The latest Bondholder appointments and promotions

Timms Solicitors, Stepnell and Calm in a Box are among the latest Marketing Derby Bondholders to announce new appointments.

Timms has announced that Sophie Wildsmith has joined its wills and probate team.

Sophie takes up the post with immediate effect after joining an in-house trainee solicitor programme with the firm last year.

A year earlier, she worked as a conveyancing assistant at the firm’s Burton office and gained vital experience in this area too.

Before joining the business, Sophie graduated from Nottingham Trent University with a first-class law degree in 2021 and attained a distinction in her Legal Practice Course and Masters of Law at the University of Law in 2023.

Charlotte Day, head of wills and probate at Timms, said: “We are always thrilled when a member of the team qualifies as a solicitor after joining one of our trainee programmes.

“We would like to welcome Sophie to the team at the Swadlincote office and thank her for her hard work and dedication.

“Our firm has a solid reputation for serving our local community, and thanks to staff like Sophie, we continue to grow and develop.”

Construction partner Stepnell has bolstered its regional capabilities with the appointments of Tania Knowles as business development manager for the North West and David Hughes as pre-construction manager for the East Midlands.

Tania brings 38 years of experience over a variety of disciplines, including business development across construction, with a proven track record in building strong client relationships and delivering strategic growth both within construction and consultancy.

David brings more than 27 years in construction that includes a number of senior pre-construction roles, with the most recent being at Kier.

He has overseen projects on a number of public sector frameworks, with value ranges from £500,000 to £50 million and covering all sectors including health, education, defence, custodial and decarbonisation.

In his new role, he will focus on further strengthening Stepnell’s pre-construction offering for its clients, developing new relationships and ensuring a collaborative approach to project delivery.

He said: “Stepnell strikes an appealing balance between governance and agility that enables its team to focus on delivering value for its clients, which really attracted me to the opportunity.

“I’m looking forward to building on our strong foundations through expanding framework opportunities in the East Midlands while supporting wider growth including in the North West.”

Finally, Calm in a Box has welcomed Bhavna Jain, who has joined the firm to help continue academic research on how its ‘CALM’ model helps leaders and teams slow down to go faster for more great days at work.

Bhavna is an experienced advertising professional with 15 years in client leadership roles and is now completing her MSc in Occupational Psychology at the University of Nottingham.

Over the next two months, she will focus on reviewing and mapping the evidence underpinning the CALM model, which guides the firm’s work in helping teams and leaders find work/life brilliance.

Bhavna said: “Having spent years in the fast-paced corporate world, I’ve seen first-hand how a CALM approach is essential for people to perform at their best.

“I’m really excited to be part of a project that blends my past experience of building brands with my future aspirations of creating thriving workplaces.”