Seamus Clifford has become one of Essex law firm Ellisons Solicitors’ three managing partners.

Seamus joined Ellisons in 1996 as a trainee solicitor, qualifying into the corporate commercial team in 1998. In 2000, he left to join the London corporate finance team at Berwin Leighton Paisner where he remained until 2006 working primarily within the highly regarded hotel, leisure and restructuring teams.

He re-joined Ellisons, which has offices in Colchester, Clacton, Dovercourt, Frinton and Ipswich, as a partner and head of the corporate commercial practice in 2006.

Senior partner Guy Longhurst said: “I am delighted that Seamus has agreed to join the management team and Graeme Wallington, Tim Logan and I all look forward to working with him.”

: : EALaw/East Anglian Chambers said farewell in December to consultant clerk Celia Monksfield. Celia spent 51 years in the legal profession in London and East Anglia and has seen many changes in the legal sector. This includes the introduction of direct access to barristers whereby the general public can instruct a barrister directly without the need to first use a solicitor.

Celia’s wealth of clerking knowledge will be very much missed by her colleagues at chambers. Celia began her career as a junior clerk in Pump Court, progressing to senior clerk in Goldsmith Chambers and then as chambers director in the chambers of Richard Ferguson QC. Celia is a vice president of the Institute of Barristers’ Clerks and a trustee of the Barristers’ Clerks Benevolent Fund. She was the first female clerk to chair the institute conference in the year 2000.

: : Financial and business advisory firm Grant Thornton has further strengthened its East Anglian private client team with a new senior appointment.

Paul Harris joins the firm as a private client director having accumulated more than 20 years’ experience with other leading national firms in the South East and London. Paul specialises in landed estates, family wealth preservation, trusts, non-domiciliaries and advising professional partnerships. He also works with entrepreneurs.

In his new role, Paul, who is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Accountants in England and Wales and a chartered tax adviser, will focus on building the firm’s offering across East Anglia and the wider region.

“I am delighted to join this fantastic, client-focused team in a firm which has an outstanding reputation, and look forward to helping further grow the business over the coming months,” he said.

James Brown, practice leader for Grant Thornton in Suffolk and Essex, said: “As part of Grant Thornton’s overall growth strategy, both across the region and nationally, we are investing in our private client team and Paul’s appointment represents a key part of this. The team has gained an excellent reputation based on the strong personal relationships built with clients and with Paul now on board, we are sure this will strengthen further.”

: : Lloyds Bank Commercial Finance has has boosted its teams in the East of England, West Midlands and the South East in an effort to continue raising awareness of alternative funding streams and grow its market share.

New regional director for East Anglia Matthew King joins from Lombard after a 22 year career in asset finance. He will work with mid-market businesses with turnover of £25million to £100m in a wide range of industries across Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire and Essex.

Matthew said: “My focus will be on developing new opportunities and bringing new customers to Lloyds Banking Group whilst also maintaining existing asset finance relationships.

“Lloyds Bank Commercial Finance is market leader in the asset based finance industry and I am pleased to be joining a highly-experienced team.”

: : A former European martial arts champion has been appointed as manager of The Edge health and fitness club, based at Bedford Lodge Hotel & Spa in Newmarket.

The hotel, recently upgraded to four red stars by the AA, is undergoing an investment of £350,000 in upgrading its leisure facilities.

Alan Stanford, a former Tang Soo Do and Tae Kwan Do champion, said: “This is an exciting time to join The Edge.

“The new facilities are going to be fantastic and the members are really going to enjoy The Edge coming into a new age.

“The Edge will look great with brand new equipment that only one other club in the UK has. I want to bring the members the best service, expertise and experience possible. I will also be adding an exciting new programme of activities and classes, to help all members achieve their goals.”

Alan, 27, is a REPs level 3 personal trainer and a qualified sports massage therapist with six years’ experience in the leisure industry and fitness management.

Noel Byrne, chief executive of Bedford Lodge, said: “To have someone of such high calibre join our team is absolutely fantastic.”

: : Bedford Lodge Hotel and Spa has also appointed Tiffani Barrett, 24, as a wedding planner.

Tiffani, from Brandon, is already an established event co-ordinator having previously worked in Cambridgeshire. Now she is using her skills to create the best day in the lives of people as she helps plan for the moment they tie the knot.

“I’m used to dealing with weddings, conferences, private parties and Cambridge May Balls, but I particularly love weddings,” she said.

“I really love the build up to a wedding – being organised, helping the bride and groom create their perfect day from start to finish.” Tiffani said the luxury venue was one of the reasons she applied for the role: “It is a beautiful venue – one I can really get behind and push to its full potential.”

: : Essex marketing firm Focus has welcome four new graduate recruits to its team.

Jack Cripps, Gabby Froud, Alex Thomas and Faith Bishop join the company, based at Feering, between Witham and Colchster.

Managing director and co-founder James Mercer said the new team members, who join a 45-strong team, can look forward to a “great future”. “If you look at our employees there are many who joined as new grads and who have gone on to become integral parts of our team.

No better example of this is Sarah Wilson, our client services director, who rose from a reception role over a 10 year period,” he said.

Jack Cripps is a graduate in fine art from Liverpool Hope University, and Gabby is a first class graduate in business and management from the University of Essex.

Alex spent the year since his graduation in media and communications at the Nottingham Trent University working for a digital agency which specialised in doors. Faith is a recent graduate with a BSc in events management.

: : Entrepreneur, economist, author, broadcaster and leading expert in emerging markets Jerome Booth, has been appointed the new chair of governors at Anglia Ruskin University.

A resident of north Essex and keen amateur musician, Dr Booth is a council member of the Royal Philharmonic Society, director of the Britten Sinfonia, chair of the Fitzwilliam Museum Development Trust and a trustee of the Essex Community Foundation.

Dr Booth, who replaces outgoing chair of the board of governors Lord Tomlinson of Walsall, said: “It is a great privilege both to succeed Lord Tomlinson, who has worked tirelessly on our behalf at national and international level, but to also oversee the progress of such a forward thinking organisation as Anglia Ruskin University.

“The current climate in higher education is a challenging one but as our recent award for Entrepreneurial University of the Year shows, Anglia Ruskin is a university determined to be at the forefront of innovation and enterprise.”

Anglia Ruskin’s new deputy chairman is Nigel Brown OBE. Dr Brown has played a key role in business in Cambridge. He chaired the Greater Cambridge Partnership, co-founded the Cambridge Network and raised two venture capital funds aimed at hi-tech Cambridge-based businesses.

In 2007 Dr Brown won the Queens Award for Enterprise Promotion in recognition of his key role in the growth of the Cambridge Phenomenon.

He has served as a board member of the Cambridge Arts Theatre, as a patron of the Cambridge Music Festival and founded the Stradivari Trust.

Dr Brown has also served as chairman of Magpas, the emergency medical charity, and in 2010 he was was appointed as the High Sheriff for Cambridgeshire.