Celtic Manor, Newi, Golley Slater

Jan 23 2008 Western Mail

Celtic Manor Resort managers made directors
THE Celtic Manor Resort has promoted two of its senior managers to the position of director as it steps up preparations for hosting The Ryder Cup in 2010.

Gareth Rees Jones becomes marketing director at the five-star golf and spa resort in South Wales while Rebecca Joy has been appointed special events director.

Mr Rees Jones joined Celtic Manor as campaign manager in April 2004 and has been head of marketing since February 2005 with responsibility for promoting the resort’s wide range of facilities and high-profile events including The Celtic Manor Wales Open.

Overseeing a marketing department of eight people, Mr Rees Jones will be responsible for promoting the new course and clubhouse, built at a total cost of £16m, while continuing to develop the resort’s other facilities.

Miss Joy joined Celtic Manor in 2003 as event manager looking after a wide variety of corporate events at the resort. She was promoted within 12 months to account manager, responsible for key clients, and later became head of special events, a new department created to run the increasing number of marketing-led events being staged by the resort.

Miss Joy, a graduate in retail marketing, will take on added responsibility as special events director for securing sponsorship for these events as well as their overall management and staging. She will also play a key role as Celtic Manor prepares itself for staging The Ryder Cup in 2010.

Finance expert takes up Newi chairman’s role
FORMER chairman of Finance Wales Brian Howes has taken up the role as chairman of the North East Wales Institute of Higher Education (Newi).

Mr Howes’s chairmanship of the institute’s board of governors follows the retirement of Trefor Jones.

For the past seven years Mr Howes, below, has been chairman of Finance Wales, the Welsh Assembly Government’s business development bank.

He is a non-executive director at the Optic Technium in St Asaph. He has a strong background in the pharmaceutical and paper industries.

He was president of a Kimberly-Clark corporation European business division where he led the development of a manufacturing site and European office for the company in Flintshire.

He was also responsible for the pan-European logistics and human resources functions for the leading global health and hygiene company and in 1993 he was awarded an OBE for services to the paper industry.

He said, “I am delighted to have been elected by the board as chair for Newi.

“As chairman I am keen to play an active role in supporting the institute to continue to have a positive impact on the economic and social development of the region and in its ambition to be a market-led, student-centred university of international significance and open to all.

New principal Professor Michael Scott said, “I am certain that he will effectively oversee the exciting developments of the institute which is planned for coming years.”

Golley Slater names managing director
MARKETING, advertising and public relations group Golley Slater has appointed a new managing director for its Cardiff advertising agency.

Sion Ashley-Jones worked for 14 years in the advertising industry before joining Golley Slater, for companies including McCann Erikson, Ware Anthony Rust and TMP Worldwide. During this time, Mr Ashley-Jones has worked with some of the biggest household brand names including VW, Coca-Cola, McDonald’s, BMW, Lloyds TSB, Mitsubishi Motors, Le Meridien Hotel Group, DHL and National Panasonic.

He has headed up operations at an international level, overseeing and managing territories including the Middle East, Africa and Asia.