Appointments: Lawyers who are moving up the ladder

Paul King in corporate, Emlyn Hudson in construction and Giles Searby, who works in dispute resolution, have been promoted to partner level in the Sheffield office.

Andrew Carmichael in real estate and Nathan Buckley in regulatory, both become associates while Lisa Walker has been promoted to head of costs.

Nicola Loadsman joins the team as a partner in dispute resolution, following a decade with Nabarro, where she was a partner for six years.

Digital marketing firm Chapter Eight has appointed three new members of staff.

Jamie McGrath is a search specialist, Jess Wilkinson is PR manager and Helen Cross is junior web designer at the Leeds-based firm.

Carter Jonas is expanding its planning department with the recruitment of two senior planners.

Stephen Courcier and Emma Cruickshank have joined the Harrogate office to help handle the increasing workload.

Ms Cruickshank is a member of the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) and previously worked for Spawforths in Leeds

Mr Courcier is also a member of the RTPI and has made his first move in to the private sector, having previously worked for Selby Council and most recently Wakefield Council.

DLA Piper has strengthened its real estate offering with the appointment of planning lawyer Michael Pocock to its Sheffield office.

Mr Pocock, who has been working between the firm's Manchester and Sheffield offices for the last two years, is now permanently based in Sheffield in response to a continuing demand for specialist planning advice.

Working for both public and private sector clients on issues including complex planning applications and appeals, compulsory purchase orders, highways issues and judicial reviews, he has advised on high profile regeneration schemes including the planning agreements for the 300m redevelopment at Chesterfield Waterside.

Specialist IT provider Blue Chip has appointed Colin Macandrew as a senior project consultant.

Mr Macandrew will be based in Leeds where he will work with new and existing clients as well as participate in sales work.

He joins Blue Chip with more than nine years' experience as senior technical architect.

His experience in server and desktop virtualisation, Microsoft technologies, Citrix and storage area networks has seen him design and implement new technology for many business sectors, such as local government, education, corporate firms and charities.