The CMJ Team
The Board of Directors
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Stephen Hughes
Chairman
Stephen is now the longest serving Chairman of the CMJ Board of Director's in the Group's history, now in his 6th year and has been a member of the Group since 1999. When not travelling to Rugby for board meetings he is playing Rugby in his native Swansea and running his own business, Stephen Hughes Fine Diamonds. He is married to a Geordie lass, Julie, and his sons have between them represented Swansea in rugby and Wales in boxing as well as appearing in episodes of the TV series Dr Who. A first generation jeweller, Stephen has worked in the jewellery industry since leaving school and he opened his own shop in Swansea in 1996.
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Colin Harris
Associate Director, Director CMJ Media
Colin has a background in marketing and the graphic arts, starting his career in the swinging '60s. Publishing has figured strongly in Colin's career, both in his own company with titles such as THM (The Holiday Magazine), Cooks Weekly and with project management for other major publishing clients including The Company of Master Jewellers. Outside his working environment he finds time to pursue his interest in art, long distance walking and cycling. As a keen board member his responsibilities for marketing have extended into the formation of the enterprise CMJ Media, which now occupies most of his waking life.
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Judith Hart
Director
Judith is the longest serving Board member whose role over the years has included marketing, merchandise and recruitment.
She lives with her partner Michael and has a 22 year old son, Nick, from her former marriage. She describes herself as a proud mum, as Nick has just achieved a First in his degree course of Property investment, development and management and has chosen to stay on and complete a Masters Course in Real Estate Finance. Always one for a challenge Judith describes Michael as "her partner in life and competitor in business". One of her favourite sayings is "Turnover is vanity, profit is sanity" and this has been a cornerstone of her career. "I have always wanted to be asked those quickfire questions and when they get to the question - Beatles or Stones? I would answer unquestionably - Stones - a pure rebel at hart!!!" |
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Andrew Pass
Director
From John Pass Jewellers in Crewe, Andrew is married to Julie. His ideal holiday is walking in North Wales "with the sun out, in our caravan with Julie, daughter Rhiannon and our golden Labrador Bailey ", although his best holiday ever was a trip to the Maldives. Unusual fact about Andrew: he collects champagne corks.
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Dominic Wakefield
Finance Director
Dominic came into the trade with an accounting & finance background, which made him well suited to the role of finance director on the board. Married to Hina with three young children, Dominic also divides his time as a karate instructor, fixtures secretary for the local snooker league (& captain of his team) and enjoys running & cycling. He loves the trade and would be delighted if one of his children became the fifth generation at Wakefields.
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The Executive Team
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Willie Hamilton
Chief Executive
Married to Josephine, Willie divides his time between living in Rugby and Great Oakley in Essex. As a CEO, he says there is no typical weekend. "It can be full on with business commitments, business planning or a quiet time relaxing with Josephine." But when not working, he says an ideal break is spending time touring in his Morgan Roadster V6 in the sunshine with the roof down. An avid Formula One fan, a treat is a full weekend of hospitality in the Formula One Paddock Club at any Grand Prix.
Despite a high-flying career that has included working in senior management roles in marketing, buying, strategy and operations within retailing, Willie says his greatest achievement is "fighting and beating cancer". Something you may not know about Willie: he is a keen photographer and has won prizes for his pictures. |
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Sarah Carpin
Director CMJ Media
Working within CMJ Media, Sarah edits all CMJ publications, manages all marketing and PR and works with all CMJ Media's PR and publishing clients across the UK.
Before CMJ, Sarah was the Editor of Retail Jeweller magazine. She has also worked as an author/editor for Verdict market research (writing their report on Global Luxury Brands), TJF Magazine and The Basel Magazine. Before entering the jewellery industry Sarah lived in Seychelles for 11 years, where she launched and managed Paradise FM radio station, wrote travel guides and worked as a broadcast journalist, radio producer/presenter and author. "I also had a small 'on the side' business baking banana cakes and selling to shops and supermarkets in Seychelles (my kitchen at that time had 3 ovens and several Kenwood mixers). I spent some time teaching at the Seychelles International School, worked as a speech and report writer for the British High Commission in Seychelles and edited a lifestyle magazine 'Seychelles Today'. Oh and I also managed to have my three children during that time as well. People often ask me why I came back to the UK after living in Seychelles - the main reason was exhaustion..." |
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Lucy Hill
Operations & Branding Manager
Lucy assists the Chief Executive in developing the membership and members services to support our retailers. In addition to this she organises all the CMJ events and manage our Mastercut Diamond brand. Before joining CMJ, Lucy ran a watch and jewellery distribution company with a turnover in excess of £9 million for 10 years. She also owned a specialist marketing company and has worked for international brands on product and marketing development. Lucy lives in Northampton with her partner Stephen Reece-Raybould and daughter Lydia with two cats called Poppy and Prince and five fish without names. One thing you may not know about Lucy: a weekend treat is to go camping with Stephen "or glamping, as my friends call it".
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Vanessa Riley
Support Centre Manager & Company Secretary
Vanessa is the CMJ Office Manager and she also oversees the Accounts and Administration Department. She also looks after Health and Safety and deals with HR issues. So if anything needs doing in the Rugby office "ask Vanessa". She joined the Company in 1988 when it moved from Romford to Rugby, and seeing the Group grow to what it is today "has been a fantastic experience", she says. When not in the office, Vanessa spends most of her weekends horse riding with her daughter Alice and looking after their two horses, Molly and Sam. She lives in Rugby with her husband and two children.
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Rugby Head Office Team
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Sally Ashdown
Admin Support
Assisting Lucy in the organisation of the Trade Events and attending exhibitions, before joining CMJ, Sally worked as a prison officer although she doesn't say if this was good experience for her current role... When not working, Sally spends weekends at a running club on a Saturday morning "more like staggering than running in my case", and socialising with friends, which usually involves wine and Chinese food. She also follows a local Rugby band called the Dukes Jetty. But had to give up dog training classes due to having a dog with 'terrible terrier' syndrome!
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Karen Cobley
PA to Willie Hamilton
Karen has 20 years' experience as an Executive PA, Project and Events Assistant and has previously worked for the management board of a global commercial company. She started at the CMJ in June 2011 and is looking forward to making the most of all her experience in her new role. Day to day, her job involves organising Willie's diary and dealing with enquiries from suppliers and members – it's safe to say no two days are the same. Outside of work she enjoys spending time with her partner Dominico and his "mad" Italian family, her own family and friends. She is the happiest when she is on holiday somewhere on the beach by the Med and dreams of living there one day (soon!).
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Lisa Cosgrove
Accounts
Lisa is responsible for sorting all the invoices out and putting them on the system for CMJ members. Before joining The CMJ, Lisa was a landlady of a pub in Rugby. A mother of three and grandmother of one, Lisa also has two dogs and says her ideal holiday is "somewhere hot with clear seas and no kids". Her greatest achievements are surviving a heart attack, having her three children and playing poker on television!
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Sharon Fletcher
CMJ Stock and Imports
Sharon is in charge of the CMJ Stock Department and also does all the administration for Mastercut as well as working alongside Lucy and Sally in the Events Department. Engaged to Andy (she wears a Mastercut engagement ring, naturally) they live near Warwick with a daft rescue dog called Tess and two goldfish. Something you may not know about Sharon is that she has a famous cousin who is an R&B artist by the name of Sean Paul who has had several number one hits (and did the Yoh Yoh bit in the Corsa advert!). Her ancestors are also Wilbur and Orville Wright, inventors of the airplane.
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Colette Gibbons
Mastercut Sales Manager
As Mastercut Sales Manager, Colette is on the road most days, from the very north of Scotland to the South of England, not forgetting Wales and Ireland, visiting our current stockists, taking replenishment orders, advising on display and implementing product training. She also visits potential new stockists for the brand, and as much as possible picks up on competitor information and how the business and the UK jewellery market is performing. Before joining CMJ, Colette worked as Brand Manager for Hot Diamonds and says her ideal family holiday involves visiting somewhere hot with her husband and daughters "doing as little as possible and no driving!".
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Sally George
Receptionist
CMJ receptionist Sally lives in Leicester with husband and a dog called Eddie (also known as diggle dog, squiggley diggley and four paws) and two rabbits (Pyscho and Chunks). Before joining CMJ, Sally worked for British Gas for ten years as a team supervisor. And she says one of her big ambitions is to see the Northern Lights.
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Mark Howell
Purchase Ledger Controller
Mark joined the CMJ in September 2010. He lives locally to the office with his wife Vanessa and two daughters, Ava & Lois. Mark finds the jewellery business, which is new to him, fascinating and enjoys the contact with both suppliers and members that his role brings. Outside of CMJ, Mark enjoys spending time with his family as well as listening to good music, drinking fine wine and supporting Coventry City FC.
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Russell Lewis
Finance Manager
Russell joined CMJ as Finance Manager in February 2010 having worked previously for a national housebuilder for over 20 years. In his spare time he enjoys making wine from home-grown fruit and, not surprisingly, enjoys drinking it even more. But his real pleasure in life comes from watching his eight grandchildren grow up and he has recently become a Great Grandfather.
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Frances Murch
Communications & Website Manager
Frances looks after the CMJ's website, writes and edits the content and manages communications between the Group and its members. Before joining the CMJ, Frances worked as a journalist and editor in various industries, including at Retail Jeweller magazine – and she is delighted to be back in the jewellery industry. Outside of work, she enjoys watching rugby and going to the gym. She loves skiing and lived in France for nine months where she worked as a teaching assistant (but spent as much time as possible on the slopes instead). While at home in Leamington Spa, she also finds time to relax, see friends and generally enjoy life.
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Wendy Prudhoe
Accounts
Wendy manages all of our Pandora and foreign accounts and creates CMJ invoices. When not working, Wendy likes to read, play skittles or go swimming. She also loves travelling and says her best holidays were visits to Indonesia and Jamaica. She would love to win the lottery so she could "buy a bright pink car with a personalised number plate".
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Angela Reesby
Accounts Manager
Working as Accounts Manager with the very busy team, Angela has been working with CMJ since 1995 and has previously worked for a solicitors' office and for Barclays Bank. Her typical weekend is spent ferrying her two children about but she also loves gardening, baking cakes, walking and reading books.
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