Member Article

This week's North East appointments

Begin your working week with a look at the latest job moves from across the region.

Damian Thompson, Newcastle Building Society

Newcastle Building Society has made a senior appointment to its board, recruiting Damian Thompson to the role of Customer Director.

Damian joins from Principality Building Society, where he held senior customer-related roles including Head of Retail and, latterly, Head of Distribution, overseeing service delivery and improvement for more than half a million customers.

Damian joins at an exciting time for Newcastle Building Society, which is investing over £10m in a range of initiatives which improve the way it delivers its service to customers, with enhancements to its branch network, telephone and digital offering, and operational infrastructure.

He brings a wealth of expertise in understanding customers to improve the products and services they receive and pioneered the use of customer feedback to inform a business-wide response in his previous role.

“I’m delighted to join the Newcastle Building Society Board. I want to connect with our members and ensure that they continue to have a powerful voice across our organisation.

“I’m looking forward to being part of a strong team dedicated to serving residents of the North East and beyond.”

In July the Society announced positive half year results, which underlined its strong financial position, and reaffirmed its commitment to providing customers with the mortgages, savings and financial advice they need.

Chief Executive, Andrew Haigh added: “Newcastle Building Society is proud of the excellent standard of products and service we provide to our customers and the special relationship we have built with generations of communities here in the North East.

“The experience and expertise that Damian brings will be significant in enabling us to build on that foundation, making sure that our customers remain at the very heart of Newcastle Building Society in the years ahead.”

Jon Tucker, Scott Logic

Newcastle-headquartered software development consultancy Scott Logic has appointed a new Head of Business Development.

Jon Tucker joins the firm in the newly-created role to lead the business development teams across all four of its city centre locations, and drive further expansion of the business, which has seen its headcount grow to more than 200 in its 11-year history.

Mr Tucker has a career spanning more than 20 years in the IT industry in business development and leadership roles, most recently as Business Development Director at Capita IT Services, where he managed a £50m portfolio across the full IT stack.

Jon will be primarily based at the firm’s London office, where considerable growth is expected through the development of more on-site consultancy and advisory services, to complement the off-site delivery work that has proved so successful since the premises opened two years ago.

Speaking about his appointment, Jon said: “This is an incredibly exciting time to be joining Scott Logic. I’ve been very impressed by the high quality of the current client base, the skills of the people and the confident and inclusive culture.”

Sally Dixon, Visit County Durham

The Destination management organisation Visit County Durham has appointed Sally Dixon, Beamish Museum’s Assistant Director - Partnerships & Communications, to its board.

Sally began working at Beamish, England’s largest open-air museum, in 2013 and has held her current role since November 2014, leading on the management and co-ordination of the museum’s regional, UK and European partnership programmes; communications and marketing; fundraising; and driving earned income through group and venue sales activity.

Sally brings to the board over a decade of experience of working in the arts, museums and heritage sector, predominantly within local authority cultural services.

Sally said: “I’m delighted to be joining the board at such an exciting time for Durham. We’re seeing a real groundswell of ambition and innovation within the county’s cultural sector right now.

“From Beamish’s £18m capital scheme which includes a 1950s town and a Georgian coaching inn offering overnight stays; to the innovative new developments taking place at Auckland Castle; the Open Treasure exhibition experience at Durham Cathedral, and the world-class exhibition facilities at Palace Green Library.”

She added: “There’s going to be even more to see and do, and I’m very much looking forward to contributing to VCD’s work attracting more visitors to this wonderful county.”

Chris Donabie & Jessica Simpson, Naylors

Newcastle-based commercial property consultants Naylors has appointed Chris Donabie and Jessica Simpson, taking its agency team to a total of seven surveyors.

Chris Donabie, a well-established industrial & logistics specialist in the region, has joined Naylors as a director within the industrial team and will be working alongside Keith Stewart and Sally Birks.

Chris previously worked at Cushman & Wakefield’s Newcastle office (formerly DTZ) for 11 years, heading up its North East industrial and logistics team since 2013.

Jessica Simpson has been appointed as commercial agency surveyor to work on both office and retail instructions alongside Simon Taylor and James Fletcher.

Jessica previously worked within the investment team at Northumberland Development Company, Arch, where she acquired a range of properties for the firm’s portfolio. She also previously worked for Knight Frank, where she qualified as a Chartered Surveyor in 2014.

Chris said: “Over the years I have been fortunate enough to work on some of the North East’s most prominent schemes and for some fantastic clients.

“Naylors, as the largest independent property consultancy in the North East, has an enviable instruction and client book with an undoubted pedigree in the industrial and logistics sector. “They are a very forward thinking company in growth mode and client service is at the heart of what they do.

“I share their values and felt this was a logical step for me to join with Keith and the team to help grow the firm’s offering and expertise, which will ultimately benefit Naylors’ clients. I am very excited about the move.”

Naylors’ managing director, Angus White, added: “Both Chris and Jessica are well established in their markets and we are confident they will make a positive impact on the growth of the business going forwards.”

Olivia Rose Gatens, RDA

South Tyneside-based Restaurant Design Associates (RDA), a catering design and installation firm, has appointed Olivia Rose Gatens as an office administrator.

Olivia, who lives in Washington, is responsible for managing the office environment, meeting and greeting visitors, and carrying out PA duties for the directors.

Prior to joining RDA, Olivia worked as a dental nurse and receptionist for eight years, and has built extensive experience in a range of administrative tasks within busy dental practices, including diary management, organising appointments and recording minutes, as well as assisting the practice manager with daily duties and handling patient queries.

Olivia said: “I recently completed a qualification in Business Administration as for a while now I have been eager to pursue a career within administration.

“I have been very impressed with previous projects RDA have been a part of. They have an impressive list of clients and I was particularly drawn to the forward thinking, welcoming team they have.”

Vinaya Jigajinni, Watson Burton

Newcastle-headquartered commercial law firm Watson Burton has appointed Vinaya Jigajinni as a solicitor, following her completion of the firm’s two-year graduate traineeship programme.

Vinaya, who is originally from Edinburgh, joined the firm as a paralegal before becoming a trainee solicitor at Watson Burton in 2014.

She graduated from Newcastle University in 2005 with a BSc in Biomedical Sciences before deciding to enter the legal profession and completing a Graduate Diploma in Law and Legal Practice Course at Northumbria University. Prior to joining Watson Burton in 2011, Vinaya worked as a paralegal at Optima Legal and DLA Piper.

During her traineeship, Vinaya played a key role in organising Watson Burton’s bi-annual Young Professionals event and in promoting the firm to undergraduates.

Vinaya will be specialising in real estate and commercial property, and her responsibilities will include working with clients on leases, lending, new developments and contract negotiations.

Vinaya said: “As a trainee at Watson Burton, I was treated as part of the team, and the staff were very approachable and helpful – it is a fantastic place to learn with clear routes for progression and a friendly working culture.

“I’m excited to now have the opportunity to build my career at Watson Burton in the long term and to apply my training and legal experience to supporting our clients.”

Join us next week for more North East appointment news.

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