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North Council

Helping the North lead the way in innovation and new technologies.

About the council

The North of England is one of the country’s growing & exciting areas for digital innovation and new technologies. The North Council helps BIMA members in the North West, North East, and Yorkshire lead the way by creating a community of agencies, brands, start-ups, game developers and more.

Together, we’re working to protect and develop the North’s digital ecosystem by growing BIMA’s local events programme. We’re partnering with local initiatives. And we’re helping BIMA members in the area be ‘good’ businesses and ambassadors for digital.

Council members

The BIMA North Council is co-chaired by Mike Octigan, Co-Founder at Gecko Agency Ltd and Kirstie Buchanan, Growth and Partnership Director at CTI Digital.

Mike Octigan
Mike Octigan Council co-chair & Director, Gecko Agency Ltd
Mike is a co-founder of Gecko (An Umbraco Design & Build Agency).
Kirstie Buchanan
Kirstie Buchanan Council Co-chair & Growth and Partnership Director
Growth and Partnership Director at CTI Digital, leading business development strategy across the UK and Europe; sits on the advisory board of Manchester Metropolitan University's School of Digital Arts.
Deanne (Dee) Walsh
Deanne (Dee) Walsh BIMA Wellbeing Chair, Founder (Dewa Consulting), HR & Wellbeing Lead (Mando)
HR and Wellbeing Lead at Mando Group since 2015 and founder of Dewa Consulting, delivering wellbeing training and workshops; also a business coach and Co-Chair of BIMA's Wellbeing Committee and HR Peer Network.
Amanda Follit
Amanda Follit Senior Manager, EPAM
Joanna Hinchliffe
Joanna Hinchliffe Club Executive, AND Digital
Club Executive at AND Digital with over 25 years across digital communications, web design and build, and transformational change, leading a club of digital professionals and fostering client relationships.
Hannah Hosanee
Hannah Hosanee Director & Chair of BIMA Yorkshire, Consume Comms
Marketer with over a decade across brand, digital and events, who founded Consume Communications in 2016, co-founded Glug Leeds and is now BIMA's community lead for Yorkshire.
Clair Heaviside
Clair Heaviside Creative Director, Serotonin
Caroline Canty
Caroline Canty Founder & Director, Craft Coaching
Founder and director of Craft Coaching and an ILM-accredited business and leadership coach, drawing on over 10 years in tech and digital creative sales, marketing and branding.
Louise Lamb
Louise Lamb Member Engagement Manager; Community Lead - North West, BIMA
Partnerships Manager and North West Community Lead at BIMA, and founder of Sukikoko since 2020, with ten previous years in media sales in London.
Jeff McCarthy
Jeff McCarthy Senior Lecturer - Digital Marketing, Manchester Metropolitan University
John Paul Toher
John Paul Toher Product Director, Human Kind
John Paul runs Human Kind, an independent digital consultancy.
Lynn Haime
Lynn Haime CEO, Baltic Creative CIC
Lynn has over 30 years’ experience in commercial property, working across transactions, asset management and business growth.

Upcoming Regional Events

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Apply to join the council

If you’re interested in joining a BIMA Council you can register your interest below. Every quarter we’ll go through all council and steering group applications, so please bear with us when waiting for a reply.

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