STEPHEN Mannock has been appointed as general manager of the innovative new Edge Hotel School and Country House hotel based at Wivenhoe House in Colchester.

Stephen, who has more than 20 years’ hands-on experience as a manager in the hospitality industry, will take up the post in November. He becomes the first industry professional appointed to the historic country house hotel which is currently undergoing a �10million refurbishment before opening in late spring 2012.

Stephen is currently programme director for the National Skills Academy for Hospitality. For the past three years, he has chaired the waiter judges in the Young Chef Young Waiter of the Year competition. He is also a judge in the Nestle Toque d’Or competition for colleges and the Academy of Food and Wine’s Restaurant Manager of the Year competition.

SPECIALIST pig vet Ricardo Neto MRCVS has joined MSD Animal Health as pig business unit technical manager. He will lead the company’s technical customer support and be responsible for its comprehensive and expanding range of porcine veterinary products.

Ricardo moves to MSD, which is based in Milton Keynes and has clients in Suffolk and Norfolk, after three years as technical manager for swine products at Merial Animal Health. A member of Pig Veterinary Society and the American Association of Swine Veterinarians, his has extensive experience of pig production, both technical and applied.

A very ‘hands-on’ vet, Ricardo qualified from the University of Tras os Montes e Alto Douro in Portugal in 2004, and moved into general veterinary practice. He came to the UK in 2005 as company vet for breeding company ACMC before moving to Yorkshire-based pig practice Holmefield Farm Services as a veterinary consultant. He was in practice here until 2008 and gained a valuable insight into the disease challenges faced by UK pig production units and the strategies needed to help producers maintain and optimise productivity and performance.

Ricardo has a particular interest in Porcine Circovirus (PCV2) and has been involved with a number of collaborative projects investigating the debilitating effects that PCV2 has on breeding herd and finishing pig performance and has published several scientific papers on the subject.

NATWEST has appointed Paul Wilson to the position of director, commercial banking, for its offices in Chelmsford and Romford.

Paul takes on responsibility for running the commercial banking operations in the area - which supports businesses turning over between �2-25m. He is responsible for a team of 12 managers across the two offices.

JANE Potter of the Beatons Group, a regional accountancy firm and registered auditor based in Felixstowe, has qualified as a Chartered Certified Accountant after passing her ACCA exams in August this year. Jane joined the firm straight from school in 2005 and achieved first time passes throughout all her AAT and ACCA exams.

Stephanie Hammond (ACA, FCCA), Director at the Beatons Group said: “We are delighted for Jane and extremely proud of her achievements as a member of our team. Her commitment to her work has obviously paid off and this has been reflected within our firm as she has recently been promoted to client manager.”

IPSWICH-based Eastern Angles Theatre Company are delighted to welcome Matthew Linley as its new general manager.

Matthew Linley cut his teeth as an arts venue manager running the Michael Tippett Centre in Bath and Phoenix Arts in Leicester where he oversaw the development of the new capital build Phoenix Square.

Since moving to the eastern region Matthew has had a busy freelance career working for a range of clients including Arts Council England, the hub, the BBC, Dartington and EM Media.

Matthew said: “As someone who has always been interested in words and new writing and the relationship between arts companies and place the opportunity to work for Eastern Angles was one I had to grab.

“With four new plays opening in the next six months and an ambitious project with Vivacity, Peterborough’s Cultural Trust, called Forty Years On to launch, it’s a very exciting time to be joining the company.”

RICHARD Jones has been appointed as mill administrator by specialist feed supplement manufacturer, Ufac-UK. This is a management trainee position for Richard, who will be based at the company’s Woolfox Mill at Oakham in Rutland.

He brings to the company particular skills in IT, modern communications and business management. Having gained degrees in computer science at University Campus Suffolk and Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge, Richard also studied Cisco Networks, the system that designs and sells consumer electronics, networking, and voice and communication technology.

He then gained further practical experience at Covergence Communications, Cambridgeshire, as senior engineer/ICT manager, where he was involved in installing and overseeing communications systems as well as providing technical support for customers and engineers.

Richard, the son of the company’s managing director, Robert Jones, lives at Cowlinge, near Newmarket, where his spare-time hobbies include squash, keeping fit and following motor sport.

“Skills in communications technology are becoming increasingly important for the successful operation of all types of business,” said Robert Jones.