This week's North East appointments

Gillian Sayburn, Begbies Traynor

Professional services firm, Begbies Traynor has promoted Gillian Sayburn to a partner.

With 17 years of experience in insolvency, Gillian has spent the last decade working with partner, Gerald Krasner, to lead the development of the firm’s presence in the region.

Gillian specialises in corporate rescue and recovery, assisting company directors who are experiencing cash flow and financial problems in their businesses.

With experience of working with a wide range of companies including shops, restaurants, bars, training providers, electricians, builders, and manufacturing companies, her experience covers corporate rescue and recovery and business investigations.

Julian Pitts, regional managing partner for Begbies Traynor in the North East and Yorkshire, said: “Having worked in the North East for over ten years, Gillian has become well-known among businesses, individuals and professional advisers for her insolvency expertise.

“She has played a key role in growing our operation across the region and this promotion is testimony to her commitment and hard work.”

Ian Goulding, The Inn Collection Group

The Inn Collection Group has appointed Ian Goulding as its new chairman as the operator enters its next stage of growth and development.

Ian Goulding, co-founder and former CFO of the 26-hotel group QHotels, has been announced as chairman of the nine-site Inn Collection Group.

Sean Donkin, CEO of The Inn Collection Group, said: “Ian has a wealth of commercial experience and specific experience in hospitality that will be of great value to us at a crucial time as we begin the next phase of our buy and build growth plans.”

Goulding, who also co-founded and was CFO of Paramount hotels for 10 years, said: “What The Inn Collection Group has brought to the industry is really quite unique and their approach excited me.”

Simon Preece, Better

Brand agency Better has appointed two new members to its senior management team following unprecedented growth over the last two years.

Simon Preece has joined as associate brand director and will support the agency’s strategic growth, service offer and, as the most awarded marketer in DBA history, further develop its commercial effectiveness agenda.

Simon brings 26 years of experience to Better through time at Elmwood as a shareholder and main board member managing the development of many of their largest client relationships across FMCG, corporate and retail sectors and the BBC.

Simon said: “I am delighted to be joining the team at such a pivotal stage in the agency’s development. Better has a unique value proposition, with an impressive track record in delivering best in class business strategies for its clients.

“I am excited to be part of the team and look forward to working with its experienced and ambitious board to help deliver further growth.”

Joel Farrow, HiBob

HiBob has announced that Joel Farrow is joining the company after five years at SAP.

Joel will lead the UK and Europe team that is currently 45 strong and is growing to meet rapidly increasing demand.

The three-year-old company, which has gained more than 300 fast-growing global clients including TKTKTK, has raised $25m and has strategic partnerships with industry leaders such as Aviva.

Joel said: “I couldn’t be more thrilled. HiBob is brilliantly solving a multitude of problems that I’ve encountered during my career in HR and enterprise sales.

“It is a young company, growing in high pace, one with fresh ideas and a robust product and technology infrastructure.

“Finally the day-to-day tasks of HR are brought together with active employee engagement - not lip-service sales speak. It’s complete, adjustable, and a joy to use.”

Tom Lawrence, Ocucon

Ocucon has appointed Northumbria University PhD student, Tom Lawrence.

Ocucon delivers a cloud-based storage and retrieval platform, combining intelligent data analytics with the facility to store, analyse and retrieve HD video surveillance footage from within the Ocucon portal.

In his new role, Tom will help support the further development of Ocucon’s artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning technology - specifically looking at potential new uses for AI in tackling fraudulent claims for slips, trips and falls, estimated to cost the UK economy more than £800m a year.

He commented: “My appointment by Ocucon represents a fantastic opportunity to be on the very cutting edge of new technological developments, such as computer vision.

“Ocucon’s services are breaking new ground, both in AI and machine learning and I’m looking forward to helping to develop the product further in order to enable the company to reach new markets.”

Rachael I’anson and Janine Lamb, Twist

Creative PR and marketing agency, Twist has expanded its team with the appointment of two new PR and marketing managers, Janine Lamb and Rachael I’anson.

Rachael and Janine have joined the team as PR and marketing managers to take Twist’s growth to the next level. Rachael will lead the marketing and media campaigns for Twist’s interiors and home technology clients.

Rachael said: ’Working in the retail and hospitality sectors has given me invaluable insight into the importance of fully integrated communications and maintaining a competitive advantage to drive better results.

‘It’s a really exciting time to be joining the team - at just over one year old, Twist [is] already representing lots of fantastic clients who I’m looking forward to working with. I hope to welcome even more inspiring brands in the future.“

Janine takes charge of marketing and media campaigns for Twist’s portfolio of luxury property and venue clients.

She added: “When the role at Twist became available I knew I had to be part of such an exciting new team. With clients ranging across lifestyle, leisure and food and drink sectors, I knew that I would have the right skill set to nurture the current relationships, as well as build new ones.

‘I’m beyond proud to be part of Twist - especially at the start of its journey - and I’m really looking forward to seeing the business grow!’

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