OUR TEAM

Catherine joined the RBGS team in 2020 after gaining 21 years’ experience working within the Voluntary and Community Sector, Local Authority and Further Education. She originally joined the team as our Support Officer however she quickly became our Verification Officer dealing with all things compliance.  Catherine has also played a key role in launching our brand new bespoke website. Prior to joining us, Catherine was the Contracts and Compliance Team Leader at Northumberland College, making her the “go to gal" in answering any questions on funding and regulations. Catherine is known for her astute attention to detail, and can be relied upon for sorting our team birthdays! She loves to bake, and has promised to make us all sorts of treats when we return to office life! 

Chris is our Rural Enterprise Specialist for West Northumberland, covering Hexham, Haltwhistle and Prudhoe. Chris has many years’ experience in delivering business support programmes – many of which were alongside our other Chris. He joined Advance Northumberland in 2016, and previously worked on our Business Northumberland digital support programme. Chris loves to support businesses by spending time getting to know and understand the owners and their ambitions. He is our very own “Maverick” having served in the RAF all over the world. Chris can often be found sampling sweet treats; he is our go to for food recommendations!

Jonpaul joined us in 2020 as our Rural Enterprise Specialist for North Northumberland and has now taken on the role of Programme Manager. Jonpaul previously worked with our partner NBSL, and has many years’ experience in the business support sector. JP is known as our finance expert, having held a career in commercial banking. Not only does JP have an MBA in Business and Administration but he also sets the bar high on dress code, we’ve yet to see him in a pair of jeans! He is a basketball referee and a keen runner.