This week's North East appointments

Mark Stephenson, clixfix

Proptech firm clixifix has appointed Mark Stephenson as Chief Technology Officer.

Mark brings a wealth of experience to the newly created role having worked as a CTO for other web organisations including SaveTheHighStreet.org and Durham-based Intelligence Fusion.

Mark, who started his career as a new media Manager at Darlington Football Club, also worked for central government and set up his own events analytics company that was acquired nine months later. He also worked as a consultant for clients including HSBC, Barclays, Allied Irish Banks and Sports Direct.

Mark commented: “I’ve worked with many startups where the main problem has been proving product market fit, but at clixifix it is evident this has existed for a while. This job provides me with an opportunity to work in a business in ‘scale-up’ mode, which presents a different set of technical challenges that I’m looking forward to tackling.

“The senior team, headed by James Farrell, all share a vision of how a business should operate and it’s a vision that I very much buy into.

My main objectives are to support the growth of the business by managing the balance of needing to refactor to support scale-up and ensuring robust measures are put in place, so we are continually developing value for our customers by introducing new features and constantly improving existing ones.

“I’ll also be working to make the technology platform attractive to enterprise level businesses to further expand clixifix.”

James Farrell, CEO and co-founder of clixifix, added: “Mark’s appointment is a significant coup for the business. He is well respected in the tech industry, brings unrivalled experience and is already bursting with exciting ideas of ways in which to move clixifix forward.”

Lee Coates, Curtis Gabriel

Digital marketing and social media management agency Curtis Gabriel has appointed Lee Coates as head of creative content.

Lee joins the firm having worked previously for Urban Surfer in Peterlee and most recently Evolved Search in Newcastle.

Lee commented: “I was massively impressed with what Curtis Gabriel was doing, the variety of clients and their plans for growth. So I was very excited to get the opportunity to become part of the team.”

Simon Curtis, managing director of Curtis Gabriel, added: “Curtis Gabriel is continuing to grow at a great pace which we can only do if we have the expert staff to support us, which is why having Lee on board is really good news. We know what a first class marketeer he is and will be a huge asset to our team.”

Sophie Gowling, NatWest

NatWest has appointed Sophie Gowling as enterprise acceleration manager for the North East.

In her new role, Sophie will be working with entrepreneurial leaders in the North East to support and challenge their learning, growth and development for both themselves and their business as part of NatWest’s Entrepreneurship Accelerator.

An entrepreneur herself, Sophie founded SG Jewellery Designs while studying at Newcastle University and joined the Accelerator in 2019 to help her business grow.

Sophie commented: “I am incredibly excited to support the delivery of our Accelerator programmes across the North East and work with a range of businesses in the region.

“I know first-hand how rewarding running a business can be but also understand how important it is to have the right support in place so you can achieve your business goals.

“Our new programmes provide tailored support to entrepreneurs as well as a fantastic community of like-minded people who understand just what it is like to run your own business.”

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