Member Article

This week’s North East appointments

Caroline Cockburn & Kayleigh Hepburn, O PR

Newcastle integrated PR, digital and creative communications agency O PR is continuing its growth plans with the appointment of two new faces to its team. Client account manager Caroline Cockburn, 27 and account executive Kayleigh Hepburn 23, have joined the Ouseburn-based agency, hot on the heels of being awarded the Gold award in the Outstanding Agency category at the CIPR PRide Awards in December.

Caroline brings with her a wealth of experience in consumer communications having worked with brands including Vango and P&G. She is a graduate of the University of Glasgow with an MA in French and Linguistics, and is fluent in French.

Caroline will work on PR, digital and creative briefs across a range of national travel and leisure accounts as well as working on a UK-wide brief to promote Northumbria University, Newcastle.

Caroline said “I have joined the agency at an exciting time as it celebrates its 10th year in business and is winning accounts with well-known consumer brands across the UK.”

Following her graduation from The University of Sunderland, where she gained a BA in Public Relations, Kayleigh has gained experience in public sector communications having completed a graduate internship at Northumberland County Council.

Kayleigh will now support the client services team across its consumer, B2B and community accounts, executing integrated communications campaigns and liaising with regional and national journalists and bloggers.

Kayleigh said: “O is such a renowned agency in the region and I’m really pleased to be taking my career forward there; already I’m starting to work with exciting regional and national brands in travel, leisure and food and drink sectors.”

O PR and Communications managing director Kari Owers said: “Caroline and Kayleigh bring with them the right experience, skills and enthusiasm for the sectors we work in, which will add significant value for our clients. They have joined us at an incredibly exciting time following a series of recent account wins and growth for the agency, and will be the first of several new appointments this year as we continue our recruitment drive.”

Ian Pratt, RMT Accountants & Business Advisors

RMT Accountants & Business Advisors is investing in extending the range of services it provides with the recruitment of a new commercial finance expert.

Ian Pratt has joined the Gosforth-based firm as a consultant, and will provide independent advice to its portfolio of client businesses, which range from sole traders and SMEs through to long-established major regional employers and international businesses

Ian has over three decades’ experience in the commercial finance industry, and has advised companies in every sector and of all sizes on how best they can address their working capital and investment requirements.

Ian Pratt says: “With the upturn in the economy, North East companies have been increasingly turning their attention to how they can maximise the development opportunities available to them, but my experience is that there’s a degree of uncertainty within many management teams about the financial options available to help them make this happen.

“RMT is a highly-regarded firm with a strong reputation across the region and an ambitious management team. It’s an exciting time to be joining the business, and having their name behind me adds even more weight to the negotiations I undertake with lenders and finance providers.”

Mike Pott, managing director at RMT, adds: “Many of our clients regularly ask us to look at the best ways for them to either raise capital or make best use of the resources they have. Ian’s expertise adds another dimension to the services we provide in this area.

“Because we’ve no tie to any specific lender, we are able to take a wholly independent view across the market, research everything that’s available and make recommendations that provide the best possible fit with clients’ requirements.”

Dave Kennedy, Chefs’ Academy

Newcastle College’s Chefs’ Academy has been fortunate to be joined by top chef Dave Kennedy.

The former North East Chef of the Year, who won acclaim through his work in restaurants such as 21 Queen Street, the Black Door, Food Social at the Biscuit Factory and most recently at Vallum Farm, joined the College at the start of February.

He will work with the College’s Professional Cookery and Hospitality students to bring the Chefs’ Academy to the standard of that of the country’s top commercial restaurants.

Dave developed his career as a top Chef working in several Michelin-starred restaurants in London. He was named North East Chef of the Year in 2007 and won a string of awards for the Black Door. Dave has been a huge supporter of the College and has employed many students over the years.

He said: “Having been a student myself, I feel it’s important to invest time in the future of hospitality. I want to use the experience and skills I have developed throughout my career to help the students. I also want to build on the excellent standards that have been set in the Chefs’ Academy and increase its customer base and popularity.”

Rob Kleiser, director of the Lifestyle Academy at Newcastle College, said: “It’s a great privilege to have Dave as part of the Chefs’ Academy team. His experience and extensive knowledge working in and running some of the region’s top restaurants will be of huge value to the students.

“We are very proud of the reputation that the Chefs’ Academy has built and the support we have received from industry has been absolute testament to our success. What we need to do now is take the success to the next level and this is where Dave can really help us.”

Robert Cooper, Clive Owen Corporate Finance

Darlington corporate finance business, Clive Owen, has appointed a new executive following growth and expansion over recent months.

Clive Owen Corporate Finance, part of accountants and business advisers Clive Owen LLP, has reported a significant increase in business, particularly in its due diligence work, over the last 12 months.

The team is planning to further grow the number of transactions completed and has appointed Robert Cooper as corporate finance executive to support the firm’s ambitions.

Robert had previously been involved in his own business in India, specialising in SEO and web design.

As a director, he was involved in financial forecasting, identifying trends and weaknesses in businesses and offering solutions and strategies.

He developed business partnerships and was heavily involved in various types of negotiations.

Prior to that, Robert had been involved in other businesses, including a company which sold properties across the UK which gave him experience of transactions, negotiating and due diligence reporting.

Angus Allan, corporate finance partner at Clive Owen, said: “We’ve had a very successful 12 months and we anticipate further growth this year. We’re delighted to welcome Robert to the team to help us to continue to grow. Robert has great skills and his experience has been gained from running his own operations. He has all the relevant expertise to be an integral part of the team.”

Robert added: “This is a great move for me. I am eager to develop my corporate finance career and this is an excellent opportunity. I have been involved in many of the lines of work undertaken with corporate finance but from a director’s perspective.

“I’m excited to bring that experience into a professional practice and use it to benefit a range of clients.”

Matt Swift & Jonathan Clark, Elanders UK

North Tyneside print, packaging and supply chain business Elanders UK has expanded its presence in the North East with the recruitment of two experienced print and packaging experts, Matt Swift and Jonathan Clark.

Matt joins Elanders as business development manager bringing with him over 25 years’ experience in packaging creation and innovation.

His role will include working with both existing and new customers to identify packaging opportunities for Elanders UK.

Matt’s role is a new position that has been created to help the business become better known for its packaging offering at the North Tyneside headquarters and raise awareness of Elanders specialist packaging printing facilities in Cumbernauld, Glasgow.

This new role will allow Elanders to communicate packaging and digital packaging to customers with his expert knowledge of the industry, while Jonathan’s experience will allow Elanders to continue to support the day to day management of complex accounts.

Jonathan joined Elanders at the start of the New Year within the account executive team, specifically supporting the company’s key accounts. He joins with expert knowledge of print planning and forecasting and will help create efficiencies in this area.

Elanders UK’s managing director, Kevin Rogers, said of the appointments: “Both appointments come at an ideal time for Elanders which is currently expanding after a strong 2014, specifically in packaging and digital print. Both Matt and Jonathan bring expert industry knowledge and will enable us to extend the breadth of services we are able to offer our clients while ensuring we maintain our excellent customer service delivery reputation.”

Joe Gunton-Jones, Haden Freeman Ltd

Redcar-based engineering specialist, Haden Freeman Ltd, has announced the appointment of a new business development manager to help further grow company’s presence in the North East.

Business Management graduate, Joe Gunton-Jones, joins the firm, having spent four years specialising in the offshore gas and engineering industry in Great Yarmouth.

He has been appointed by the Teesside-based process engineering experts after a raft of new contract wins – including Fuji Film Diosynth and Applied Graphene – that has seen the firm go from strength-to-strength in the region.

Based at Haden Freeman’s Redcar office in the Wilton Centre, Gunton-Jones’ key responsibilities will include building on existing client relationships, developing new business opportunities, as well as marketing and event planning and management.

The appointment fits with Haden Freeman’s strategy to grow its North East presence aggressively over the next 12-24 months, and to capitalise on the booming process industries in the region.

Newly appointed Joe comments: “I’m really looking forward to getting stuck in and working with the team in the North East. Haden Freeman is an ambitious organisation that wants to build on the success it’s seen over the past six-12 months to achieve further significant growth.”

Wayne Baxter, Managing Director at Haden Freeman, added: “We are currently working with some of the biggest and most innovative players in the region and believe there is so much more potential across the North East within the process sector.

“I have no doubt that Joe is up to the challenge and will be a great asset to the existing team - building on the exceptional work that has already been done. We’re always on the lookout for passionate young talent, and we’re thrilled to welcome Joe into the Haden Freeman family.”

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