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 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 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."
Jenny joined Echo in August 2022 where she is responsible for sponsorship account management and development, new business development, exhibitor and sponsor-related event planning and management, and all related tasks.
With a contagious upbeat energy and passion for life, Jenny is a much-valued member of the Echo team. She has a determined commitment to ensuring the best customer experience, satisfaction, and success, and is it part of her nature to go the extra mile for sponsors and exhibitors.
Jenny’s previous seven years in sales, business development, and event management include being Sales Manager at St. James’ Park, home of Newcastle United Football Club, as well as Business Development Manager at Silverbean affiliate marketing agency.
And her favourite thing about working for Echo?
“The team ethos is really great with everyone working together to reach our goals. We also offer an unrivalled customer experience to our clients and delegates which I’m proud to be part of.”
“I have always worked in the hospitality industry in both operations and sales settings, and this role allows me to fully understand both sides of the coin; event logistics and sales. The importance of understanding and executing these two functions is paramount to a successful event!”
Sarah joined Echo Events in March 2020. Sarah handles membership queries, works on the day to day running of associations, and provides administrative support for committees and board members – including project management, meeting and event planning and report-writing – as well as many ad hoc tasks that are required.
With world-wide experience supporting Directors and events for both small and large firms in a variety of industries, combined with a ‘can do’, independent attitude, Sarah takes pride in efficiency and is utterly dependable as part of the Echo team.
Sarah’s 30-year career began at a media relations firm in Washington DC, where she was responsible for the design and production of client-tailored training and marketing materials for internationally renowned organisations such as the World Bank, Shell and NASA. Her next base back home in Northern Ireland, saw her become Executive Assistant to the Financial Director/Company Secretary of a UK-based manufacturing company and its subsidiaries. During this time, she also impressively managed to complete her PG in Administration and Law.
Sarah next had a 14-year stretch in Saudi Arabia, beginning as a Secretary to Management before becoming a planning and programmes analyst for Saudi Aramco, coordinating the Petroleum Engineering and Development participation in major international oil and gas conferences and planning and organising training and events for up to 1,600 employees.
Returning to the UK in 2015, initially to undertake an MSc in Sustainable Agriculture and Food Security, Sarah’s real passion, she then temped in administrative roles for the Director of the IHS at Newcastle University, the Executive Committee monthly Seminar Series, and other Institute staff groups. Of particular note, Sarah was key organiser of a “5 Giants Conference” arranging travel and accommodation for 40 invited speakers and guests, and all event logistics for the 400-strong delegation.
It is clear that Sarah enjoys her role which she puts down to the type of clients Echo supports as she says,
“The work our clients do is important and lifesaving, whether on the front line as critical care nurses, developing critical communications technology or sharing knowledge on this with emergency services workers. I enjoy that we evolve with our clients, and that no two days are the same.”
Sarah has a Higher Diploma in Secretarial and Administrative Procedures, is an ACS (Chartered Secretary) and is a member of the Chartered Governance Institute UK & Ireland.
Rosie joined Echo in July 2021 where she is Associations Co-ordinator. As part of the membership team, Rosie works closely with the Association Manager to facilitate the smooth running of Echo’s membership associations. Day to day this means managing a main membership association, National Back Exchange, working alongside the Board and the Echo Directors to provide support on all aspects of the association including membership queries, administrative support, finance, board meetings, events, and projects.
Rosie’s calm demeanour and positive attitude stem from being extremely organised and always one step ahead. Her unbounding talents mean she can turn her hand to any aspect of association or event management and much besides; a fact very much appreciated and relied upon by the rest of the Echo team.
Prior to working at Echo, Rosie worked in sales recruitment in both London and Leeds for eight years. Starting as an Executive Assistant, Rosie quickly progressed to become Business Manager and then to Head of Compliance and Audit for the same organisation. Rosie also worked at Newcastle United for two years providing sales administrative support and assisting the Sales Director.
From these roles, Rosie sees her main expertise as providing executive support at Board level, coordinating projects and leading on regulatory compliance and process/policy development. She also has experience in leading teams including training staff, and loves helping others, particularly those who are at the early stages of their careers, to develop their skills at work.
While cooking, reading, going on adventures in nature, watching horror films, going to gigs and spending time with family, friends and her cat are among Rosies favourite pastimes, what does she like most about working for Echo?
“The variety of the role – it keeps things interesting and has allowed me to learn new skills since I’ve joined! I enjoy building strong working relationship with clients and learning about their associations. It is rewarding understanding all aspects of an association and assisting with improvements to ensure that it continues to grow from strength to strength. I love leading on system and process design to ensure that things are running efficiently!”
Rosie has a Masters in English and Research (MRes), a BA in English and Project Management Qualification (Prince 2 Foundation).
Leona joined Echo in 2019 providing administration and event support. As Membership Secretary Leona provides day-to-day coordination on associations, meeting support, and event coordination including entitlement schedules, 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.”
Kate Donnelly, Event Co-ordinatorKate joined the Echo events team in June 2018.
With an infectious energy, a natural ability for communicating and an excellent eye for detail, she forms a crucial part of the success of any event.
Kate works across all of Echo's events supporting Claire and Dorothy with the logistical organisation. Her role is varied and includes venue and supplier sourcing, managing the delegate registration system, creating booking reports, answering delegate queries and onsite management.
Previously, Kate managed events and marketing at Capital Shopping Centres - Metrocentre and spent three years working for the British Olympic Association, helping organise prestigious events for athletes and team managers.
With experience that she feels adds up to hundreds of years, Kate has also travelled all over the world and loves a challenge! She has climbed down an 100-foot waterfall in the Grand Canyon, camped in -35 degrees in the Artic for a week whilst mushing over 200km and more recently completed Everest base camp on return from which she was fortunate to get last flight out of Nepal before lockdown.
Natasha joined Echo in August 2022 in the role of marketing coordinator. 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.”
Donna joined Echo in July 2023 in the role of associations accountant. This role holds responsibility for the management of client associations’ finances, monitoring their income and expenditure and producing financial accounts as well as providing cover whilst Jessica is on maternity leave.
Donna's career in a variety of accountancy roles began in the private sector working for Allied Bakeries in their Bakers Oven division, followed by other large organistaions such as Stagecoach plc and the NHS. For the last 16 years, Donna has provided accountancy for the not-for-profit/charity sector.
Her gentle and efficient nature have made Donna's transition to working at Echo seamless, and she is already a much-valued member of the team.
On joining Echo, Donna commented,
“I am looking forward to working with the lovely Echo team and their clients and using my qualifications and experience in the role.”
Donna is a CIMA-qualified accountant.
Jessica joined Echo in September 2022. Her role at Echo is as an associations accountant with responsibility for the management of client associations’ finances, including processing day-to-day transactions and production of financial accounts.
Her calm, friendly, organised, and communicative way of working are already establishing Jess as a much-appreciated asset to the Echo Team.
Having qualified as an ACA chartered accountant with Deloitte in Newcastle in 2011, Jess then worked in a range of finance roles across several different sectors including energy, an education charity, and construction. Most recently Jess worked as a Finance Manager at Balfour Beatty Investments.
As a relative newbie to the team, Jess commented on joining Echo,
“I’m looking forward to working as part of a small team and learning about the associations and the work that they do.”
Jess is an ICAEW ACA member.
