North East tech network Dynamo has appointed a new chair as co-founder Charlie Hoult steps down after 10 years.
Leighton CEO James Bunting will take over the advisory board chair role to help drive the next stage of its growth and support more North East tech companies.
After working initially in marketing, Bunting joined Leighton – a software development business – where he undertook a variety of roles including product development, sales, customer success and strategy and operations.
He then co-founded Communicator Corp, a SaaS email marketing platform, which was ultimately sold to Trinity Mirror, now Reach plc. He stayed on as CEO before rejoining Leighton as CEO.
The former Teesside University graduate is a successful investor in a number of North East-based tech startups and continues to help companies expand both formally and informally through his mentoring work.
“The regional tech sector has given me so many opportunities that I felt I wanted to give something back. I’m excited at the prospect of being able to help shape Dynamo’s future,” said Bunting.
“I want to help our brilliant regional tech sector grow further – through encouraging businesses to collaborate, share, nurture and support. Of course, I want to see more conversations, but I also want to see more action – building on events such as our forthcoming TechNExt Festival so our members and prospective members can see the benefits of being part of Dynamo.”
Dr David Dunn, CEO of Dynamo and Sunderland Software City, said: “I’m delighted to welcome James to Dynamo. He is the perfect candidate for the role given his vast experience, knowledge, ambition, alignment with our values and his desire to promote and celebrate the many successes of our regional tech sector.”
Dynamo will now be recruiting for a new advisory board and is inviting applications from a wide range of backgrounds.
“We’re looking for people who work in, or closely with, the tech sector to provide insight for growing the North East tech economy, strengthen the regional digital innovation ecosystem and identify and resolve challenges together, making the North East tech economy the very best it can be,” said Bunting.