Steve Alabaster, former territory sales manager at Ernest Doe and Sons’ Esher branch, has joined Ipswich-based grounds machinery maker Ransomes Jacobsen as a regional sales manager - golf, responsible for the southeast of England.

Reporting to UK and Ireland sales manager - golf Nick Brown, he will be tasked with managing sales of products from Jacobsen and related golf brands through a dealership network that includes Bartrams Ltd, PA Turney Ltd and Ernest Doe and Sons.

On leaving school, Steve joined Barclays Bank, before joining the golf team at Wentworth Golf Club as assistant caddy master. After a couple years at Wentworth he left and joined ITS Trac, one of the largest specialist suppliers of undercarriage components for large tracked plant machines. He spent 15 years in machinery sales before joining Ernest Doe in 2009 in his territory sales role.

Nick said: “Bringing experienced talent into the business is a key focus for us and Steve’s background in commercial sales, at both ITS Trac and Ernest Doe, will enhance our ability to meet and exceed customer expectations. He also knows our product offering extremely well, from his time at Doe’s Esher branch and is highly competent when managing the sales process. We wish him well.”

: :Ipswich-based construction firm SEH French has taken on Jacob Read as estimator.

Jacob, who has worked at R G Carter and R&D Construction, holds a degree in quantity surveying and has completed his Certificate of Higher Education Construction.

His role will include sending out enquiries to relevant sub-contractors, taking external factors into account such as location, potential issues and creating a programme for the works.

Director Simon Girling said: “As the team grows, so does our workload and pricing competitively for tenders and projects is a process that we cannot afford to make mistakes in.

“Jacob’s experience so far and the knowledge he will pick up from more senior team members means that we will be able to productively handle the higher volume of estimates that we are experiencing.”

Jacob said: “I’m really pleased to be joining the team. Everyone has been so welcoming so far and having successful priced and won two of my first three tenders, I will be delighted if the same level of success continues.”

: : University Campus Suffolk (UCS) has appointed a new member to its new executive team.

Professor Penny Cavenagh takes on the new role of dean of academic affairs.

The appointment is part of an academic management re-structure currently taking place at the Ipswich-based university, as it moves towards a new governance structure and gaining its own degree-awarding powers as part of the institution’s independence project announced last year.

In her new post, she will be responsible for a broad portfolio covering the full spectrum of academic activity, including teaching and learning, research, enterprise and international activity. As dean of academic affairs, she will be responsible for developing the academic culture and profile of the institution.

Penny said: “I am delighted to have the opportunity to engage with the academic community at UCS and influence its development as we move towards independence.”

Previously director of research and enterprise, she has a PhD in medical management, a masters degree in occupational psychology and is a chartered psychologist. She has also served as a non-executive director of Colchester Hospital University NHS Foundation Trust for 11 years. Penny is also a visiting professor of health enterprise at the University of East Anglia (UEA) and an honorary professor in the School of Health and Human Sciences at the University of Essex. She is currently academic adviser to the West Suffolk Clinical Commissioning Group.

She has a background in clinical management in the NHS, academic management in higher education and is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. Her research interests are in medical management and medical education. She has published and continues to publish in these fields.

She established Health Enterprise at UCS and was co-founder of the Suffolk Leadership Academy.

Provost Richard Lister said: “I am very pleased that Penny is joining our senior team. She has a wide academic experience and I am looking forward to working with her to bring about an innovative and exiting academic culture for UCS.”

: : Estate agent Fenn Wright’s Manningtree office is approaching its first anniversary with a new manager at the helm.

Tony Cathro, who joined Fenn Wright eight years ago and most recently worked in the Chelmsford residential department, takes over from Toby Spencer-Campbell.

Aged 41, Tony began training in residential agency in 1990 in Covent Garden. He has spent the last 20 years honing his expertise throughout Essex, joining the Colchester High Street branch of Fenn Wright in 2006. He is married with two children, and lives in Ardleigh.

Toby, who planned last year’s Manningtree launch, is to manage the firm’s innovative new-style property shop at Kesgrave on the outskirts of Ipswich.

Toby said the challenge of establishing the business on the east of Ipswich was “exciting”.