This week’s North East appointments

Four appointments, Evolved Search

Digital marketing agency Evolved Search has recruited four members of staff and welcomed a new director.

Newcomers Hayley Wright, Louise Findlay, Lydia Booth and Lou Crane have 20 years’ combined experience in the marketing industry.

Their careers includes roles at agencies Orange Bus and McCann, and in-house positions with global brands Mattel and Egger Group.

Evolved Search operations director Ian McIntosh said: “We’re thrilled to have welcomed Louise, Hayley, Lydia and Lou to the team, following a fantastic fourth year of trading.

“Their backgrounds and experience in digital will certainly help to strengthen our current offering as we strive towards our growth targets.”

He added: “We still have three vacancies to fill, so we can’t wait to see how our team develops and grows even further over the coming year.”

Newly appointed director, Tom Etherington, was previously the firm’s head of search.

Tom commented: “It’s been a whirlwind year for the agency, gaining further recognition in the industry and taking on more great clients in the process, so our main priority is to continue providing the expertise and high-quality campaigns that we’re known for, with hopefully some more award wins along the way.”

Multiple appointments and promotions, Jacksons

North East law firm Jacksons has announced a series of appointments and promotions.

Amie Callan has joined the company as head of finance. She is a member of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) and the Association of Accounting Technicians (AAT).

Prior to her appointment, Amie held senior positions in the healthcare and manufacturing sectors.

Also joining Jacksons is Heather Snowdon, in the role of associate solicitor and head of family. She has 16 years’ experience advising and representing clients on all aspects of private family law.

Elsewhere, Jacksons’ residential conveyancing team has expanded with three new faces – apprentices Kieran Barnes, at the Newcastle office, and Rhianna Fletcher at the Tees Valley office. Emma Oakley, also an apprentice, has joined Jacksons’ Tees Valley-based wills, trusts and probate team.

The company has also promoted head of employment Paul Clark to partner, alongside head of business development and marketing Karen Robinson, bringing the number of partners at the firm to 11.

Senior partner Geoff Skeoch said: “I am delighted to welcome our new arrivals to Jacksons and I look forward to working with all of them in the very near future.

“Our new staff joins us at a very exciting time for the business. The firm is investing in a number of new initiatives in the coming months, including a new practice management system which will be going live in the autumn.”

Graham Blenkarne, JLL

Property consultancy JLL has appointed Graham Blenkarne to its valuation advisory team for Yorkshire and the North East.

Joining the company as an associate, Graham will be responsible for commercial property valuations across the North East primarily, covering a patch spanning North Yorkshire to Northumberland.

He qualified as a chartered surveyor in 2011 and enrolled as an RICS registered valuer a year later.

Graham previously worked at the Teesside office of property consultants Sanderson Weatherall.

Simon Cullimore, director in the JLL valuation advisory team, commented: “Graham is a welcome addition to our 12-strong team and is well established across the North-East market.

“This is an important region for us, with many existing clients, and I look forward to working with him as we grow our business further in this region.”

He added: “JLL has continued to be successful in providing high quality, independent advice, with excellent local market knowledge.”

Five appointments, Watson Burton

Five university graduates are starting their careers in the legal sector through Watson Burton’s graduate training programme.

Over the course of the two-year programme, each trainee will have the chance to work across the Newcastle-headquartered commercial law firm’s key practice areas.

The new trainees are Luke Meredith, Olivia Potter, Bronagh Irvine, Amy Mullen and Dillon Bloomfield.

Chris Graham, partner and training principal at Watson Burton, said: “We’re looking forward to helping the graduates build their careers in law and providing well-rounded, hands-on experience that will give them the skills to work in a dynamic, exciting legal landscape.

“The new trainees have all demonstrated a passion for learning and it’s fantastic to have them on board at Watson Burton.”

He continued: “Our graduate training programme offers a supportive environment in which aspiring legal professionals can gain valuable experience. They can then put into practice what they have learnt when dealing with a variety of real client work.”

Steve Greener, Crabtree

Crabtree, the Gateshead-based metal decorating and coating equipment business, has added to its engineering team.

The firm’s new control systems engineer, Steve Greener, will lead on product development and designing control system hardware and software.

Steve previously worked in a number of roles at Crabtree over a period of 26 years. After a stint as a senior electrical design engineer with another company, he made the decision to return to Crabtree.

He said: “I’m delighted to be back working with Crabtree. It is a leading company in the metal decorating and coating industry and takes genuine pride in working with customers in delivering the highest standard of products and services.”

Crabtree MD Stephen McDowell commented: “It’s exciting to have Steve with us as we look to grow the company further and expand our capabilities.

“Key to this is product development and we’ll be harnessing Steve’s experience in this to continue to deliver innovative solutions for both current and new customers.”

Steve Spark, Mandata

Transport management software company Mandata, based in Cramlington, has appointed a new senior director.

Steve Spark, the firm’s new chief commercial officer, will oversee the growth of its national sales and marketing team, with responsibility for new business and account management.

Before joining Mandata, Steve worked at Viewpoint, a provider of enterprise resource planning, project management and mobile solutions for the construction sector.

He said: “I’ve spent the last 13 years leading a business that provided software solutions into the construction sector where supply chain collaboration and integration were critical, and helping contractors to improve visibility and control across their businesses.

“I’m joining at a really exciting time for both the industry and Mandata. I understand that just like the construction sector, it’s never been more important to embrace technology to help improve business performance to drive improved efficiency and margin.”

Mandata CEO Mark Norcliffe commented: “Following the secondary buyout of Mandata in April by LDC, the private equity arm of Lloyds Development Group, we’re moving forward in a position of strength and embarking on the next stage of our growth strategy, underpinned by continued investment in product, service and our market-leading team.”