Full-service agency Cornerstone Design and Marketing has made some senior appointments as it predicts a record £2m turnover for the current year.
The Oldham-based business celebrated its 15th anniversary in January, and has made the new appointments following a series of new client contract wins locally, regionally, nationally and internationally across all departments.
Two of the most senior appointments have been made in the web department to bolster a burgeoning client roster. The first is technical lead Phil Owen, who joins Cornerstone full-time after several years of working with the agency as a contractor. He specialises in WordPress web builds and has a wealth of experience in UI (user interface) and all-round web technology. He is refining processes and improving efficiency to leverage the best technical workflows to benefit the agency’s commercial goals.
He is joined by senior developer Steve Perry, another hire who knows Cornerstone well after several spells freelancing for the firm. He specialises in Laravel web applications and cyber security having gained a National Cyber Security Centre-certified master’s degree in advanced security and digital forensics at Edinburgh Napier University, from where he graduated with a distinction in 2021.
Earlier this year erry published a research paper in the Journal of Digital Forensics, Security and Law, which contributed important research on wearable technologies.
Cornerstone founder and MD, David Wadsworth said: “The agency turnover has seen consistent growth of well over 30 per cent year-on-year for the last five years, with last year setting a new record at 50 per cent. That’s been a lot of work to manage, and our core focus on quality and service in everything we do has been supported by the appointment of some really key hires within the business.
“Our new team members are all seniors, with many years of experience in our industry, which means we can continue to move the agency forward quickly, deliver quality for our clients and also support junior team members’ training and development via some of the best the industry has to offer.”
Stepping up to full-time in the web team is former level 3 software development technician apprentice Hannah Jones, who has been made a junior developer after passing her apprenticeship with a distinction.
Fellow team member Joe Durrans continues to work part-time while studying computer science at Manchester Metropolitan University.
Also joining Cornerstone, in the newly created role of business development manager, is Jamie Smith, a former sales and marketing manager with Oldham Community Leisure (OCL).
Smith has also worked as a membership consultant and sales manager with Virgin Active before sales manager roles at Nuffield Health and The Village. He then spent four years in the recruitment industry before a return to the leisure sector at OCL.
The other new recruits include account manager Abigail Tomlinson, who studied international fashion marketing at Manchester Metropolitan University and has also worked in PR, which she combined with studying for a master’s degree in creative advertising.
