CONTINUED high demand from the building industry has led to the appointment of DAVID BOWMAN as general manager of timber specialist Palgrave Brown, in Darlington.

Mr Bowman is a chartered surveyor with an MBA from Durham University and has extensive managerial experience in the construction industry.

Palgrave Brown's Darlington operation, in the Yarm Road Business Park, produces more than 50,000 roof trusses a year and employs 20 staff.

The business plays a key role in Palgrave Brown's £62m national operation.

Mr Bowman said: "We have a skilled and very productive team at Darlington and we will be looking to grow the business even further to ensure its long-term success."

* Metro Radio has recruited LIZ SANDS. The 25-year-old, from Hartlepool, has joined the station as an account manager. An economics graduate, Ms Sands has worked in the media since leaving Northumbria University.

* Lloyds TSB Corporate has continued its expansion in the North with the appointment of STEVE BOND as relationship director North East. Mr Bond has worked for the Lloyds TSB Group for 30 years in a number of areas, including the bank's retail, small business and corporate divisions, as well as spending time in head office on financial control and two years as a lending officer. For the past ten years he has been providing financial services to wholesale customers.

* Chartered accountant and business advisor Clive Owen and Co has made two appointments in its owner-managed business support department in its Darlington office. TIM BAKER joins the firm as a qualified team member and CLAIRE McGEE joins as a trainee. Mr Baker, from Stockton, Teesside, joins the practice from a smaller firm of accountants on Teesside. Miss McGee joins the company from Queen Elizabeth's Sixth Form College, in Darlington.

* Swinburne Maddison Solicitors, of Durham, has made a series of appointments. STEPHEN KETTLEWELL, who specialises in criminal and civil litigation, has become one of the youngest partners in Swinburne Maddison's more than 100 year history. KATH HILL, legal executive advocate, has been appointed to lead Swinburne Maddison's five-strong family law department. She has worked for the firm for more than 14 years. Adding further expertise to the family department is JANE FRENCH, a solicitor who gained childcare experience working for Durham County Council.

* PricewaterhouseCoopers has appointed MARTIN HODGSON as head of indirect tax at the firm's North-East tax advisory practice. He joins PricewaterhouseCoopers from Deloittes, where he was a director in its Scottish indirect tax practice. Before that, Mr Hodgson was with Andersen for ten years, including six years at its Leeds office where he qualified as a chartered Accountant.

* PARMINDER BADHAN has joined the litigation group at Eversheds as assistant solicitor, from Ricksons, in Manchester. Mr Badhan specialises in commercial litigation and intellectual property work. Before working at Ricksons, Mr Badhan trained at Taylor Wessing and studied law at King's College, London.

* Fabriam Technology Business Centre has appointed LINDA CROWE as events manager for its Conference and Creative Thinking Space, in Wallsend. From Manchester, Mrs Crowe has a BA in German. She moved to the region in 1997, joining microchip manufacturer Atmel as one of its first employees.

* Bishop Auckland-based chartered accountants, Mitchells Grievson has promoted KEVIN FISHER to the position of corporate client manager. He joined the practice in 1997, and has since qualified as a chartered accountant.

* DEBBIE ALLINGHAM has moved from Newcastle College to City of Sunderland College, where she has become business manager. She was previously project development manager at Newcastle College, and has more than 12 years experience in further education. In her new post she will play a key role in ensuring that the college delivers commercially focused and tailored training packages to businesses across Wearside.

* Property consultant Knight Frank has appointed MARK PROUDLOCK as a commercial surveyor at their Newcastle offices. Mr Proudlock, 29, who was born in Hexham, studied music before taking a management degree at the University of Surrey. He moved back to the North-East to join TNL, a technology business, where he worked on economic development projects, managing developments in Hexham and Barnard Castle. While working on these projects, he studied for an MSc in real estate management which he completed last year.