People on the Move: Join the Dots; The Market Creative; CMS; Viddyoze; UK Science Park Association

Global consumer insight agency, Join the Dots, has established a dedicated creative team due to the growing success of its visual communications for the company and its roster of global clients.

Sarah Batten, who has worked for the company for five years, is joined by senior creative Nick Tomlinson and junior graphic designer, Dan Towns.

The team was formed in response to Join the Dots’ demand for creative output to complement its delivery of insight and research findings for clients.

Together, they oversee all aspects of visual communications, from brand identity and concept to graphic design, digital illustration and print.

Sarah explained: “More and more we’re finding insights need to reach a wider audience than the core research team – it’s crucial that findings are communicated clearly and in an engaging manner. We work with the client and researcher to diagnose what the best type of output would be given the audience and message, whether that’s physical print, such as booklets or brochures, or digital creative in the form of e-books or an animated infographic.”

Nick added: “Having worked with external agencies, you don’t always receive that connection and understanding at the individual level. As a team we have the ability to be extremely agile, which is becoming a real selling point in the industry at the moment. We are also now focusing on offering our creative expertise to clients outside of the research industry, which is going to be beneficial for other areas of the business and vice versa.”

As part of the new creative team Nick is also leading business development, consulting on proposals, offering visual communications training, and upskilling researchers by taking part in external webinars and industry seminars.

Kate Rhodes, marketing and brand manager at Join the Dots, added: “After 20 years in the insight industry, we know how important it is for research to make an impact within an organisation, and visual communication is a key part of us delivering that for clients. Our creative team help ensure that we produce work that our clients are proud to share as their own.”

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The Market Creative has appointed Greg Copeland to strengthen its behavioural strategy and insights offering.

Joining the team as a behavioural strategist, Greg has spent more than 10 years providing strategic and innovation consultancy to improve customer experiences. He has held previous positions with Havas, Kahoot! and Contagious.

Greg’s role at The Market Creative will be to better understand the multiple interactions people have with brands, identifying the influences and biases that can affect the direction these interactions take.

Greg Copeland

Sue Benson, managing director, said: “This is an important new hire for our business as we move forward our behavioural marketing proposition.

“Greg’s expertise will be essential to our clients as we help them to create better experiences for their customers as well as innovate and develop new products, growing their market share.”

Greg said: “I have spent 12 years helping businesses better understand the world around them and how to improve their position in it and have been fortunate to work with companies that put the customer at the centre of everything that they do. It is great to now be in a role that enables me to continue that focus.”

The Market Creative employs a 20-strong team at its offices in Manchester.

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CMS has quadrupled the size of its Manchester construction team in the past year with the recruitment of Charlotte Eccles.

Charlotte is senior non-contentious construction lawyer and joins from leading London real estate firm Forsters, where she specialised in high-end city centre development projects.

Charlotte is the sixth new recruit into the firm’s Manchester construction team in the past year and the fourth who has relocated from the capital.

From left: Nigel Lewis, Charlotte Eccles, Chris Hallam

Chris Hallam, head of the CMS energy, projects and construction group in the North, said he was “delighted to welcome Charlotte into the team, especially given that she chose to join CMS amidst heavy competition from other leading firms in the city”, adding that “Charlotte’s recruitment demonstrates the firm’s ‘pulling power’ for high calibre recruits from all over the UK, and especially the capital city”.

The CMS construction team is acting on some of the most high profile construction projects in Manchester, including Renaker’s Deansgate Square skyscraper cluster, Select’s redevelopment of the old BBC site on Oxford Road, and the Mayfield Partnerships £850m+ 10-year regeneration of 24 acres of land just south of Piccadilly station.

The Manchester team is also acting on several national infrastructure projects of significance, including Public Health England’s £400m+ new science and research campus in Harlow, and is advising a number of clients in respect of the new £20bn+ Hinkley Point C nuclear power station.

Last month the firm added four new lawyers to its real estate practice in the city.

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Preston-based video technology company Viddyoze has appointed a new VP of worldwide sales.

Counting more than 35 years’ sales experience, Derek Hallam will be responsible for implementing a new sales strategy and driving and growing sales in line with company objectives.

Prior to joining Viddyoze, Derek was enterprise business development director at GTT Communications, the global cloud networking provider to multinational clients. He has also held senior sales positions at IBM.

Viddyoze, the web-based, automated video animation platform, is currently used by more than 100,000 individuals and businesses worldwide, including major clients such as Sony, Tesla and Vodafone.

Derek Hallam

The company has ambitious growth plans, aiming to become a £500m business within the next couple of years, as well as the global leader in automated video content and animation.

Derek Hallam said: “I’ve always loved working with fast-growing companies that bring innovative solutions to the market, so Viddyoze was the ideal fit.

“I’m looking forward to making a real mark, not only personally, but also by coaching and developing a strong sales team that is instrumental in the growth of the business moving forward.”

David Chamberlain, co-founder at Viddyoze, said: “We’re so pleased to have Derek on board to support our sales strategies and help us on our path to make Viddyoze the number one animation platform globally.

“We were impressed with Derek’s wealth of experience and consultative, sales-led approach and are confident he will be a great asset to our team.”

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The UK Science Park Association (UKSPA) has elected Sci-Tech Daresbury’s business development manager, John Leake, as a director of its board.

John has been at Sci-Tech Daresbury since 2006 with responsibility for attracting and supporting companies on-site, and developing strategic partnerships.

The campus is now one of the UK’s leading national research and innovation hubs and is home to more than 130 technology companies, including IBM, Perfectus Biomed, Atos and Hitachi High-Technologies Europe.

In 2017, Sci-Tech Daresbury was awarded the “Setting the Pace” award by UKSPA, recognising its role as an important regional facility for supporting and developing the high-tech economy.

Alongside his role at Sci-Tech Daresbury, John also sits on the Cheshire & Warrington LEP science and innovation strategy board and the Liverpool City Region LEP digital & creative sector, and investment boards.

As one of 10 directors on the board, John will share his insight and expertise to support UKSPA’s goals to drive forward the UK’s science park and innovation sector.

John Leake

UKSPA promote and support the planning, development and operation of science parks and other innovation locations and the innovative, high growth, knowledge-based located on their sites.

John Leake said: “I’m honoured to be taking a position on UKSPA’s board and to be involved in the next chapter of this important journey as we work to raise the profile of science parks across the country.

“I’m very proud to be representing Sci-Tech Daresbury on such a prestigious platform and to cement our position as one of the UK’s leading science and innovation campuses.

“Through UKSPA, we can ensure a joined-up approach with other science parks across the UK to achieve a shared vision for the future of our sector.”

David Hardman, honorary chairman of the UKSPA board, said: “John’s wealth of experience within the industry means that he will be a highly-valued addition to our team, as we continue to ensure that UKSPA represents the diverse range of membership organisations we work on behalf of.”