SUDBURY and Colchester-based marketing company Mackman has welcomed two new designers on to the creative team at Sudubry.

Maria Kelly and Suzanne Smith have joined the company’s design department, and have hit the ground running.

Maria Kelly, left, previously ran a graphic design house, and worked alongside high street giants such as Marks & Spencer, Boots and The Disney Store.

“Mackman is a great place to work as a designer,” said Maria. “We all get excited when a designed product comes back, and delivers on all fronts. I do get an emotional connection to the work I create, so when clients love it too – that’s a huge result.”

Suzanne Smith studied design at the University for Creative Arts in Epsom, which counts Zandra Rhodes, Tracey Emin and Karen Millen as Alumni, and joined Mackman’s design team shortly after Maria.

“Even though Mackman is a busy, dynamic place to work, I’ve never felt like I don’t have the time or space to be really creative in my job, which is pretty special,” she said.

: : INDEPENDENT home builder Hopkins Homes, based at Melton, near Woodbridge, has announced its sixth new appointment of the year.

Paul Willoughby, who has more than 30 years’ design and technical experience, has been appointed as technical manager to the Design, Planning & Technical team.

He has worked for numerous national house developers throughout his career and hopes to bring that experience to good use with Hopkins Homes.

“I am delighted to have been appointed to this position with such a prestigious company as Hopkins Homes whose reputation is unsurpassed within the East Anglian region,” he said.

Executive chairman James Hopkins said: “I am delighted to welcome Paul to the Hopkins team and am confident of the valuable contribution that he will make as we continue to grow and expand ever further. This latest appointment is actually the 21st that we have made in just 28 months and really underlines the crucial role that our industry plays in the local employment market and the wider economy. I am particularly proud that our reputation, and continued expansion as the largest independent property developer in East Anglia, enables us to attract highly accomplished people whose skills set and talent are a major asset to the company.”

: : PRIVATE client investment managers Brewin Dolphin has announced the arrival at its new Ipswich office of divisional director, Matthew Shields.

Matthew has more than 17 years’ experience in the financial services sector and is a Chartered Member of the Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment. He started his career with Lloyds Private Banking and then moved to Barclays Wealth, where he was investment manager specialising in the client relationship of private clients, self invested pensions and trusts.

Midlands regional Director Robin Beer said: “We are proud to welcome Matthew to our new office in Ipswich. This development is very much part of our commitment to expand our presence in Ipswich and within East Anglia.”

Matthew joins Nicholas Barber in the new office in Felaw Maltings with Andrew Wheeler and Toby Sellers arriving over the coming months.

: : ROBERT Geary, who has eight years’ experience as a VAT officer with HM Revenue & Customs in central London, has been appointed VAT consultant with chartered accountants Lovewell Blake.

Mr Geary, who has been in the profession for over nine years, joins 13 other specialists in the firm’s tax consultancy team, one of the largest in the region, covering all aspects of UK and international tax. He will be working with VAT manager Liz Hill in serving clients at its 10 offices in Norfolk and Suffolk.

With HMRC his work included carrying out VAT inspections on businesses of all shapes and sizes, independent assessment reviews and verifying repayment claims. For a time he managed a team of trainee VAT officers in addition to presenting at business advice open days. He then moved into practice with a Chelmsford firm of accountants.

“This is an exciting opportunity to further my career and also to move closer to my family who are now in West Suffolk,” said Mr Geary, who lives in the Waveney Valley.

: : LYNN Higgins has joined Ipswich-based Ransomes Jacobsen as UK regional sales manager for industrial vehicles.

Reporting to Chris Buckle, the company’s business development manager – vehicles, she will be responsible for the UK sales of the Cushman and MEGA branded industrial products.

She will also be responsible for integrating existing MEGA dealers into the business and concentrating on expanding the dealer network to provide additional touch points across the UK.

For the past four years she has been working in a similar sales role with Facelift GB Ltd, one of the UK’s leading independent suppliers of powered access equipment and prior to this worked with other local and regional plant hire related companies.

Lynn is a busy working mother of five and lives in Hinckley, near Nuneaton, with husband Mick.

Chris said: “Lynn has a wide knowledge of the industrial vehicle sector through hire plant hire experience and will be a great asset as we ramp up our sales and marketing activity of the Mega range of eco-friendly vehicles and our Cushman industrial vehicle range.

“She is a proven sales management specialist who will, I’m sure, help us achieve greater penetration into the industrial sector as we grow this particular market. She is yet another excellent addition to the sales team here at Ransomes Jacobsen.”