes and assisted employers and unions in a wide range of employment sectors. This included high profiles cases such as Royal Mail and the London Underground.

: : Duncan Bateson, an apprentice with Ipswich-based Bartram Mowers, has scooped the Service Dealer 2014 Apprentice of the Year award.

The announcement was made at the annual Service Dealer Awards held this year at the Beaumont Estate, Windsor.

The award was presented to Duncan by Lutz Volknandt, managing director of sales Europe at Briggs & Stratton.

: : Ipswich-based digital and creative agency White Space has strengthened its digital team with the appointment of Nick Woolnough as digital planner.

Nick joins another recent addition to the team, Ben Johnston, who joined the company earlier in the year.

Nick said: “The way in which White Space has grown as a digitally-driven creative agency was a real attraction for me.

“Tying together all of our fantastic online and offline services into tailored marketing campaigns that match the needs of each client is an interesting challenge and one that I’m thrilled to be a part of.”

: : Suffolk Community Foundation has welcomed Tim Holder as its new development director.

Tim, who was born and brought up in Suffolk, began his career at the East Anglian Daily Times before migrating to Times Newspapers in London.

He went on to hold senior roles in a variety of marketing and communications agencies and then for several years led the UK division of an international charity where he co-created World Hunger Day - an international day of action against hunger and poverty.

Suffolk Community Foundation chief executive Stephen Singleton said he was “delighted” that Tim was joining the team.

“He brings a wealth of experience that will be a great asset to us as we develop the next phase of the foundation,” he said.

Tim said: “I’ve always called Suffolk home and kept in close contact with this part of the world. I’m particularly thrilled to be joining the charity at such a pivotal moment in its development.

“Finding sustainable funding for our truly exceptional voluntary and grassroots organisations across the county will be an enormous privilege for me.”

: : Site manager Derek Ratcliffe has scooped the small builder award for the eastern region at new home warranty provider NHBC’s 34th annual Pride in the Job Awards.

Derek, of Landex Living, was picked from around 15,000 site managers across the country, and was one of five recognised at a ceremony held at the Athena in Leicester, winning the Small Builder category for his Park Gate site in Ipswich.

He is shortlisted for the competition’s Supreme Gala Final in January next year, where the national champions will be announced.

NHBC regional director Richard Hartshorn said: “The NHBC Pride in the Job Awards are the most sought after accolades in the industry, recognising site managers that build high quality homes.

“Site managers play a critical role in delivering any project, being responsible for overseeing everything that happens on site from start to finish.

“Derek is building some of the very best houses in the UK, demonstrating consistently high standards, and is in the top half a percent of his profession.

“Anyone buying a home built by one of our winners’ can do so with confidence in its workmanship and quality.”

Derek said: “I like to think I’m fairly easy going, which I believe gets the best out of other people you work with. It’s really encouraging to be recognised for all the effort we as a team put into our buildings and keeps our standards high.”

Derek, an industry veteran, has a career which spans 41 years, after starting out as an apprentice carpenter in 1973.

: : James Monk joins the expanding team at Gipping Construction, based in Baylham, Ipswich, as a quantity surveyor.

James has a wide range of experience in surveying. He has previously worked on large refurbishment projects in West London, managing sub-contract packages and general sub contract procurement work.

James has worked in the industry for more than 15 years and knows the area well. He is currently working on a refurbishment project in Wickham Market for Flagship Housing and various educational establishments.

Commercial director Andy Laflin said: “We are pleased that James has joined us. He will make a significant contribution to our commercial team.”

James enjoys football, cycling and playing the guitar.

“This is an exciting opportunity for me and I am thrilled to join such a well respected company,” he said.

: : Ensors Chartered Accountants has renewed its commitment to training staff for the future by recruiting 15 new student accountants this year to its offices across Suffolk and Cambridgeshire.

Senior partner Robert Hatch said: “We have a long history of successfully training and developing our student accountants.

“Many have come straight from school or university and are keen to start their accountancy careers with a large regional firm.”