Sue joined Richard Newton Consulting (RNC) as an Associate Consultant in 2012. She joined the core team in January 2021. She met Richard at Rathbone Cymru where he was Director Cymru.
Before joining Rathbone, Sue worked for George House Trust, the North West’s leading HIV charity, in Marketing and Community Fundraising.
She has a 25-year-long career in Audience Development in Heritage and the Arts and Marketing and Communications in the Arts, Charity, Education, and Sustainability sectors. Her CV includes roles at The Whitworth Gallery, University of Manchester, Arts About Manchester (the precursor to the Audience Agency), Manchester Metropolitan University and Contact Theatre. Her freelance work includes projects for Conwy County Council, Pontardawe Arts Centre, Manchester City Council, the internationally acclaimed performance companies, Forced Entertainment and Quarantine and the Centre for Chinese Contemporary Art.
Sue is interested in Audience Development which broadens participation from non-traditional audiences and her work here includes assignments with Arts Council England’s Creative People and Places in Yorkshire and Northumbria. She has significant experience in Audience Development working with refugee and asylum seekers through her work with Community Arts North West (CAN), one of the pioneers in this sector.
She enjoys working with organisations to encourage Change and develop Marketing and Brand Strategy to increase financial resilience and visibility. As Oldham Coliseum’s Head of Marketing, Sue implemented a change in strategy that led to an increase in audiences and record-breaking box office revenue.
Sue has worked on assignments including Bede House, Gwynedd Council and Amgueddfa Cymru (National Museum Wales).
Memberships
Chair of Manchester Craft and Design Centre 2008 – 2012
Chair of Community Arts North West 2002 – 2008
Trustee of Dance Manchester 1998 – 2004
Member of Advisory Board Broken Grey Wires 2021 to present
Greater Manchester Independent Mental Health Network – Lived Experience Reference Group Board
Mentor for Arts Emergency
Education
BA (Hons) Modern History, University of Oxford.
Faculty of History Gibbs Prize.
Out of Office
Sue enjoys theatre, music, museums, and visual arts. She believes that everyone has a right to experience great art and volunteers with a range of people’s arts programmes. Sue is a committed turophile (cheese lover) and one of her favourite jobs was as a 40-something Saturday girl in her friend’s cheese shop where she could indulge her passion. If you want cheese recommendations, she’s your woman. She’s an avid reader and her house has far too many books. Sue loves the lesser-known Greek Islands.