PR and content agency McBryde & Co has welcomed a new member of staff while also celebrating the promotion of another.
Emily Bloor, a recent graduate of Newcastle University, has been hired as a PR and content executive, and Eve Daly has advanced to senior PR and content executive after a year with the agency. The firm, winner of CIPR’s small consultancy of the year award, is also on the hunt for an additional account director.
Established in 2019, McBryde & Co has grown year on year both in turnover, clients and staff. Founder Rachel McBryde has a keen interest in supporting North East talent and with a background in journalism, she has a wealth of experience to pass on to a new generation of PR professionals.
She said: “It’s been a whirlwind. When I first started the business, I didn’t expect to have a team of eight within three years - and be in a position to recruit more people. I am so proud of what we have accomplished and the clients we work with are genuinely incredible. I am so pleased to welcome Emily onboard, she is settling in well and enjoying getting to know her colleagues and deepening her knowledge of PR. Eve has been with us for over a year now, and it has been a pleasure to watch her grow and develop, approaching each day with great passion.”
EMG Solicitors, which has offices in Durham, Newcastle, Darlington and Penrith in Cumbria, is celebrating a raft of recent promotions. Based at its headquarters in Durham, Callum Robertson moves to associate in the residential conveyancing team. Michael Costelloe is promoted to associate and Andrea Ingledew to senior associate in the court of protection (property and affairs) team. Matthew Sigsworth moves to senior associate in the litigation team.
Emma Gaudern, managing director of EMG Solicitors said: “Seeing our people develop and supporting them to do so remains a priority and we continue to build a culture and environment where everyone can thrive and benefit from the great career opportunities we have available. Providing a quality service for our clients is our number one aim and we achieve this by investing in, listening to and training our people so that they can reach their goals and ambitions. This is something that we support through our fantastic career development programme to proactively nurture talent across the business.
“I’d like to congratulate Callum, Michael, Andrea and Matthew for their hard work and dedication. These promotions are a huge credit to them, and their ongoing commitment and I wish them all the very best in their new roles.”
Residential auctioneer and property tech firm iamproperty has appointed Neil Hope as chief technology officer. Mr Hope has more than 20 years of experience in delivering technology transformation for large, market leading businesses, having previously worked at Parkdean Resorts, Sage and Formica. The appointment marks a continued investment in new skills as iamproperty takes on its next phase of growth.
Ben Ridgway, iamproperty co-founder said: “We are really pleased to welcome Neil to the iamproperty team. We’re built on innovation and so this is a really important appointment for us. We have big plans and an exciting vision for the future for our people and our partner agents, so he joins us at the perfect time. His role will help to support the business as we prepare to enter a new era of product and service innovation and deliver our ecosystem vision and strategy.”
Mr Hope added: “I’ve always been attracted to companies with a strong sense of purpose and a bold vision and iamproperty have both. A huge part of that vision is the continued commitment to delivering pioneering, quality, secure and scalable technology and I’m really looking forward to helping to shape that and to deliver on our strategy. The investment that is going into the innovation and technology teams to build on the businesses strong heritage as pioneers is setting us up for a very exciting future, and I’m delighted to be part of that.”
The Newcastle partners of international law firm DAC Beachcroft have elected Nicola Fairbairn as the new location head for the office. Ms Fairbairn will take over from David Weatherburn and serve a three-year term. Mr Weatherburn has held the role of location head for the past 14 years and was instrumental in setting up DACB’s Newcastle office in 2008.
Under his leadership the office has grown from 30 colleagues in late 2008 to more than 160 colleagues today, supporting a national and regional client base. Ms Fairburn is a real estate partner with over 20 years’ experience acting for both private and public sector clients on a wide range of property matters.
The Newcastle office is currently based at Wellbar Central, but DACB has signed a lease to become the first business to move into the new 14-storey Bank House at Pilgrim Place in Newcastle city centre this spring. Ms Fairburn was instrumental in making the deal happen and is currently overseeing the new office fit out.
She said: “I am extremely proud and privileged to take over as Location Head in Newcastle and look forward to making our office an even greater place to work. One of my first tasks will be to move everyone into our new office at Bank House – something I am already working on and very excited to see come to fruition. I care deeply about the welfare of our colleagues and their ability and desire to deliver a high quality service to our clients. In my new role, I intend to lead by example and do everything I can to show the North East what a great firm DACB is.”
Independent digital marketing agency Mediaworks has promoted two of its long-standing directors to senior positions. Andrew Blenkinsop has been promoted from the group’s strategy director to chief strategy officer, taking a place on the organisation’s executive board. Dr David Norris moves from performance marketing director to group operations director.
Mr Blenkinsop, who has been with Mediaworks for seven years, will lead strategic implementation across the group, working closely with group marketing director, Chris Coulson and newly appointed commercial operations director, Rosie Hebblethwaite. Meanwhile, Dr Norris, who arrived at Mediaworks three years ago from his position as associate dean at Teesside University’s Business School, will spearhead the delivery of Mediaworks’ digital marketing services across SEO, performance marketing, paid media, content and digital PR.
Brett Jacobson, founder and group CEO at Mediaworks, said: “Both Andrew and David have consistently proven themselves as outstanding leaders in the business. Their new positions reflect the esteem I hold for them personally but also reflect their immeasurable contributions in transforming us into one of the largest and best performing independent agencies in the UK. I’m enormously excited to see what both can achieve in their new roles at Mediaworks.”
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