Meet the Team

This is Northumberland and The Borders is unique.  It’s a new type of website combining destination marketing information with news, features, galleries, reviews, interviews, and lots more.

We have invested from our savings to build this business and want to ensure its success. We believe the main key to success is an ethos of support and encouragement. By working together, such as following on Twitter, making recommendations and supporting one another, we can all make tourism in Northumberland and The Borders the best it can be.

Meet the team below. If you’d like to get in touch please use the contact form.

Sheelagh Caygill is co-publisher and co-editor at www.thisisnorthumberland.com. She is an award-winning journalist and has worked for The Northern Echo, Darlington, and The Edmonton Journal, Canada. She lectured on the Journalism course at Darlington College and has also worked in corporate communications, most recently as PR executive at Northumberland Tourism. Currently, Sheelagh freelances, owns and manages a number of websites, and works with businesses on social media projects. She has a diploma in journalism and a BA in History from the University of Alberta.

Jane Hall is co-publisher and co-editor at www.thisisnorthumberland.com. She is an multi-award winning journalist with 25 years experience working on newspapers both at home and abroad. For 19 years she worked for The Journal, the daily newpaper for the North East of England. Her final project with the paper was spearheading its buy, use, eat local Taste campaign. Jane now runs her own freelance writing and PR consultancy firm, Smart Cookie Media, and works for a range of food, leisure and magazine clients in the North East. Raised in Rothbury, she can’t think of a better place to live than Northumberland. Jane has NCTJ qualifications in journalism.

Christine Harle is a freelance journalist and writer for This is Northumberland. She began her career at the Northumberland Gazette in Alnwick and worked there for more than 10 years before joining The Journal in Newcastle-upon-Tyne. She worked at the regional title for more than 22 years, for half of which she was the paper’s north Northumberland reporter. Christine has lived near Morpeth for almost 40 years and her knowledge of the county is second-to-none.

George Macintyre is a writer for This is Northumberland. He has been a journalist for 37 years and worked in Scotland, Qatar and, most recently, The Journal, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, before taking redundancy in 2009. He is acting chairman/secretary of the Newcastle Branch of the National Union of Journalists and served on the union’s National Executive Council for a number of years before being elected national president for 2003/04. He runs www.fishingforanglers.com for fishermen and women in the North East of England. George is also a guest lecturer at the International Summer School run by Newcastle University.

Ross McStay is the site’s lead designer and programmer and comes from both technical and creative backgrounds. He works as an IT Manager in the Third/Voluntary Sector and also as a freelance web designer, developer and consultant. Ross has helped many SMEs to establish an effective web presence. He has worked on many advertising campaigns, producing a range of banners. He has authored and edited copy for clients, with a view to optimising the impact of web content on both visitors and search engine rankings. Based in Glasgow, Scotland, Ross has a keen interest in marketing strategies and social media.

Mark Bishop is a freelance digital and print designer with more than 20 years experience in advertising, marketing, PR and tourism. He’s worked on projects including the North East’s regional visitor websites, the St. Oswald’s Way long-distance walking guides, and the latest point-of-sale collateral for Nike. Mark enjoys keeping up to speed with the latest design trends and technical breakthroughs in the digital and print sectors.

Louise best is a photographer, copywriter and marketing consultant with more than 15 years experience.  She has her own photography business, is a freelance copywriter and helps local businesses with marketing. She has a 1st Class Honours Degree in Business Management from the University of Leeds and a background in customer service, management and marketing. She also studied Pre-Journalism City & Guilds at Solihull College. You can see some of her work here.

Colleen Cairns is an award-winning broadcast journalist, produce and director with 25 years’ experience and guides the site on video production and Youtube. She has produced documentaries for ITV including Crimefighters, Playing Away (presented by Patrick Monohan), and Property Matters (presented by Kim Inglis). She edited and produced live shows such as the Tonight programme and Tyne Tees Weekend. Most recently Colleen scripted the ITV advert for Close House, Northumberland. Before TV, Colleen was a senior reporter and presenter at radio stations in England and Scotland. She has also lectured on the International Journalism course at Darlington College.

Steve Smith is a creative writer and lives just outside Morpeth. He is interested in social media and in particular the use of blogs and Twitter to promote and influence the arts. He is currently learning photography.