Dynamo appoints Leighton CEO James Bunting as its new Advisory Board Chair

Dynamo has appointed Leighton’s Chief Executive Officer, James Bunting, to replace the network’s co-founder Charlie Hoult who is stepping down after ten years.

James joins Dynamo with a wealth of experience working in the region’s tech sector. After working initially in marketing, he joined Leighton – a software development business – where he undertook a variety of roles including product development, sales, customer success and strategy, and operations.

James then co-founded Communicator Corp, a SaaS email marketing platform.  He helped grow the company which was then was acquired by Trinity Mirror (now Reach plc).  James stayed on as CEO before rejoining Leighton as their CEO.  Based in Newcastle his role extended across Europe and the US.

The former Teesside University graduate is a successful investor in a number of North East based tech start-ups and continues to help companies expand both formally and informally through his mentoring work.

The new Advisory Board chair also brings with him significant experience working on advisory and governance boards from his time on the Direct Marketing Association’s (DMA) Email Marketing Council. He chaired DMA’s benchmarking committee and was then elected Vice Chair of the Email Marketing Council.

James said: “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.

“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. James said: “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.”

Interested applicants can find details on the Dynamo website www.dynamonortheast.co.uk with applications closing on June 30.