Meet your team
We’re very proud of our team and the work they do to create a friendly, professional service for you, your members and your delegates. Find out more about them and the unique skills and experience they bring to Echo…
We’re very proud of our team and the work they do to create a friendly, professional service for you, your members and your delegates. Find out more about them and the unique skills and experience they bring to Echo…
Claire Westgate, DirectorClaire is a professional conference and event manager with over 14 years experience delivering client services and project management. Along with Dorothy & Tracey, she oversees the day to day management of Echo and client services.
Prior to Echo, Claire spent 8 years in London working for specialised B2B media groups - EMAP and Centaur Media. She was an integral part of the conference team at EMAP and delivered events across their publication portfolio which included Retail Week, Architects Journal and The Lawyer. In 2008 she moved to Centaur Media as Head of Events for Centaur Conferences. Leading the logistics team in their delivery of around thirty events a year including conferences, exclusive round table dinners and 121 summits. On her return to Newcastle Claire has delivered a number of events for Echo's clients ranging from large academic conferences to award ceremonies. In 2018 Claire headed up the launch of Echo's North East Marketing Awards which attracted over 300 marketing and business professionals from across the North East. The event has quickly become the 'go to' event for the marketing sector, attracting brands such as Barbour, Fentimans and Nexus.
Claire is a full member of ABPCO (Association for Professional Conference Organisers).
Dorothy Inverarity, DirectorMore than comfortable in a multi-national environment, Dorothy brings her extensive knowledge and experience in all aspects of events management and organisation including strategy, implementation and evaluation. Along with Claire & Tracey, she oversees the day to day management of Echo and client services.
Prior to her return to the UK in 2013, Dorothy spent several years managing programmes for large scale international conferences and events for MCI in Brussels. Specific projects included events such as the Society for Clinical Data Management (Baltimore, LA), Dioxin Annual Conference (Brussels), 20th EACMFS Congress with over 1900 delegates (Bruges), and the United Nations Global Compact Leaders’ Summit (New York). Fluent in French and with a PhD in Chemistry, Dorothy heads up Echo’s international congress and association management services, creating an international and scientific slant to client events.
Tracey Christy, DirectorTracey Christy is an experienced finance manager with extensive financial knowledge gained from over two decades working within a range of different sectors. Along with Dorothy & Claire, she oversees the day to day management of Echo and heads up the finance division.
Tracey manages the finance team who cover a wide range of services for clients, from the day to day back office finance functions, to more complex finance functions, such as cash flow and working capital management, foreign currency risk management, and preparation of Management Accounts and EU Project Reports for International clients.
Tracey specialises in finance system processes, reviewing and improving current systems. For clients this means improved efficiency, compliance and management information reporting.
Throughout her career Tracey has worked for employers such as the NHS, Royal Mail and Local Council, through to charities and private sector Ltd companies. Tracey is a fully ACCA qualified Accountant.
Rachael Scott, Associations ManagerRachael joined Echo in 2018. Her role has evolved from initially being Membership Services Administrator to requiring her to work with a number of associations supporting all the associations teams in their day-to-day work.
Rachael's career started at age 16 and involved a number of customer-focused roles. This was followed by working and travelling throughout Australia taking on a wide variety of roles requiring differing skill-sets, from a small company requiring a new filing system, to working for the Minister of Tourism in Sydney. The commonality has always been creating effective systems to ensure efficient organisation. Rachael then worked in business travel before joining Echo.
Rachael's strong work ethic and kind, supportive manner see her being a reliable sounding board for the rest of the team on variety of matters.
When asked what she likes most about working at Echo, Rachael said,
"The varied role, my days can be very different from booking travel, speaking to members, arranging meetings & attending those meetings, to then also doing my management role. Also working with such an amazing team, who are all so lovely."
Judith is a creative communicator with a strong track record in the higher education and voluntary sectors. She specialises in internal communications, executive support and customer experience. Her specific interest is in keeping organisations and people connected with great comms and processes.
Judith holds a BA from the School of Oriental and African Studies at London University, a Postgraduate Certificate in University Administration and a marketing qualification from the Chartered Institute of Marketing.
Joining Echo in 2024, she is enjoying taking her skills to the next level supporting member services and clients in the not for profit sector.
Natasha joined Echo in August 2022 in the role of marketing manager. This role holds responsibility for supporting the marketing requirements across the associations and events teams, as well as those of Echo itself.
Natasha's career began in investor relations and financial PR in the City of London. After studying for an MBA, she became Head of Marketing and Communications for a subsea engineering firm before setting up her own marketing consultancy in Newcastle upon Tyne. Natasha joined Echo after working on the marketing team of a Law and Claims Management firm for four years.
Natasha is a friendly, thoughtful and valued member of the team who is always willing to go the extra mile for clients and colleagues. Her expertise and knowledge of marketing are invaluable and much appreciated by the team.
Natasha said of working at Echo,
“This is such an impressively widely experienced and world-wise team who give the impression of being far more people than they are! It is also a pleasure to work for clients who make such a positive difference to the world in their variety of ways.”
Sarah joined Echo in June 2025 as part of the association management team.
Having studied law at the University of Newcastle, Sarah started her career as a solicitor working for a large law firm in Newcastle, specialising in professional indemnity litigation, defending professionals against claims brought against them by their clients. As her career progressed, she gained experience in medical negligence defence at a global law firm, Clyde & Co. After having children, Sarah made a huge career change and secured a role running the school office and business arrangements at her children’s nursery and first school. This allowed her to learn and implement new processes and systems to improve efficiency.
Sarah moved to a large cricket club with a broad membership base and the capacity to host events from small celebrations to corporate banquets with up to 500 attendees plus celebrity speakers. It was in that role that Sarah first met the Echo team, as the club was their client and they supported her in the role. Sarah next requalified as a counter fraud specialist within the NHS, but missed working in an office.
A mum of two teenage boys, Sarah makes time to enjoy group personal training classes at a local gym, yoga and started sea swimming last year – the North Sea has become her happy place!
Sarah has a natural positivity and enthusiasm and is looking forward to gaining knowledge of the different industry sectors of the clients Echo works with, bringing her own experience as a former client and events organisation experience. She added,
"I am thoroughly enjoying being back in an office environment, working with some colleagues whom I worked with previously. I must be a home bird as the Echo office is only a 10-minute walk from my house!"
Leona joined Echo in 2019 providing administration and event support. The company then supported her to complete a Chartered Institute of Marketing Certificate to extend her role to include marketing expertise.
As Membership Secretary Leona provides day-to-day coordination on associations, meeting support, and event coordination including marketing and financial support, and anything else that is needed.
With a kind and thoughtful nature, Leona is always first to check on the well-being of the Echo team, and she turns her hand to the wide variety of functions required of her with great care.
Before joining Echo, Leona provided support for students and professors in the School of Architecture at Newcastle University for seven years, and before that was at the Department for Work and Pensions for four years.
Leona’s, perhaps surprising, degree was a BA (Hons) Music Theatre and she remains adept at playing the violin and piano.
She enjoys working at Echo adding;
“I love working in a small, close-knit team that feels like family. I enjoy the variety of the role and being able to work closely with clients to support the day-to-day running of their associations. The support within Echo is always there to learn new skills and develop and I am proud to be part of such an amazing company.”
Jade joined the Echo finance team in December 2024.
She is an ACCA (Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) accredited accountant responsible for the finance management of British APCO, BACCN, and NBE.
Since Jade started her career in 2009, she has worked in numerous accountancy practices gaining in house and consultancy experience. Her industry experience includes working as a management accountant for an engineering company.
Jade enjoys the variety of work in her role at Echo adding,
"No two days are the same and the team are really friendly and welcoming!"
Ebony joined the Echo events team in July 2024.
Ebony works across all of Echo's events supporting Claire and Dorothy with the planning preparation and execution of all the events across Echo Events. This can range from responding to delegate queries and registration, liaising with suppliers, and sourcing and coordinating venues to fit our requirements.
With over 8 years of experience as an Event and Hospitality Manager, Ebony has been general manager of multiple sites of independent café, bar and venues hosting over 15 events per month. Ebony was also Assistant Director and Director for Short form and Music Videos. She has also travelled internationally as a street theatre performer to over 23 countries.
So far, Ebony has enjoyed the supportive and welcoming team at Echo appreciating the personal reward from a fast-paced and varied role working with not-for-profits and charities. She added,
"It’s great to be surrounded by a lot of smart, driven and confident women, it is empowering to be a part of a women lead company."
James joined the Echo finance team in June 2024.
James assists the finance managers across multiple associations and Echo Events, with a focus on logging, producing and reconciling sale and purchase invoices in the day books and Sage.
Having worked as a chef for 6 years at well-respected restaurants, James then had a career change to become an accounts assistant supporting the growth of a small north east charity that helps people in need in the Tyneside area. During this time, he became aware of the finance function and decided to study for his AAT.
James enjoys the diversity of work relating to the different events and the associations and added,
"Echo is such a friendly work environment and I'm grateful to feel such a lot of support from the team as I study the AAT."
Abbie joined Echo in September 2025 as part of the events team.
With a degree in Event Management, Abbie has developed knowledge in organising corporate and pharmaceutical events and meetings, bringing a strong understanding of event logistics and a passion for delivering high-quality, efficient events.
