CORNERSTONE Design & Marketing has completed its recruitment drive for the year with the appointment of eight new members of staff as it prepares to move into its new, larger base in Oldham.
Full-service agency Cornerstone has enjoyed significant growth this year, expected to be over 40 per cent, after multiple contract wins and work referrals. This has resulted in the eight new roles created this year, phased through the spring, summer and autumn.
Cornerstone’s services include website development, advertising, digital media, strategic planning, graphic design, signs and banners, printed materials, copy-writing and public relations.
The agency is moving to a new base in Lees, Oldham, this autumn, which represents a £250,000 investment. The 6,000 sq ft facility has been bespoke-designed and fitted with facilities including graphic design, marketing, PR and website development studio spaces, a print production room for wide-format signs and banners, a photography and video studio, meeting rooms, break-out areas and a staff mini-gym.
The new recruits in recent months include Sarah Booth, Kirsten Murphy, Paige Coulthurst, Alison McDonnell, Lauren Sweeting, Karis Lambert, Samantha Lee Whitfield, Lewis Hayter and Simon Berry, filling roles across account management, digital, web, client services, operations and accounting.
Many of the team live in and around the Oldham area, and have significant experience in the sector.
Samantha is a graduate of the University of Manchester, where she studied textile design and design management. She later became CIM qualified and joined the McCann Complete Medical agency based in Macclesfield, where she was resource manager. She then joined CBRE London as a senior consultant, followed by the role of creative planning manager at The Hut Group in Cheshire. She joins Cornerstone as head of operations.
Sarah Booth, from Greenfield, attended Saddleworth School and Oldham Sixth Form College. She then began an apprenticeship at a full-service agency and became qualified with the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM). At Cornerstone, she is account manager and works closely with a range of clients.
The new recruits bring Cornerstone’s staff-count to 20.
David Wadsworth, the agency’s founder and managing director, began the agency as a one-man operation at his parents’ home in Clarksfield, Oldham, in 2007. A former Our Lady’s RC High School pupil and University of Huddersfield marketing graduate, David gradually expanded the business which later moved to an office at Wood End Mills in Lees and then a bigger premises on nearby Lees High Street. The new base is on Acorn Street, Lees.
David said: “We’re delighted to welcome these new recruits to Cornerstone as we prepare to move into new custom-designed and built offices. Their appointment and the development of our new HQ indicates the business’s ambition and drive for the future which looks very exciting indeed.
“We’re also pleased to have found an excellent new office space in Oldham, the home of Cornerstone, and to be able to continue contributing to the area’s digital and creative sector, skills base and economy. We’re investing significantly in staff, training, equipment and facilities to offer quality, satisfying careers and excellent services for clients. We’re raising our regional profile across Greater Manchester, Lancashire, Cheshire and West Yorkshire, and also beyond. These are exciting times.”
Cornerstone works with private and public sector clients across a range of industries including gyms and leisure centres, medical, pharmaceuticals, manufacturing, precision engineering, civil and structural engineering, property, arts, museums and tourism.
The agency has been awarded two Gold accolades by the regional Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR) for work with the North West Ambulance Service, and elsewhere been shortlisted as a finalist in the Manchester Publicity Association (MPA) Awards and the Oldham Business Awards.