Appointments

Richard Yearnshire - who spent three years at the five-star Hyatt Hotel in New York - joins the old York city centre venue as its head chef at the closing stages of a major £7.5 million refurbishment programme.

And one of the aims of the 32year-old, who hails from for the North East and has worked in the catering industry for 15 years, is to create an eating experience "that will appeal to the residents of York and beyond".

Richard said: "Attracting diners to eat in a hotel restaurant is a challenge in itself. But this is exactly what we want to do here at the Royal York.

"We have some very ambitious plans for the restaurant - and of course the food that will be served in it. What we want to create within the hotel is a restaurant that the people of York, and beyond, will want to come to and dine.

"I have a fantastic kitchen brigade here and they are determined to deliver the finest and most creative dishes in the city, using local produce wherever possible."

Mr Yearnshire's first job was in his native Newcastle-Upon-Tyne as a junior chef in a city restaurant.

He then moved to the city's Holiday Inn in 1993, where he spent two years running a section within the kitchen.

In 1997, Richard moved to New York to take up the position of second chef at the Hyatt Hotel, where he developed and widened his cooking skills in classic French, Arabic, Lebanese, Caribbean, English and Chinese.

For the last three years, Richard worked as head chef at the Hyde Imperial Hotel, where he took it from not having any Rosettes to two under his kitchen management.

Richard said: "I learned an awful lot in New York in terms of kitchen management, international cuisine, menu planning and budgeting, and it's this experience that I bring to the Royal York."

Tony Furlong, the Royal York Hotel general manager, said: "He has a wealth of experience, plenty of enthusiasm and a real desire to create something new, exciting and unique at the Royal York."

KEVIN Jones has been appointed managing director of Foremans Relocatable Building Systems, the supplier of pre-owned modular buildings and part of the York-based Shepherd Building Group.

Previously operations manager for sister company, Yorkon, Mr Jones joined the Shepherd Building Group in 1981 and has 25 years experience in the modular building and off-site construction sectors.

In his new role, he will continue to develop Foremans' business in the health, education, construction and commercial sectors, for both sales and hire. He will also oversee ConstructionSpace - Foremans' new web-based service to supply construction companies with pre-owned modular accommodation on a site-to-site basis.

He said: "Foremans is the UK's largest supplier and purchaser of pre-owned modular buildings. We have ambitious plans to grow the business and are well placed to meet new industry challenges such as the revised building regulations to be introduced next year.

"We believe pre-owned modular buildings have a significant role to play in sustainable development, offering an environmentally sound alternative to the demolition and disposal of a building in landfill sites. The recycling of modular buildings minimises wastage and energy consumption, and allows other organisations in both public and private sectors to benefit from the speed, quality and safety of off-site construction."

Steel-framed modular buildings are supplied in single and multistorey configurations, and can be refurbished and reconfigured for a wide variety of uses, including self-contained offices, classroom blocks, laboratories and hospital ward accommodation.

Foremans also buys modular buildings which are surplus to requirements, and will undertake the safe dismantling and removal operations with the minimum disruption.

THREE new appointments, including a promotion, have been made as part of an expansion by York-based commercial lawyers, Denison Till.

Family lawyer Nina Banerjee, who joined the firm in 2002, has been made an associate in the family law department, where she specialises in divorce and separation cases, particularly where children and large assets are involved. She also advises on the legal and financial implications of co-habitation.

Commercial property lawyer Kathryn Dean has joined the commercial property department from national law firm Addleshaw Goddard, Leeds. She has particular expertise in landlord and tenant issues and in asset management work.

Kevin Mockett has also joined the commercial property department from Keeble Hawson, Leeds. He has a broad range of experience in commercial property matters, including asset management and landlord and tenant work.

Andrew Lindsay, Denison Till's commercial department partner and head of practice development, said: "The economy in York and North Yorkshire is continuing to do well.

"We are seeing a lot of new instructions from a wide range of corporate, commercial and private clients who value the advice they receive from Denison Till. It is particularly encouraging that we are winning instructions from many North Yorkshire-based clients who previously thought they had to go to Leeds for high-quality legal advice."

Denison Till has 13 partners and eight departments covering commercial property, corporate and commercial, commercial litigation, construction, employment, ecclesiastical, family and private capital, all of which are quoted as centres of excellence in nationally-recognised legal directories.