We love meeting our clients, learning more about them and understanding their business on a much more intimate level. Using that information, we develop creative yet commercially viable strategies that not only stand out, but generate truly superb results.
We’ve helped clients generate ROI’s that are eye watering, reduce spend and increased performance, and gain higher positive outcomes than they’ve seen in previous years. We’re a results orientated, hard working bunch of professionals that aim to deliver each and every time.
Our agency began life from an attic room in Clarksfield, near the centre of Oldham. We had no clients, no money, but a lot of passion about what we did.
This passion and dedication soon caught the attention of businesses throughout the Oldham and Manchester areas, which helped us to grow and develop into the company we are today; a creative, strategic and passionate marketing partner to our clients, helping them to grow their own businesses and flourish within the industry.
It’s not difficult to make a huge difference when you love what you do, which is why our team is made up of some of the most talented, motivated and passionate professionals you could hope to meet.
Our team gets results, work hard for our clients, and love every minute along the way. We make a difference, and have gained a lot of friends in our clients along the way.
Junior Web Developer
Steven works with Cornerstone developer Mubarak Panti on our fast-growing services for bespoke website development and design. His daily role involves crafting precise HTML CSS and PHP to ensure a user-friendly site that delivers on client marketing objectives.
Originally from Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, Steven studied computer science at university before working for a digital agency and then as a freelance developer. At Cornerstone, he turns our briefs into bespoke, fully-functional website for our client.
I’ve always been fascinated with website design, development and coding. It’s great to work for Cornerstone because it genuinely values quality website development tailored for each client’s individual needs. It has high standards and offers excellent training opportunities, so I’m really pleased to be here.
I’m patient and have an eye for detail.
I don’t like bad design.
Project Manager
Zuzana’s role is looking after our clients, liaising with them and Cornerstone’s multi-disciplinary team to identify and produce the best and most-appropriate design and marketing services.
Originally from Slovakia, Zuzana has worked in Greater Manchester for over 10 years. Her CV includes extensive experience of working for a small design agency in Stockport, where she began in business administration as a director’s PA before moving up to operations manager. She later joined a large Manchester city centre agency as an account manager on global brands before joining Cornerstone.
Zuzana’s leisure interests include riding horses, reading autobiographies and fiction by authors such as Dan Brown and Steig Larsson; and visual art.
I really enjoy working with a variety of clients across a range of brands. I like meeting clients face-to-face. Talking and good communication is really important for my role.
My roles: I work across all Cornerstone’s services including graphic design, web development, digital marketing, social media, video, photography and PR.
I understand horses’ language.
My name being spelt wrongly!
Admin Assistant
Harriet Donoghue is Cornerstone’s admin assistant and she plays a key role in the office.
She works on a range of tasks including accounting and invoices, and works closely with account executive Jess Buckley.
A former Saddleworth School pupil, Harriet began studying A-levels in business, finance and sociology but then decided she wanted to follow an apprenticeship training route. She is now on a business administration apprenticeship programme with Cornerstone and Oldham College.
Cooking and baking are a big interest of Harriet’s, and she is a fan of American TV series, Cake Boss.
The marketing and digital industry is really interesting. Cornerstone works across a wide range of activities – digital campaigns, advertising, website development, graphic design, video, photography and PR – so there is lots of variety, which is great. It’s a fascinating industry.
I’m a fast worker – like the cartoon character Speedy Gonzales!
I’m a neat-freak and like things to be tidy.
So if I’m doing a spreadsheet then it’s got to look right. So it might take me just a little bit longer!
PR Manager
Writing business news, marketing and public relations material for our clients is Robbie’s specialism.
A journalist whose reports and features have been published in local, regional and national media, Robbie writes copy for our clients to use across digital and print channels.
He writes for clients’ websites, newsletters and brochures, and also sends their news to newspapers, trade magazines and business media.
Businesses are great sources of news and photography. Robbie helps clients get their news, products and services seen by their target readers.
He also has a strong interest in photography which is a vital part of PR.
Variety is the spice of life. I enjoy meeting people and writing about all types of business.
With Cornerstone, I meet a fascinating range of clients and visit all sorts of workplaces. Manufacturing, science, construction, property, leisure, health, charity and public sector organisations. We work with a great range of clients.
Curiosity, friendliness and an eye for ‘a good story’ and photo.
Jargon. Cut it out. There’s no need for it.
Videographer
Kat joined the Cornerstone team in 2017 as a critical part of our digital marketing development. With video being a huge part of client campaigns, Kat has been brought in to create exciting, engaging video for our clients that helps drive action through each and every campaign.
Moving to Manchester from London, Kat relocated for the position and is involved in all things video and animation related.
I’ve always loved Video and Photography and after studying I knew it was the direction for me. Being able to turn my passion for visual media into my job is just fantastic.
I get a lot of satisfaction from being able to see a video through from pre-production to the final edit; I love how quickly you see a project take shape when you’re working on each step of the process.
Cornerstone is such a lovely team and I enjoy the variety of work. There’s always a new project kicking off! I love that I am able to be involved in and learn about other areas of the business too.
Fitting an edit to music.
Mushrooms, they can stay far away.
Account Executive
Jess Joins Cornerstone after working both agency and freelance roles within the marketing field following leaving university, bringing with her a wealth of experience in copywriting, social media marketing and PR.
Working as part of our client services team, Jess gets involved in a wide range of projects, working on social media, content writing, digital marketing and client quoting and project management.
Cornerstone is such an exciting and fast paced working environment where every day is different and you go home at the end of the day feeling like you’ve really achieved something. Joining Cornerstone allows me to really stretch and enhance all my skills; from copywriting to keeping the office organised. It’s an honour to be part of such an incredibly talented team and to be able to witness and contribute to Cornerstone’s further growth.
Grammar Geek
Awful taste in music; should not be left alone with the office radio.
Sign Maker & Installer
Chris brings outstanding experience and expertise to Cornerstone’s exhibition and signage capability, helping to further strengthen the core offering to our clients.
His experience in signage, vinyl wrapping and vinyl graphic installation helps to build on our already strong leisure, retail and exhibition offering, allowing us to provide a wider range of interior graphics, external signage, notice boards, vinyl graphics, exhibition materials and much more.
I love being involved in the entire process from initial site survey to final production and installation, which is extremely rewarding, especially when working alongside our creative team seeing the work coming to life.
Each day at Cornerstone is totally different thanks to the wide range of clients and services we offer; plus working as part of a team which is 100% focused on quality, client satisfaction and generally having fun is a great environment to work in.
Lightning fast vinyl weeding ability
Fast food and can't resist a bag of kettle chips!
Website Developer
Mubarak joins Cornerstone to help further develop our web offering, bringing new technologies to the company that add a further level of customisation to our clients’ online presence.
After graduating from Huddersfield University, Mubarak worked at a competing web design agency before making the move to Cornerstone, where he now gets involved in developing bespoke WordPress and Laravel websites, as well as handling all things code related.
With the ever changing and rapid progression in technologies, there are always new challenges and methods to tackle issues that may arise in Web Development – this is what captivates me. I like the problem solving aspect involved with Web development, the instant feedback from writing code, and viewing the outcome in browsers, testing etc. makes the whole process enjoyable.
Adapting to the latest technologies.
Xbox!
Graphic Designer
Dave joins Cornerstone after 7 years design agency experience which came shortly after his time at Salford University, where he gained a 2:1 in Graphic Design.
With a true passion for typography and all things graphic design, Dave helps to add another strong element of creativity and style to our client campaigns, helping to develop and build on their market presence and difference.
For as long as I can remember I have enjoyed designing. From a child, building unique creations with Lego; through education and into my professional career, I always take great pride in what I create and my passion for the industry hopefully shines through. Joining Cornerstone was a breath of fresh air for me as it gave me the opportunity to do what I love within a positive environment with a variation of work that makes every day different and exciting!
The ability to identify a font at a hundred paces!
Coldplay and Comic Sans!
Graphic Designer
Nicola graduated from Huddersfield University in 2010. Soon after, she applied for a position at Cornerstone and has become a welcome member of the team, taking on the role of Graphic Designer.
Nicola has plenty of talent in illustration and creative design, ensuring our clients receive a creative marketing piece that meets their requirements whilst driving awareness and demand.
Cornerstone gave me the fantastic opportunity of joining the team shortly after graduating. It’s an enthusiastic, fun and exciting environment to work in. The main reason I chose to join Cornerstone was their attitude & approach towards their clients. They have a great company ethos & always ensure they have their clients’ and staff’s best interests at heart.
Brew making skills that are out of this world!
Terrible sense of direction that even a sat nav can't fix.
Head of Creative
Sarah has been involved in Graphic Design & Art from an early age. She has developed her skills over the years to become an extremely creative and artistic designer and now leads our creative team in developing creative advertising campaigns.
Her talent is used to ensure that clients get a piece of artwork that is both effective in communicating the desired message and appealing to the eye, standing out from the competition.
I have been interested in Graphic Design for a number of years, but never had the courage to persue my dream. When the position became available at Cornerstone, I jumped at the chance and have never looked back. The varying client needs are always a challenge which I look forward to, ensuring work is always unique and effective.
The animal whisperer (mainly to the office mascot "Wilson" the yellow lab)
Heat, will melt like a chocolate bar in the sun on a hot day
Managing Director
David brings a wealth of knowledge to our client campaigns, with strategic marketing planning and digital knowledge that enhances and accelerates our clients campaigns over and above their competitors.
With a strong marketing background and passion for driving client’s businesses forward, David is actively involved in all major client campaigns and promotions.
We believe that we can far exceed clients’ expectations on all levels, and do it quicker, and more cost effectively than many of our competitors, which is why many of our clients have never gone anywhere else. Our ethos is a no nonsense approach, and complete honesty. This is a reflection of both my personality, and the way in which I think business should be done.
The ability to multi task on a whole other level!
Too much coffee equals one agitated David (best stick to the decaf)
We’ve spent years perfecting our processes, and will never stop refining them. This continuous improvement keeps our clients moving forward, gaining them better results year on year. Here’s a little taster of what we do….
Meticulous planning is at the heart of what we do. We make sure your marketing objectives, schedules, budgets and media channels are all planned well in advance to ensure a smooth and efficient project.
We love detail, and love insights. That’s why we spend time and energy researching your market and target customer to real depth, to help us really understand the core needs of your target customer.
Once a clear strategy has been built within our planning process, we develop our campaign idea into a finished concept that can be tested, amended and developed into an exciting finished piece.
Once a concept is completed and approved, it’s time to launch. This is the exciting part of any project and allows us to see our hard work move swiftly into action, running through all channels and media platforms generating impact and results!
We’re not done with a campaign yet. We like to know that the project has been a success and met its objectives. This allows us to identify project strengths and gaps in the market that could be exploited in the future, which helps to refine the existing, and develop future campaigns.
We work with our clients for the long term, helping to develop, enrich and tighten their marketing strategy to be more effective and drive real, outstanding results through continuous improvement!
© Cornerstone Design and Marketing 2018
