This week's North East appointments

Anindya Chatterjee, SmartCarbon Ltd

Newcastle-based SmartCarbon Ltd has recently recruited Northumbria Master’s graduate Anindya Chatterjee.

Anindya was offered a position having already spent a placement year with SmartCarbon on a project to help The Newcastle Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust calculate its carbon emissions.

SmartCarbon was established in 2016 by Chartered Environmentalist and carbon expert Anna-Lisa Mills to support organisations of any size or sector to calculate, report and reduce carbon emissions. It currently has four team members but is looking to expand as demand for its services continues to grow.

With funding support through the Northumbria Enterprise and Business Support, SmartCarbon was able to employ Anindya and pay his salary as an intern.

Commenting on his internship, Anindya said: “This has been a fantastic opportunity for me, both to develop my own career and to contribute to the work and success of SmartCarbon. My role includes helping clients both understand and resolve technical carbon management issues, and to further develop the SmartCarbon calculator.

“No two clients are the same; they are from different industries, different backgrounds and have different challenges, so this is such valuable learning experience.

“I have also been extremely lucky to work with SmartCarbon Director Anna-Lisa Mills, who has acted as my mentor and who was also an Associate Lecturer on my course at Northumbria.”

Graeme Mills, Operations Director at SmartCarbon, said: “Anindya’s experience and expertise is proving very useful as we support organisations to engage their suppliers in their next zero strategy.

“Businesses and governments are realising the urgency in responding to the climate emergency and measuring your carbon is the first step on this journey. We are hoping world leaders at COP 26 will show the same sense of urgency and action.

“Having a talented and highly qualified graduate like Anindya is hugely beneficial for us and our clients – something that was made affordable and really simple to do through the support of NEBS2.”

Mitchell Harrison, Wriggle Marketing

North-East based digital marketing agency, Wriggle, has appointed Mitchell Harrison as Managing Director.

In his role, Mitchell will work across new and existing clients developing digital strategies and will aim to maximise client investment.

Mitchell brings his knowledge in the digital sector, as well as skills in SEO strategy, CRO, testing, and business development, to the role.

The internal promotion will also see current Managing Director, Nick Gianfreda move to the role of CEO as part of the reshuffle to support the accelerated business growth.

Mitchell said: “After working with Nick over the past four and a half years, it’s been amazing to see both the business and our partnership grow.

“From day one starting in the business as an SEO Executive I have been consistently working towards pushing myself further in knowledge and responsibility within the company, moving from Head of Search to then Head of Digital Operations. The MD role is the next logical step as the business continues to grow at an exponential rate.”

Nick Gianfreda, CEO of Wriggle Marketing said: “We are delighted to be able to announce that we have promoted from within the team in what is an exciting period for the business. Mitchell has been influential in the growth of Wriggle Marketing to date, and I am proud to be able to recognise his hard work through this promotion.

“2022 is already shaping up to be the best yet and with Mitchell installed in this role and a great team to support, we are looking forward to the opportunities this creates.”

Luke Philpott, Mincoffs

Mincoffs Solicitors has welcomed Luke Philpott as a new partner in its corporate team.

Luke qualified as a solicitor at a national law firm in 2015 and relocated from Manchester to Newcastle in 2018, working for two North East firms before joining Mincoffs Solicitors as a partner.

Luke specialises in private equity and venture capital. Deal highlights include: acting on the sale of Barnsley Football Club, the management buyout of Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, Albion Capital Partners investment in MPP Global, the merger of Wilson Insurance Brokers with Bollington Group.

Luke also acted for 8 of the top 100 tech companies listed in the 2018 Northern Tech 100 League Table published by Tech Nation as well as acting for Boohoo.com.

As well as acting for clients on private equity and venture capital matters, he will also play an active role in continuing to build the firm’s profile in the region’s business community.

Commenting on his appointment, Luke said “I’m delighted to be joining Mincoffs and I can’t wait to get started. After meeting the team and discussing the firm’s plans for growth, I knew joining them was the correct decision for me. Mincoffs’ corporate team is understated, however it is without doubt one of the top corporate teams in the region.”

Paul Hughes, head of corporate, said:“Luke is the perfect fit for Mincoffs and I’m thrilled to welcome him to the team.”

“His proven track record of developing excellent client relationships and his commitment to his clients fits perfectly with our ethos and will provide a significant boost to our corporate team. We are very much looking forward to working with him and I have no doubt Luke will excel in his new role.”

Alice Jones, Andrew Lewis, Stevie Tolmie, Peter Savage, Ambassador Theatre Group

The Ambassador Theatre Group has announced the appointment of four key roles within the venue management team at the newly restored Stockton Globe.

New events manager Alice Tones has had experience at several ATG venues including The Lyceum, Apollo Victoria and Piccadilly Theatres in London, as well as Kings’ Theatre and Theatre Royal in Glasgow, before joining Stockton Globe as part of the launch team in January 2020.

Joining the team as head of food & beverage is Andrew Lewis.

Andrew has worked in the hospitality industry for over twenty years after starting as a pot washer and working his way up to management roles in pubs and hotels.

Andrew said: “I’m extremely excited to be part of the new team at the Globe, to be working with hugely experienced people from different sectors and seeing the venue grow with every show. Stockton deserves the excitement of big-name acts playing in the town, and it’s fantastic to be a part of delivering that.”

New maintenance supervisor, Stevie Tolmie, has lived in the north east for 25 years and comes to ATG from building contractors Wilmot Dixon, where he worked on the restoration of the Globe in a Site Logistics role.

Stevie said: “When I first started working on Stockton Globe, I had to remove 47 pigeons from the building.

“To go from that point in 2017 to seeing it filled with thousands of people in 2021 is truly incredible. I know this building inside out; if anything, ever goes wrong I’ll know how to fix it, and if I can’t, I’ll know exactly who can!”

Peter Savage is the venue’s new operations manager. He worked at Stockton’s ARC for 10 years and progressed from technical manager to operations manager.

Peter said: “The opening of Stockton Globe is yet another reason to be proud of the area; there is a lot of love for the venue and many people in the area have stories of its earlier incarnation so it’ll be amazing to welcome them back after all these years.

“I’ve worked in a number of areas within theatre and the arts, and I will bring those skills together and work with my brilliant colleagues at the Globe to develop a fantastic customer experience for all.”