Diana Stephenson
Diana set up Calvin Marketing in 1994. Her vision was to work alongside a small number of clients providing marketing support, strategic planning advice, training and research. Since then Calvin has developed into a full-service agency, albeit with it’s own unique approach. Key Calvin Marketing clients over the years have included: Bellway Homes, Bovis Homes, Huntsmere, De Vere Hotels, Matalan, Home Instead Senior Care and Asda’s George brand.
Diana graduated from Leeds University with a BSc (Hons) degree in Psychology. Her first job was working on the £14 million Halifax Building Society account at Brunnings in Leeds. Working as part of a small account management team, Diana gained a wealth of experience across national press, radio, women’s press and TV. She left Brunnings to work on the Comet Electrical account and it was at a brand development meeting for Comet that she first met her husband Peter.
Diana came to the attention of Cheshire agency Carterbench who at the time were described by one industry title as the ‘Young Turks’ of Manchester’s agencies. At 27 she became the youngest board director in the agency’s history. During her time at Carterbench Diana worked on accounts such as: Cheshire Building Society, Mallinkrodt Veterinary, English Grains Healthcare, Carpet World and Bellway Homes.When Carterbench merged with Brunnings Diana was taken full circle back to her original employers having gone from graduate trainer to board director.
Diana is married to Peter and has a 10 year old daughter, Meredith. In her spare time she enjoys trying to keep on top of the garden, nurturing vegetables, slaving over a hot stove (cakes being a favourite), or out walking the dogs. Diana is also the marketing Governor of Wilmslow Preparatory School.
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Julia Bickerton
Julia’s career started in the retail sector and she was quickly promoted to the position of Retail Manager and Area Supervisor for top retailer, Jaeger before becoming Retail and Area Manager at Alexon. For both of these organisations, Julia was responsible for training, sales support and financial reporting for stores across the UK.
She managed the opening of many new stores throughout the UK, including planning, recruitment, stock holding, store layout, training, promotion and ongoing support.
Diana and Julia met some years ago at a time when Julia was considering a career change, on learning more about the advertising industry, Julia decided to make the move and join the agency world. She has held senior positions with Carterbench, Brunnings and McCann Erickson before joining Calvin Marketing.
She has directed and managed many high-profile advertising, direct marketing and PR accounts and has proven her value to clients both strategically and managerially.
As a Group Account Director at McCann’s she was responsible for a number of key account teams and was a member of the new business strategic team.
Julia has worked on accounts such as: Royal Doulton, Farepak, Kleeneze, Great Universal Stores, Matalan, George at Asda. Peugeot, Park Food Group, and De Vere Hotels. Julia joined Calvin Marketing in 2000 as a director to support Diana and the team and to run her own client group.
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Peter Stephenson
Peter spent the first 15 years of his working life travelling the world as a surfer. He won many “open” competitions, including university, English and Scottish Championships. During this time, he intermittently studied and graduated from Teesside Polytechnic with an HND in Business Studies and a Diploma in Management Studies. Peter spent 5 years in Australia working and surfing across the continent until he finally settled in Burleigh Heads, Queensland. His first full time job was marketing manager for one of Australia’s largest property developers.
On returning to the UK, Peter competed an MBA at Aston in Birmingham before joining the advertising world to work on the £11 million Comet Electrical account. Having met Diana at the agency he then followed her to Cheshire where he became MD of Whitefriars in Chester and directed the Liquoursave, Lo Cost, MBNA and Iceland accounts as well as being responsible for the profitability of the agency group. Peter then joined McCann Erickson where he became a board director and managed accounts for British Gas, JD Williams, Magnet, Pilkington Glass and the Brick Development Association.
Years later he joined BJL in Manchester as Managing Director of the Direct Marketing Division and directed Littlewoods, the Woolwich and the Holidaybreak business which included the Eurocamp, Eurovillage, Sunsites and Keycamp brands.
Peter joined Calvin Marketing to support the team, develop new business and manage the finances. As well as holding an MBA, Peter has been a Fellow of the Institute of Direct Marketing for the last 15 years. His main interests outside of work are golf, gardening, and spending time with the family.
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Sarah Crossley
Upon graduating from Lancaster University with a BA Hons degree in Philosophy and Politics, Sarah joined Manchester-based agency The Fresh Group. During her time working for Fresh, she helped to manage several large scale events and created advertising collateral for companies including Matalan, Marks and Spencer, Makro and Avon.
Sarah moved on to an in-house PR position with internet hosting company UKFast in order to expand upon her writing and communication skills. Here she was responsible for organising a team and planning and producing press coverage for the growing business. She dealt with company communications and was responsible for both internal and external news generation and delivery.
Before joining Calvin Marketing, Sarah worked as a freelance writer for the Manchester Evening News. Working on a range of articles for the MENs various publications, Sarah gained a wealth of experience working for different clients with hugely varying needs.
Outside of work, Sarah is a keen singer songwriter and enjoys practicing and performing whenever she can. She also loves to travel and socialise with friends and family.
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