Education Partnership North East (EPNE), which includes Sunderland College, Hartlepool Sixth Form College and Northumberland College, has appointed James Stuart as its new chair.
Mr Stuart, who is founder and director of One Planet Consulting, a Darlington based business which supports senior leaders to develop sustainable sector and business strategies, was appointed following a recruitment process to replace outgoing chair Rob Lawson.
He began his career in the military and has since worked in sport, tourism, science and enterprise, and has a keen focus on sustainability both in his current executive role and his capacity as non-executive chair of Loch Lomond & The Trossachs National Park Authority and non-executive advisor to Scottish Forestry.
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He said: “I am someone who believes passionately that we should not just observe challenges, but try to address them and through this role, I can hopefully play a part in ensuring that we connect education with enterprise, and ensure we have the skills pipeline we need to support the region’s economy – in particular the emerging green economy, which - after all – is the future.”
Marketing company Clothier Lacey & Co (CLC) has added Katie Moody to its team as an account manager.
Ms Moody joins from an independent beauty brand with several years of experience working in operations and project management for a construction training company.
She said: “I’m really excited to be working with the talented team at CLC and gain insight from their PR experience which spans twenty years. It’s a great opportunity to work alongside some well-respected regional and national businesses and I’m especially looking forward to supporting some of their key accounts in an exciting period of growth.”
Managing director Philippa Clothier said: “I am delighted to welcome Katie to the team. She has such broad experience that she will add significant value to the business.”
North Tyneside virtual reality and software specialist 3t Transform, has appointed a new managing director.
Dr Grant Crow joins 3t Transform, based at Cobalt Business Park, as the company gears up for further growth, having doubled turnover in the last 12 months.
The firm, which is part of the 3t Energy Group, develops training technology such as virtual reality, augmented reality, digital twins, mobile apps and software to manage competency and training and has seen demand soar during the Covid-19 crisis as businesses speed up digital transformation programmes.
Dr Crow said: “The company is already a fantastic success story, having worked with some of the world’s largest companies to digitalise training such as McDonalds, Total E&P UK, Serica Energy and BP. I am looking forward to building on this amazing track record and helping the company cement its leading reputation in the global training technology market.”
Two young lawyers have been appointed as solicitors by North East law firm Hay & Kilner after successfully completing a two-year training programme.
Alexis Wood and Michael Taylor have both undertaken four blocks of six months in different departments within the Newcastle-headquartered firm, which helped them gain experience and identify their strengths and areas of interest.
Mr Taylor holds a law degree from Durham University and a Legal Practice Course qualification from Northumbria University, while Ms Wood took a chemistry degree at Durham University before deciding on a change of career direction. She spent a year working as a paralegal in Hay & Kilner’s residential property unit before beginning her traineeship.
Alison Hall, partner and head of the private client department at Hay & Kilner, said: “Alexis and Michael have proven themselves to be extremely capable young solicitors and we’re very glad to have them as part of the team.”
Global Procurement Group – the parent company of energy procurement and management specialist Northern Gas and Power (NGP) – has bolstered its leadership team by bringing on board three new senior leaders.
Leigh-Anne Basaraba has joined as global brand and marketing director, Carl Bowles has been recruited as customer services director and Simon Hutton joins as finance director.
GPG’s chief operating officer Brendan Garvey said: “I’m very pleased to welcome Leigh-Anne, Carl and Simon to the senior management team at NGP and GPG. Their appointments, along with the recent appointments of Terri Lewis and Megan Hofmann, reaffirm how we are continuing to go from strength to strength on our transformational journey.
“Their skills and experience will not only help us to maintain our position as the leading B2B energy management specialist in the North East region, but also help us to capitalise on these solid foundations and grow the business nationally and globally.”
Marketing firm Surge Marketing Solutions has appointed Andrew Flisher as its new chief technical officer as part of expansion plans.
Mr Flisher will be responsible for driving new and long-term growth opportunities for the Middlesbrough digital agency, including new areas tied to software development, app development and customer relations management.
He has more than 25 years of experience and expertise within the development of internal processes and new services such as software solutions, apps and CRM, and has worked on projects with companies such as Warburtons, Fujifilm, Next PLC and Valaris PLC.
He said: “I am most looking forward to the wide range of industries I will be able to work with, which will provide a fresh set of technical challenges for me to solve, as well as new software I will be able to develop.”
