Member Article

This week's North East appointments

A roundup of the latest appointments from across the North East.

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Xavier Priem, 5G North East

5G North East, the consortium leading the development of the region’s plan to create a national 5G testbed, has appointed a highly-experienced project director.

Xavier Priem will lead the drive to position the North East as a key focus for the UK’s 5G revolution.

Xavier has extensive experience working for multiple telecom suppliers, their customers and, network operators. He has established specialist 5G research and innovation centres and projects across Europe.

His appointment comes as the Government is looking to establish the UK as a global leader in 5G enabled communications and is seeking to establish a group of testbeds to trial the technology.

Xavier said: “This is a fantastic chance to establish a transformative ecosystem that will create new jobs and economic opportunities for the North East.

“I come from the North East of France which has in many ways followed a similar trajectory as the North East of England, reinventing itself and generating new economic opportunities in technology and innovation following the decline of traditional industries.

“Having the opportunity to contribute to establishing the North East as a technology- enabled innovation powerhouse within the UK and global community is a very exciting role to undertake.

“I am looking forward to helping to create 5G North East and delivering new economic value and improved services for people in the region.

“Success for 5G North East will see the generation of new jobs, the bringing of new industries to the region and the creation of new opportunities for local businesses to develop high value services on a 5G network that will provide operators with testing capabilities. It will ultimately lead to wider roll out and better mobile services to the general public.”

Xavier’s previous posts include three years as business development and portfolio manager at the French Institute of Research and Technology (IRT) B-COM.

Andrew Hodgson, Chair of the North East LEP, one of the consortium partners, said: “The North East partners are committed to producing a strong and long term programme that will showcase the region’s suitability as a testbed and lead to a sustainable 5G delivery system in the region.

“We are delighted to welcome Xavier to the team. We are confident his experience in research, project management and commercialisation strategy, and his vast technical, commercial and global network knowledge will help position and elevate the North East’s reputation in the 5G ecosystem.”

Tim Gray, Mincoffs

Newcastle law firm Mincoffs has recruited renowned North East lawyer Tim Gray as a consultant.

Tim was educated at Cambridge University and on leaving, joined what became Newcastle’s fastest growing firm where he stayed for 43 years. Having retired and become a consultant, Tim has come back into private practice with Mincoffs.

Well known within the regional business community, Tim boasts a strong background in commercial property and has acted for many major players in the North East.

Tim will work alongside the partners to build on a period of continuous growth at the firm which now employs over 60 staff at its Jesmond based office.

Tim is also known for his charity work and acts as a clerk to a number of local charities, sits on the Development Board of the local Marie Curie Hospice and is a governor of his former school, Dame Allan’s in Newcastle upon Tyne.

Speaking of his appointment, Tim said “I am delighted to join such a well-established and respected firm where I hope to continue to afford my commercial property clients in particular with the client care that they have come to expect.”

Commenting on the appointment, Senior Equity Partner Paul Hughes said “We are very pleased to welcome Tim to the firm. He is an esteemed legal professional and I very much look forward to working closely with him to further develop our service offering here at Mincoffs.”

Iain Wright, DigitalCity

Former Hartlepool MP Iain Wright, who has served as Government minister and Chairman of the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy select committee, has joined the board of DigitalCity.

Chief Executive of the North East Process Industry Cluster (Nepic), Iain hopes to use his experience and contacts to help improve the utilisation of digital technology by businesses in traditional sectors.

As well as chairing the select committee, during his 13 years as an MP, Iain held a number of senior positions including Minister for Housing and Planning, Minister for Schools and Apprenticeships and shadow Minister for Industry.

DigitalCity is based at Teesside University and works alongside the five Tees Valley authorities to connect businesses with the knowledge, skills and expertise they need to thrive in a digital future.

Iain hopes his experiences as a politician and his links with the process industry through his work with Nepic will provide a natural synergy with the aims and ambitions of DigitalCity.

He said: “When I was invited to join the board I jumped at the chance. I really believe DigitalCity is one of the key elements of economic growth in the region and will help raise employment levels and improve living standards in the region.

“Some of the innovative start-ups that DigitalCity is supporting are doing fantastic work and the start-up communities in places like Boho are comparable with areas like Shoreditch in London.

“Equally important is the work that DigitalCity is doing to help traditional industries embrace digital and new technology in order to become more efficient and competitive.”

He added: “Using my connections I will be shouting about what this area has to offer. “I want any tech entrepreneur to be aware of what’s going on here and realise they don’t have to move to London, they can be just as successful in Middlesbrough, Stockton, Darlington, Hartlepool or Redcar.”

Laura Woods, Director of The Forge, Teesside University’s Business Hub, added: “Iain is a passionate advocate for the region and brings with him a wealth of contacts and experience.

“We are delighted to welcome him to DigitalCity and are looking forward to working with him as we continue to create a vibrant ecosystem for tech businesses in the Tees Valley.”

Lynn Shearing, Parkdean Resorts

Chartered accountant Lynn Shearing is Parkdean Resorts’ most recent appointment, who joins as Mergers & Acquisitions Director following 18 years with a Big Four firm.

Having spent her career to date with professional services giant PwC, Lynn has taken up the newly-created role based at the holiday park company’s Newcastle office.

On graduating from Leeds University with a First Class degree in Accounting and Finance BA (Hons) in 1999, Lynn sat her ICAEW exams with PwC, winning both regional and national prizes in the process. Once qualified Lynn moved straight into the deals business, based specifically within the corporate finance team in Newcastle for almost 15 years.

In 2016, Parkdean Resorts was acquired by Canadian private equity fund Onex Corporation in a £1.35bn deal, which saw Lynn relocate to the Gosforth office on secondment to manage the project internally – and her permanent move came this autumn.

Alongside Parkdean Resorts CEO John Waterworth, CFO Ian Bull and Onex, Lynn will oversee all future mergers and acquisitions.

Originally from Sunderland, Lynn said: “I’m looking forward to working closely with John, Ian and the team from Onex to put our ambitious plans into action.

“Growth is high on our agenda so this is an incredibly exciting time to be joining the team. We would therefore be delighted to hear from anyone who thinks they have an acquisition opportunity which might be of interest to us.”

Dave Halford, Echo-U

Contact centre Echo-U has appointed Dave Halford as sales director to aid its strategic business development plans across the UK.

Dave, 53, will work closely with Echo-U’s senior management and marketing teams to generate overall sales growth across the owner-managed contact centre business and will be responsible for securing new clients, with a particular emphasis on the firm’s new southern office.

Bringing with him a wealth of knowledge and expertise, Dave joins Echo-U with a strong sales background. Having spent five years as a consultant providing business development advice to a wide range of BPO providers, Dave has worked with many household names including John Lewis and Ralph Lauren as well as the NHS.

He has previously held senior positions in the UK, South Africa and Romania; with particular experience in the outsourced contact centre arena, and most recently worked at the largest contact centre outsourced provider in Spain.

Dave, who lives in Bedfordshire, said: “I was initially drawn to Echo-U due to its great reputation as a people-focused business. Having worked in the industry for a number of years, it is refreshing to see a contact centre with such a great business culture and excellent approach to client management.

“Developing Echo-U South is going to be a great challenge for me to sink my teeth into, whilst also supporting with new business development at our head office in Newcastle.

“The sales cycle in our industry can often be quite lengthy, especially for a new office venture, so I will be working closely with the senior management team at Echo-U to create a realistic timeline and establish the company’s business growth plans for 2018.”

NRG

NRG, the North-East headquartered recruitment company, has appointed three new directors.

Leanne Chambers and James Carss will take up positions of Client Solutions Director and Group Business Development Director respectively as of January 2018.

NRG has also confirmed the appointment of Mark Smales as new Finance Director to join the team. Most recently Financial Controller at Mini Mobile, Mark will replace Scott Mounsey, who leaves NRG after 3 years.

Founder and Chairman of NRG, Lorna Moran OBE, commented: “I’m confident that Leanne, James and Mark will bring a lot of knowledge and experience to the board, with a great insight on how the business is to move forward in the future.

“The agility of the recruitment services offered by NRG allows us to adapt to changing client needs and business demands. With an excellent business model in place and a passionate team, we remain confident of further and continued growth.

“I’d like to thank Scott Mounsey, Finance Director at NRG who will step down from the board of NRG when he leaves the company in February 2018. Scott has provided strategic financial guidance to the board during his 3 years. We wish him well in his new position.”

The NRG Board of Directors also includes; Therese Liddle, Chief Executive and Wayham Moran, Company Secretary and Executive Director.

Join us next monday for more North East appointments news.