Member Article

This week’s North East appointments

Declan Maguire, Tom Henshaw & Chris Harcombe, Peel Airports

Peel Airports is strengthening its drive to bring more business to Durham Tees Valley Airport with a series of appointments in its Aviation Development Department.

Joining the team as Aviation Development manager is Declan Maguire who will have responsibility for both Durham Tees Valley and Doncaster Sheffield Airport with a remit to work with both new and existing airlines.

He joins Peel Airports from the leading aviation events and online company Routes where he held the post of Airline and Industry Relations Manager, responsible for European airline relations.

Before joining Routes in 2012, Declan, who holds a BSc degree in Aviation Management, worked for both Virgin Atlantic and TUI Travel.

Declan said: “It’s a pleasure to join a team dedicated to the development of Durham Tees Valley and Doncaster Sheffield Airports. I look forward to becoming familiar with the communities they serve, promoting new route opportunities and developing relationships with airline operators.”

Other appointments include Tom Henshaw who moves from Aviation Analyst to become Aviation Development executive with responsibilities including the General and Business sectors, focussing on delivering growth at Durham Tees Valley.

Leading the team with overall responsibility for passenger, cargo and general/business aviation at both airports is Chris Harcombe, who has been head of Aviation Development with Peel Airports since 2013 and has been at the forefront of route development and engaging with airlines.

Chris said: “We’re delighted to have Declan joining us from one of the industry’s most influential companies and bringing a wide range of airline contacts.

“Tom Henshaw’s enhanced role is an important step forward in delivering the strategy set out in the Master Plan for Durham Tees Valley to focus on business and general aviation and follows our recent announcement of the introduction of new and more attractive tariffs for both aircraft based at the airport and visiting flyers.”

Paul Cosgrove, Berghaus

North East outdoor brand Berghaus has confirmed the appointment of a new product manager for its most technical range of products. Paul Cosgrove has joined the company to lead development in the Berghaus Extrem category and will oversee the development of the brand’s most advanced and innovative outdoor clothing and equipment.

Paul Cosgrove has been working in the outdoor industry for 15 years. He is moving to Berghaus from Montane, where he was head of marketing and product.

Richard Leedham, Berghaus brand president, said: “Paul has an excellent reputation in the outdoor industry and is very well qualified to develop Berghaus’ Extrem range. He’s an active user of outdoor gear himself, so he has extensive understanding of what makes a product work.

Paul will be part of a great team and with his new colleagues, I am certain that he will deliver even better ranges to carry the famous Berghaus Extrem branding.“

Paul Cosgrove added: “This is a fantastic opportunity for me to join one of the iconic outdoor brands. The Berghaus Extrem range already has an outstanding reputation and I am looking forward to working with a formidable team to enhance that and create something very special.”

Emma Tolley, Thorn Baker

Emma Tolley has joined Newcastle-based Thorn Baker to lead the company’s ambitious strategy of increasing staff numbers across the UK over the next five years.

Emma joins the recruitment firm as talent attraction manager with the task of building Thorn Baker’s nationwide team with talented staff and managers to lead the company into its next period of growth.

A seasoned professional, Emma has previously worked at two of the biggest recruitment firms in the world - Randstad and Office Angels. Most recently she worked for The Works, a specialist recruitment firm in Leeds.

Emma, who has worked in recruitment for more than 20 years, said: “I am delighted to be joining the team at Thorn Baker which has a fantastic reputation for being a dynamic, forward-thinking UK recruitment firm which is hugely committed to its staff and clients.

“My role is to ensure we are attracting the best talent out there, ensuring we are nurturing recruiters and building their expertise for them to go into senior recruitment roles within Thorn Baker.

“I came to Thorn Baker because I was impressed with the company’s approach to developing staff and providing them with the skills and training to enable them to take on bigger roles within the organisation.”

Steve Blacker, KPMG

Steve Blacker has joined KPMG’s Northern practice to head its Innovation Reliefs and Incentives group.

With 15 years of advising businesses on their tax matters, the last nine of which he has specialised in government sponsored R&D related reliefs within Deloitte, Steve will now be guiding KPMG clients to ensure they leverage the most value from their innovative activities.

He joins a national Innovation Reliefs and Incentives group of 60, and will work closely with the Newcastle based team led by Debbie Reith.

This growing practice works with North East businesses across all industry sectors, with a particular focus on manufacturing, food production, energy and digital technology, generating millions of pounds of savings each year.

Commenting on the UK R&D tax regime and his new role, KPMG Associate Partner Steve Blacker said: “Innovation is the watchword for so many enterprises in the North East and is incentivised by the government through its generous R&D tax reliefs and Patent Box scheme, which offer businesses of all sizes significant cash savings for investing in a huge variety of R&D related activities.

“In fact, from 1st April, the R&D tax credit is being further enhanced, to 230 per cent for SMEs and 11 percent for large companies.

“Our investment in specialists with significant experience means KPMG has a lot of success in not only working with clients at the start of planning for their innovative activities but also in reviewing R&D claims prepared in-house or by other advisors and identifying areas of R&D activity and costs that have been overlooked, often leading to significant claim enhancements and greater cashback.”

(L-R) Craig Brown, business development manager at Tharsus alongside Ruth Hickman and Anton Mirasfari

Ruth Hickman & Anton Mirasfari, Tharsus

Blyth-based fabricator, Tharsus Engineering, has expanded its specialist sales team to support the company’s ambitious growth plans.

The new additions, Ruth Hickman and Anton Mirasfari, will be responsible for identifying new markets as well as establishing and maintaining strong relationships with potential clients.

Business development coordinator, Anton, brings extensive experience from previous roles dealing with high level complaints and providing customer support for companies including the UK’s largest producer of low-carbon electricity.

Ruth, who has been appointed as an account manager, joins from sister company Tharsus Direct where she spent more than a decade developing and honing her customer service and management skills.

Peter Sayer, director at Tharsus Engineering, said: “Tharsus Engineering is an integral part of the Tharsus Group, which can be called upon to deliver an exceptional fabrication service that effectively supplements the other divisions within the group.

“By expanding our sales team we aim to raise the profile of Tharsus Engineering throughout industry and hope to develop and maintain long and rewarding relationship with new customers.”

Pippa Ware, Redcar Development Trust (RDT)

Redcar Development Trust (RDT) has appointed a community engagement specialist as it bids to secure extra cash that will allow new schemes in the area to get off the ground.

Development worker Pippa Ware has joined the organisation with the remit of identifying training and employment opportunities for young jobseekers, strengthening links with key public and private sector partners, and organising events that will generate income for RDT.

The organisation will then invest the funds in training, employment and community schemes that will benefit local residents.

Pippa brings to the role extensive experience of the fundraising sector, having worked on community engagement schemes throughout the North East and Yorkshire.

Previously she worked for Gateshead Council as a sport, lifestyle and development officer and was also involved in community projects surrounding the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Pippa said: “I can’t wait to get started in my new role at RDT. Redcar has a lot to offer and my aim is to build on the excellent community schemes that are already in place here.”

Frankie Wales, founder of RDT, said: “Pippa’s attributes and experience will be invaluable as we look to generate extra income that will fund schemes such as the boxing club, which still runs today. We are very grateful to EDF Energy Renewables for the grant, without which Pippa’s appointment would not have been possible.”

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