This week's North East appointments

Northumberland County Council

A number of new appointments have been made to the County Council’s cabinet.

Two councillors have been given new cabinet roles while a third takes on extra responsibility as Deputy Leader.

The appointments are councillor Glen Sanderson as deputy leader along with his existing portfolio (environment and local services), councillor Jeff Watson for adult health and wellbeing, councillor Guy Renner-Thompson for children and young people.

Business chair councillor Richard Dodd said: “These members bring a wealth of skills and experience to these hugely important portfolio areas.

“The welfare of all our residents has never been more critical and we look forward to our councillors driving forward these key areas of work.”

Nick Sheffield and Sarah Barron, Generator

Newcastle music and business support agency Generator has announced the expansion of its team.

Nick Sheffield is joining Generator as creative and digital programme manager, bringing over 20 years of experience in the music and tech industries.

He commented: “I started as a freelance web developer in the late ’90s, and around the same time started playing fairly seriously in bands, so I suppose even way back then I was somehow destined to end up at Generator!

“I’d been to a few Generator events over the years, and a band I was in played at Evolution Emerging, so I was really excited a couple of years ago when I got the opportunity to do some bits of freelance work here, and things just progressed pretty naturally from there to being appointed to this new role.”

After moving to Newcastle from London in 2007, Nick has worked with Sage Gateshead, Northumbria University, whilst also getting experience as a tour manager and recording engineer.

Sarah Barron has also joined the Generator team as admin and events coordinator, having spent 6 months previously in the role of talent development assistant part-time.

Her new role will see her developing events programmes across the organisation and delivering these events for the respective business and music communities Generator serves.

She said: “In my early teens, I discovered I had a real passion for music and started out as a singer and pianist.

“I started regularly attending live music events and found a passion for local artists, local venues and the people that made it all happen.”

Sarah worked previously for a large music promotion and events company based in Newcastle, before the opportunity arose to join the Generator team.

Katie Forrest, GT3 Architects

Architecture practice GT3 Architects has appointed Katie Forrest as head of marketing as it continues to invest in driving the business forwards.

Katie, who has more than eight years’ experience working in the property industry, will be based in the firm’s Newcastle office and will be responsible for driving the company’s strategic growth and outreach programmes.

She said: “I’m thrilled to be joining GT3. The team has a fantastic reputation and its exceptional portfolio of people and community focused projects speaks for itself.

“GT3’s ongoing commitment to social research and its ethos of placing people at the heart of every design is extremely refreshing.

“It will be crucial as the industry navigates the next few years of placemaking and project design, so I’m looking forward to supporting future growth and working on some exciting new projects.

“Having lived in London for a number of years I’m also looking forward to relocating back to the North East and my hometown of Whitley Bay.

“It’s an interesting time, particularly with the background of potential social changes across the country - I’m therefore eager to be re-introduced to the North East and Midland’s business circles and see what the future holds.”

Ruth Barrett, Inspired

Ruth Barrett has joined Newcastle’s Inspired as its head of content and digital PR.

With 12 years’ experience in journalism and digital marketing, Ruth was highly commended for Women In Marketing’s One To Watch award in 2019.

She played an instrumental role in creating the digital PR team in her previous position at Evolved Search and is looking to replicate the same success at Inspired.

She said: “It’s an exciting time to join Inspired and build upon the foundation that Craig Boyle has created.

“Inspired haven’t historically shouted about their successes, of which there are many, but I’m confident we can continue to grow the Digital PR team into one of the strongest in the North of England.

“I’d be lying if I said I didn’t have ambitious plans for the team, but like many things right now we’ll take them week by week, month by month and see what’s possible.”