Member Article

This week’s North East appointments

Simon Bartlett, Louis Bell-Proctor, Ian Butler & Paul Tailford, Advantex

Gateshead IT and communication provider Advantex , is targeting growth in core private and public sector markets following a number of senior appointments.

Advantex has made two major appointments to its sales team; Simon Bartlett and Louis Bell-Proctor have been appointed as account managers and Dave Cooling has been promoted to account manager.

Elsewhere, Ian Butler comes in as a new IT engineer, bringing over 15-years’ experience to the role, while Paul Tailford adds further to Advantex’s capabilities as a new infrastructure engineer with considerable expertise in network and infrastructure services.

The move brings the number of employees to almost 50 based at Advantex’s Follingsby Park head office and follows a new funding injection from the North East Angel Fund which will fuel investment in personnel, equipment, increased office space and the existing Data Centre offering.

Director Stephen O’Connell said: “We are strengthening the foundations to take us forward over the next phase of growth, and these appointments will be pivotal in achieving our ambitions and add real value to new and existing client services.

“All are experienced operators and will be major assets, able to hit the ground running with invaluable expertise and high quality skills. I very much look forward to working with them during these exciting times for Advantex.”

Norman Trainer, Surgo Construction

North East building contractor Surgo Construction has appointed Norman Trainer to its construction team.

Making a welcome return, Hexham man Norman Trainer has recently joined Surgo in the role of contracts manager, adding further depth and strength to its highly experienced team. He previously worked with the contractor in 1990s.

Mr Trainer, who has worked in the construction industry for more than 30-years, has extensive experience of working on healthcare projects among others and in his new role, will be responsible for overseeing the successful delivery of a number of projects currently on site across the region.

Managing director, James Walker said: “I am delighted to welcome Norman to the growing team at Surgo. We pride ourselves on our ability to recruit and retain high calibre construction professionals, who possess the relevant experience and skills to ensure our continued success as one of the north east’s most respected construction companies.

“With a number of new sites going live it is likely that we will create a number of new positions in the very near future.”

L-R Alice Allum, Sophie Butcher, Chris Dutton, Daniel Jackson (front) Rachel Thompson, Lisa Bean, and Rachael Heslehurst

Rachael Heslehurst & Rachel Thompson, Digitia

Seaham-based digital marketing company, Digitia, has appointed two new team members and promoted several other existing members in January 2015.

The company has welcomed account executives Rachael Heslehurst and Rachel Thompson to its Digital Team, following a series of new client wins.

Both new account executives will be responsible for supporting the recently promoted account manager, Sophie Butcher, in the delivery of digital marketing strategies to its clients in the region.

Rachael, who has a degree in Journalism from the University of Salford, will now be responsible for working with clients to generate sales and revenue growth through a mix of digital strategies.

Rachael said: “I’m really excited about my career at Digitia. I have been thrown in the deep end and already been involved in client meetings and account reviews. Digitia is so client focused and I can see there is a lot of opportunity for growth.”

Rachel said: “The demand for digital marketing has become increasingly popular due to the growth and popularity of the internet. I’m thrilled to be able to take my PR skills and transfer them online, as well as in traditional media.”

Founder and managing director of Digitia, Lisa Bean, said: “Hiring Rachael and Rachel was a key step in our 2015 expansion plan.

“With both of them onboard we can now produce higher quality content, more detailed SEO strategies, and provide a specialist PR service.

“We will be advertising new vacancies over the next quarter, starting with a graphic designer position.”

(L-R):Simon Britton, Hugh Fell, George White, Robyn Peat, Louis Fell, Andrew Entwistle, Ian Marshall, Richard Garland.

Robyn Peat, George F. White

North East land and property specialists George F White have announced that Hugh Fell is to step down as managing partner, to be replaced with partner Robyn Peat.

Hugh who joined the business in 1985 and became Managing Partner in 1995 will be retiring from the George F White Partnership with effect from 30th April this year.

Over the last 30 years Hugh has become a well-known figure in the rural and business scene. He has been fundamental in the growth of George F White, a nationally recognised firm, which now has a team of 120 and operates from 7 different offices from Duns, in the Scottish Borders, to Shiptonthorpe, just outside York.

Mr Peat paid tribute to the work done by Mr Fell: “Hugh has worked tirelessly with energy and enthusiasm to build the George F White business to what it is today. He has laid the foundations to ensure continued growth and longevity of the business.”

“We have a team of excellent people and the future of the business is exciting. Operating in the land, property, and business sectors we offer a diverse portfolio of services from Planning and Development, Architecture, and Estate and Portfolio management to Energy projects, and Business Strategy and Management, and we will continue to grow and deliver innovative solutions by understanding the potential of our team and the needs of our clients.”

Sarah Glendinning, CBI

CBI has appointed Sarah Glendinning as regional director in the North East.

Sarah joins the CBI from Nigel Wright Consultancy, the Newcastle-based global recruitment firm, where she was an executive search consultant focused on recruiting at senior management, director and non-executive levels throughout the North of the UK.

Sarah has been actively engaged in diversity and developing talent and skills throughout her career.

Sarah said: “I am delighted to have been appointed Assistant Regional Director in the North East.

“The area has a rich diversity of firms, and I’m looking forward to working with Dianne Sharp and the CBI North East team to create the right environment for them to thrive in, and to make sure that our strong business voice is heard, both regionally and nationally.”

Dianne Sharp, CBI North East Director, said: “I’m excited to have Sarah alongside me in this role. Having grown up and spent a large part of her career in the North East, she is well placed to represent the region’s business interests. Her experience in boosting the profile of women will be particularly welcome amongst the business community.”

Claire Sharp, Northumbrian Water

Claire Sharp has been appointed customer director for Northumbrian Water to lead the company’s service to its 4.5 million customers in the North East and in Essex and Suffolk.

She succeeds Ian Donald who has moved to the new role of market reform director as the water industry looks towards the full introduction of competition for all business customers by 2017.

Claire, who lives in Weardale, County Durham. has extensive experience of the water industry and customer service.

She started her career with the then Northumbrian Water Authority in 1986 as a distribution technician helping to deal with customer inquiries.

Claire now heads up a directorate of over 600 employees and is spearheading the company’s continued drive to deliver excellent service. “Our vision is to provide unrivalled service to every one of our customers and the communities we serve,” she said.

“We provide essential water and sewerage services and our customers rightly expect those services to provide exceptional value for money and be of a consistently high quality. We regularly listen to our customers and make sure our services reflect what’s important to them. We are already industry leading in many areas such as interruptions to supply and have made significant improvements in other aspects of customer service.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ellen Forster .