Arts & Business has appointed Brenda Parkerson (pictured) as Director of Arts & Business North and Eleanor Wotherspoon as its new arts-facing Regional Manager. Wotherspoon was previously Individual Giving Manager at Manchester Art Gallery and Sponsorship Officer at The Octagon Theatre, Bolton. Parkerson joined Arts & Business two years ago as Business Development Manager.
Paul Gudgin (pictured), former Director of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, has joined Durham’s bid to become the UK’s first City of Culture as a Creative Consultant. He currently combines lecturing as Visiting Professor of Festivals and Events at Leeds Metropolitan University with freelance consultancy and lecturing work.
Alison Cole (pictured), currently Director of Communications at Southbank Centre, will become the new Executive Director of Communications at Arts Council England in November.
Activate performing arts company has appointed Kate Wood as Director, and Lorna Rees and Wendy Petitdemange will share the job of Theatre Development Co-ordinator, taking over from Becca Gill. Antonia Beck has taken over from Cheryl Hutton as Senior Administrator.
Marie Milligan, Information Co-ordinator at the Cultural Enterprise Office, is leaving to become Enterprise Officer for ECCA, the Enterprise Centre for the Creative Arts in London.
Laurence Sillars (pictured) is the new Chief Curator at BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art. He will take up the post in November.
Audiences Yorkshire has five new members of staff. Susie Delves is the new Marketing and Audience Development Consultant, Susan Ingham is Research Consultant, and Fiona Scott is Audience Consultancy Assistant. Lisa Farrell has joined as Membership Co-ordinator, and Becky Kasumba is Events and Professional Development Co-ordinator.
Robert Sanderson (pictured), who has been acting as Interim Managing Director for the Royal Centre Nottingham since January, has been appointed to the position permanently. He has previously been Director of Cambridge Corn Exchange and General Manager for the reopening Brighton Dome. David Guy will be taking up the new position of Technical Director at the Centre, responsible for the technical management of both the Theatre Royal and the Royal Concert Hall.