Ensors business recovery and insolvency team has announced that David Scrivener has been granted an Insolvency Licence, having previously passed the Joint Insolvency Examination Board (JIEB) exams in March 2013.

David becomes the second member of the Ensors team to become a licensed appointment taking IP, along with Mark Upton.

Mr Upton, head of the Ensors business recovery and insolvency team, said “David has been an important member of our team for some time now and I am delighted that he has achieved the status of a fully licensed insolvency practitioner.

“His skills and contacts as a successful corporate finance specialist complement the role of an IP very well and provide an added dimension to the services we offer as a team.

With his expertise and experience he is able to offer many options to avoid formal insolvency, where possible, including refinancing and the sale of distressed businesses.

: : Law firm Thompson Smith and Puxon (TSP) director Stephen Firmin, who is head of the commercial property team, has become a Fellow of the Agricultural Law Association (FALA) having successfully passed the Fellowship examinations.

The ALA is a forum for professionals serving agriculture – solicitors, surveyors, accountants, bankers, farm business consultants and others – to support each other in their specialisms and is for those with more experience of working in the law of agriculture and the countryside.

Stephen joins TSP consultant solicitor, Graham Wilson, who is already of Fellow of the Association. Together Stephen and Graham advise the firm’s agricultural clientele in connection with property, as well as related commercial questions.

The team has extensive technical expertise in the handling of commercial and agricultural land and property acquisitions, disposals and related development transactions such as option and pre-emption agreements.

Stephen said: “I am delighted to have been awarded the Fellowship of the Agricultural Law Association. The Association plays such a very important role in bringing together leading practitioners in rural affairs from across the UK and Europe and provides excellent academic support to its Fellows and Members. As a practice TSP holds an annual Agricultural Law Workshop at its Colchester Office, hosted by Geoff Whittaker of the ALA, to which our fellow professionals serving local agriculture are invited. This year we anticipate this will take place in early summer, when hopefully Geoff will be in a position to update us on the ongoing implementation of the CAP reforms.”

: : Christopher Pigram of EA law - East Anglian Chambers has been appointed as a district judge. With a degree in music and initially a professional orchestral musician for some years Christopher was attracted to a career in the law, was called to the Bar in 2000, appointed to the Attorney General’s List of Counsel for the region in 2007 and as a deputy district judge in 2010. A civil practitioner with particular expertise in employment and costs law, the 2010 edition of the Legal 500 recommended him as “an unassuming but immensely effective advocate who should blow his own trumpet more often”.

Christopher will be sworn-in as a judge at the Royal Courts of Justice by Mr Justice Newton, former head of EA Law - East Anglian Chambers, who oversaw the early years of his legal career. He will be based at Bow County Court.

EA Law - East Anglian Chambers are barristers providing expert legal advice and representation in courts and tribunals to clients on a national basis. It has a team of around 50 lawyers with extensive experience in a range of legal specialisms and offices in Ipswich, Norwich and Chelmsford, representing clients all over the country.

: : Tim Mead has been appointed as managing director (MD) of automation consultancy GB Innomech (Innomech), of Witchford, Ely, and takes over from retiring MD David Beale, who remains as company chairman and to provide engineering and operational advice as required. Tim was previously commercial director and will now oversee all operational activities, as well as the consultancy’s business development programme.

Tim Mead and Innomech’s senior management team will provide a seamless transfer for clients and staff as they are already managing most aspects of the business, including all major client relationships and projects. The management change is the final stage of a succession plan that was started two years ago when David Beale decided to work part-time, enabling him to spend more time pursuing other interests on his approach to retirement.

One of David’s key achievements outside of Innomech has been to build a replica E2H Percival Mew Gull monoplane that was completed and flown for the first time last year. David started with some structural drawings, a few components, a de Havilland Gypsy Queen 1 engine from 1936 and the ambition to build a replica Mew Gull as it was raced when Charles Gardner won the 1937 King’s Cup air race. The resulting plane has been hailed as ‘a remarkable feat’ and has helped David secure two major awards from The Vintage Aircraft Club: the Desmond Penrose Trophy for ‘Vintage Aeroplane of the Year’, and the George Davidson Cup for David’s enduring contribution in helping to keep vintage aircraft flying.

David Beale founded Innomech in 1990 and has helped to establish one of the UK’s leading automation consultancies with a reputation for automating some of the most complex and challenging manufacturing processes. The company develops equipment for product assembly and test in sectors such as aerospace and pharmaceutical.