Southwold-based strategic communications design agency Spring has recruited three new key staff.

Rob Mehew has joined as a senior web developer, bringing with him a wealth of expertise across the web, a mobile-first approach and online user experience from his previous work at Farrows and Metachick.

Callie Lanham-Tolliday becomes communications executive. She brings valuable connections and passion for politics, having spent four years working as senior caseworker and office manager at Ipswich MP Ben Gummer’s office.

The design studio’s newest member is graphic designer Sam Cook, who grew up in Beccles and after graduating from Leeds College of Art has now moved back to Suffolk to join the Spring design team.

Co-founder Erika Clegg said: “2015 has been a great year for Spring: we’re going to be reporting at least 20% growth, and so I am really pleased to welcome Callie, Rob and Sam to help us keep delivering a great service for our clients.”

: : Dr Tim Whitley, managing director for research and innovation at communications giant BT, and managing director of Adastral Park, the company’s global research and development headquarters at Martlesham Heath, near Ipswich, has joined the board of New Anglia Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP).

He brings 30 years’ experience to the board, as a world-class engineer and established leader of one of the region’s biggest employers.

Adastral Park is home to 3,500 BT staff and more than 70 other hi-tech companies employing 700 people, which form the growing Innovation Martlesham technology cluster.

BT has contributed £2.3billion to the economy in the East – equivalent to £1 in every £55 – and its investment in research and development is the third highest of any UK company.

As BT’s MD of research and innovation, Dr Whitley is responsible for the development and practical application of new technologies to keep BT, and the UK, in a leading position globally, such as the next generation of ultrafast fibre broadband services.

Dr Whitley said: “I am very excited to join the LEP board. New Anglia LEP has an impressive track record for securing funding with a focus on enterprise and innovation – which we were delighted to help showcase at iExpo 2014, held at Adastral Park. I am looking forward to my new role supporting our most innovative clusters across both counties, and maximising the impact of the talented people and organisations we have in this region.”

LEP chair Mark Pendlington said: “I am delighted to welcome Dr. Tim Whitley on behalf of the LEP board. He will be a huge asset as we continue to push ahead with our ambitious agenda – encouraging and supporting innovation and boosting productivity.

“Tim’s national and international reputation for technology leadership shows that the LEP continues to attract the best and brightest in our region.”

Dr Whitley joined BT as an apprentice engineer. After studying at university, he spent 10 years researching into optical fibre amplifiers and their application in high speed communications systems. Optical fibre technologies, pioneered at Adastral Park, now underpin all global communications networks.

He is also a policy fellow with the Centre for Science & Policy, University of Cambridge. He lives in Felixstowe with his wife and four daughters.

: : ECL: The Care and Wellbeing Company has strengthened its development in the health and social care sector with the appointment of a new head of care.

Michele Dunn will be responsible for developing high quality care services and pathways which maximise customers’ independence. She will have a specific focus on the Chelmsford-based firm’s short term support service, which helps people regain everyday living skills following an illness or spell in hospital.

Her core skills are in providing customer focused care, recruiting teams and managing service performance. Michele’s appointment comes as the Care Act 2014, which came into force in April this year, gives more focus on supporting people to live independently for longer and introduced a new standard of care needs assessment.

Michele said: “I’m thrilled to have joined ECL at such an exciting time. Short term and reablement support is a growing industry and the benefit of supporting people to regain their independence at home is becoming increasingly recognised in both community and in healthcare settings.

“I’ve seen first-hand the strain health services are under, how hospitals are struggling with capacity and how reablement services can help to relieve the pressure by enabling customers to finish their recovery comfortably in their own home. I’m looking forward to developing this area of ECL’s service further and making sure we’re maintaining a high standard of care for our customers.”

Michele brings more than 15 years of healthcare industry experience and knowledge to ECL , was gained through a variety of roles. Prior to ECL she was working as Modern Matron within several NHS hospitals across Essex to implement new services and ensure patients were receiving a gold standard of care.

Acting managing director of ECL Mike Fitzgerald: “We are delighted to have Michele join ECL and share her vast experience and healthcare knowledge with us. Her skills are a great match for our business and will help us to ensure that our customers receive consistently excellent care which will help them to maintain as much of their independence as possible.”

Michele began her career as an accident and emergency nurse and went on to specialise in midwifery which saw her working in hospitals in London and Norfolk before moving to Australia for six years. Her experience overseas includes establishing a maternity service at a women’s prison hospital in Perth, where she introduced a programme of continuity care. ECL supports adults with learning disabilities, sensory and physical impairments and older people who are living with dementia.

: : Suffolk Football Association (FA) chief executive Laura Smith has passed her UEFA Certificate in Football Management. She was one of 27 candidates on the course which included representatives from the FA, four other county FAs, the Lithuanian Football Federation, the Bosnia & Herzegovina Football Federation and the Football Federation of Macedonia.

The highly prestigious UEFA Certificate is awarded by the Swiss Graduate School in Public Administration at the University of Lusanne and the course covered six main areas of management within a national football association.

The objectives of the UEFA CFM is to develop the theoretical and practical knowledge of managers in European football, thus contributing to the diffusion of up-to-date management techniques and best practices among national associations and their stakeholders and enabling participants to master the knowledge and skills expected of future senior executives.

To complete the course Laura undertook a mix of online learning and face-to-face instruction.

: : EASCA, the East Anglian Society of Chartered Accountants, has created a new role of city head for Ipswich & Colchester and appointed Luke Morris as representative.

The key focus of the role is to bring together chartered accountants and other professionals to network, share best practice and promote local business issues.

EASCA president Tom Lewis said: “With his involvement in the Institute of Directors and the Ipswich Suffolk Business Club, Luke is an authoritative and well-connected member of EASCA who can help us deliver our ambition of providing members with opportunities to develop and network.

“Our institute has a key role to play in the region, not only in terms of networking and continuing professional development, but also with the wider business community. In recent years we’ve seen a trend towards localisation and the principles of increased devolution. An active, engaged and collaborative branch has an essential role to play, particularly as the region becomes more fiscally autonomous.”

Luke, who qualified as a chartered accountant in 2004, is a partner at regional firm Larking Gowen with substantial UK and international experience with “Big Four” professional services firms.

He has focused on developing Larking Gowen’s corporate business across Suffolk and he has also been instrumental in its successful expansion in to Essex. He leads Larking Gowen’s rapidly-growing energy sector specialisation and is a founder member of the ICAEW Energy and Natural Resources Steering Committee.