KATIE Moreton has joined regional law firm Ashton KCJ’s agriculture and estates team in Bury St Edmunds as an agricultural solicitor.

Katie qualified as a solicitor in 2009 and specialises in all areas of agricultural law, with a particular interest in agricultural tenancies. Her wide ranging experience includes dealing with the sale and purchase of farms and estates, farm diversification projects, wind farm planning inquiries and equine law. She also has significant experience of working with pension providers, particularly in the sale and purchase of commercial and rural property.

Katie will be based at our Guildhall Street office in Bury. Following Katie’s appointment and the recent appointment of Alex Butler-Zagni in Norwich, the agriculture and estates team has grown to 13.

Jonathan Long, head of agriculture and estates at Ashton KCJ, said: “We are delighted to welcome Katie. Her experience will be a huge asset to the team, which has gone from strength to strength. It is a great pleasure to be growing the team across the region through the appointment of two talented and dynamic lawyers.”

: : SALLY Everett has been appointed as the new deputy dean of Anglia Ruskin University’s Lord Ashcroft International Business School.

Dr Everett joins from the University of Bedfordshire, where she was previously the head of the department of marketing, tourism and hospitality, and will oversee all aspects of quality management and the student experience within the business school.

Her research interests include food and drink tourism, rural tourism development, and visitor management and heritage interpretation. Dr Everett is currently writing a book for SAGE Publications on food and drink tourism and has given a number of keynote speeches about how this can be used to regenerate regions and sustain communities.

Recent research projects include an Esmée Fairbairn Foundation grant for ‘Developing food tourism: Delivering social, cultural and environmental sustainable development in rural regions and communities’; a grant to develop a tourism marketing strategy for Bedfordshire and Luton; and she led a government-funded project to develop online teaching materials for the travel sector.

Dr Everett had previously led a number of research projects in tourism and transport research at the University of the West of England, where she also completed her PhD and MA in tourism management.

Dr Everett said: “I’m passionate about the student experience and I’m really looking forward to working with new colleagues at the Lord Ashcroft International Business School as we embrace new challenges and opportunities.

“I have been deeply impressed by the commitment shown by Anglia Ruskin in developing and delivering the best possible opportunities and experiences for all of its students.”

: : SARAH Furniss has been appointed to the dispute resolution team at Essex law firm Thompson Smith and Puxon (TSP).

Sarah, who was admitted as a solicitor in 2010, was raised in Peterborough before taking her law degree at Leeds Metropolitan University. Since her qualification she has specialised in commercial and civil litigation and also undertaken employment work; she is looking forward to building on her experience with TSP.

Mark Cooksley, head of dispute resolution at TSP, said: “On behalf of all at TSP I should like to welcome Sarah to the firm. Her appointment will strengthen further the highly-qualified and talented dispute resolution team which we have here at TSP, and we wish her every happiness in her new role with us.”

: : IPSWICH-based medical device research specialists Creative Medical Research (CMR), recently identified as one of the fastest growing medical market research companies in the UK, has strengthened its hand with the appointment of Alper Hulusi as research director.

Primarily a qualitative specialist, Alper has extensive high profile experience across both the public and private sectors.

Having been in the industry for over 16 years he is looking forward to the challenge of driving research activities at CMR, which is based at Great Blakenham.

“The research CMR carries out within the field of medical devices plays a vital role in improving the working lives of health care professionals, and the lives and treatment of millions of people across the world. I’m delighted to be involved in such an important area of market research,” he said.

Managing director George Ashford said: “Having worked on some very exciting projects for some of the UK’s top agencies, Alper is a valuable addition to our growing team. He brings with him significant expertise across a range of techniques and will strengthen CMR’s offering in both the qualitative and quantitative service areas.

“He has established a strong reputation for undertaking high quality research amongst a diverse range of populations. With a keen focus on methodological rigour, his strengths include researching ‘sensitive issues’, vulnerable respondents and minority communities as well as senior professionals in government, healthcare and commercial settings.”

: : EAST Anglian finance company Credo Asset Finance has recruited Lee Weeding as its first ‘Agreed Finance’ sales representative for Suffolk and North Essex.

Ipswich and Norwich-based Credo Asset Finance launched specialist service ‘Agreed Finance’ earlier in the year to help car dealerships secure more finance deals from business customers.

A previous Black Horse and Close Motor Finance employee, Lee’s responsibilities will involve building relationships with car and van dealerships across Suffolk and North Essex and arrange finance on behalf of their customers.

It is estimated that dealerships lose an average of £25,000 per year each due to car finance agreements falling through. Within the first two months of launching, Credo Asset Finance signed up 20 dealerships and has now signed a further 75 dealers since Lee started.

Managing director Simon Gray said: “I am really pleased to have Lee on board. He makes a great addition to our team and his strong background makes him perfect to help dealerships and their customers.

“We are very proud to offer our service to help dealerships across Suffolk, North Essex and Norfolk.”

: : LIZ Chidgey is joining Essex Cares as managing director. She brings a wealth of experience in health and social care that will aid the organisation, based in Chelmsford, to develop and grow further.

Liz currently is Essex County Council’s acting executive director for adult social care. She has performed a variety of roles all with an emphasis of leadership development, and ensuring customers can take increased control over the way their needs are met.

Essex Cares chairman Anthony Jackson said: “Liz is a very experienced high performing manager in the adult social care business and we are very pleased to bring her knowledge and energy to the benefit of all those we provide services to.”