About SQ Digital

Vilayte Essa

Tony Bell

As SQ Digital’s longest-serving team member, Tony’s role is all about making connections and bringing in business. Tony loves getting to know our clients, understanding their individual needs – Tony says, “nothing beats that personal touch”.

When he isn’t entertaining the team with his dad-jokes, Tony can often be spotted pounding the Morecambe seafront on one of his daily 5K runs or clambering up the side of a mountain in the stunning English Lake District.

A fun fact about Tony

He used to play the drums in a cavalier band.

Matt McCarten

As a web developer for SQ Digital, Matt’s main role is to take a flat design and build it into a moving, working website. He is also responsible for fixing and maintaining our client’s websites, as well as providing training and support for a range of website-related issues.

When he isn’t building websites, you can usually find Matt attached to a game device. On the odd occasion he isn’t gaming, Matt also enjoys watching Netflix, keeping fit and attending the odd Comic-Con across the country.

A fun fact about Matt

He has appeared in many newspapers dressed as a Cyberman.

Damian Kelly

Damian has several important roles within SQ Digital. Alongside working with the Business Administration team, he also works closely with the PPC and SEO teams, putting his Google Ads and Google Analytics qualifications to good use. Damian is what we like to refer to as “The SQ Swiss Army Knife” – he has a wide range of skills which make him an invaluable member of the team.

When he isn’t delving into data for our customers, Damian has a passion for gaming, something that has been his favourite hobby since a young age.

A fun fact about Damian

Damian describes his home as living in a jungle. He has an African Grey Parrot called Charlie, a Tortoise named Cosmos, a Dog called Bessie and 7 cats called Popeye (she was born with a dodgy eye), Bonnie, Titch, Belle, Peg, Spot and Nellie.

Emily Morton

Emily joined the SQ Digital team as a Graduate Digital Marketing Executive after completing a degree in Chemistry at Lancaster University.  

Emily’s passion for social mobility came from her time at university as Publicity and Marketing Officer of ‘The 93% Club’, which is a national social mobility network dedicated to levelling the playing field for students who were educated at state schools.  

In her spare time, she enjoys spending time with friends and family and her ginger cat, Elmo.  

A fun fact about Emily 

Emily has an irrational fear of birds so if you see her running through Lancaster, it’s probably because she saw a pigeon. 

Kate Martin

Kate’s role includes driving the strategy of digital marketing campaigns for all our customers, working alongside the other digital marketing leads and account management team. Kate also works closely with the wider marketing team to ensure all marketing activity is aligned and content is of the highest quality.

In her spare time, Kate enjoys reading crime thrillers, drinking endless cups of tea, spending time with her friends and family, and being bossed around by her army of house cats.

A fun fact about Kate

Kate has an irrational fear of big spoons and therefore uses a teaspoon for everything, including eating soup and cereal.

Husen Essa

Liam Wade

Jamie Palmer

As SQ Digital’s Senior Account Manager, Jamie’s role involves providing quality service and advice to our clients. This means getting to know everything about the businesses we work with and the people behind them. Jamie loves making a difference to our clients and helping their businesses to grow.

Outside of work, Jamie is kept busy and stressed in equal measures by his three sons, aged 5, 9 and 12. He’s also a massive Everton fan.

A fun fact about Jamie

Jamie loves cooking Indian food and promises to treat the team to some of his culinary creations… we’ll hold him to that!

Amy Livesey

Amy joined SQ Digital as a Graduate Digital Marketing Executive before choosing to pursue a role in the Business Administration team. She also works closely with the Account Management team, taking care of customer onboarding, building campaign plans, and ensuring reports are delivered on time. Amy loves getting to know our customers and prides herself on delivering top-notch customer service.

Amy enjoys going for long walks in the Lake District with her husband, shopping for clothes she doesn’t need, and spending quality time with her nephew and niece.

A fun fact about Amy

Amy can rap every word to Coolio’s Gangsters Paradise

Daisy Lewis

Daisy is our Graduate Content Marketing Executive having completed an English Language with Creative Writing degree at Edge Hill University in summer 2021.

She loves writing anything and everything from blogs and social media posts for clients, to her own short stories. Although she is an experienced writer, Daisy is new to the world of SEO but is determined and excited to learn more about all aspects of digital marketing.

When she’s not writing, Daisy loves spending time with family and friends and walking her dog, Bob. Her favourite thing though is going out for some good food and trying out new restaurants.

A fun fact about Daisy

Daisy once participated in a stage combat class at a professional performing arts school in New York City!

James Brady

James has been part of the SQ family for over six years, working with the Design and Development Team. James is responsible for managing all website projects, carrying out quality and assurance testing, handling all technical support, and managing all the servers.

Outside of work, his hobbies include football, gaming, and technology. He is also partial to a nice glass of whisky.

Ed Moore

Ed’s role is to keep SQ Digital at the cutting edge of technology, so we can continue to provide our clients with the best performance in their digital marketing campaigns.

If the right technology doesn’t exist already, then Ed has the skillset to build it. This could be anything from AI systems to intuitive interfaces for the teams.

In his free time, Ed likes to relax by gaming on the PC – playing various genres from FPS to simulation.

A fun fact about Ed

When the weather is right for it, Ed enjoys heading out into the wilderness to find routes less travelled.

Guy Mains

Ben Brom

Ben is responsible for the day-to-day management of Paid Media activities, working to generate leads and drive traffic to our clients through Google advertising.

Outside of PPC, Ben enjoys reading, watching films and playing video games.

A fun fact about Ben

Ben lives with his cat Franklin who once brought him home a whole cooked chicken– he never did find out where it came from.

Kat Stoney

As a Content Marketing Executive at SQ Digital, Kat does everything, from writing blogs to social media posts, and she loves working with a wide variety of clients.

Before joining SQ Digital, Kat worked as a bar manager for over ten years in various venues across Lancaster – if you’ve ever been out for a drink in the city, she’s probably served you!

When she’s not working on content for our clients, you’ll find her in her office at home, working away on her own writing or outside, attempting to look after the rather high-maintenance garden that came with the house she just bought.

A fun fact about Kat

If you ask her nicely, she’ll make you the best Bloody Mary you’ve ever had.

Natasha Jackson

Working as part of our Onboarding Team, Natasha makes sure that all new clients get off to the best possible start when joining SQ Digital. She’s worked in customer service roles for many years and enjoys the satisfaction she gets from keeping our clients happy.

Outside of work, Natasha is studying for her Level 4 Professional Digital Marketing qualification and has already achieved her Level 3 Diplomas in Business Studies and Business Admin.

She loves spending time with her two dogs whether it be cuddles on the sofa or out on long walks and enjoys hitting the gym for a bit of ‘self-care’ time.

A fun fact about Natasha

Her grandad was called Michael Jackson.

Dave Ferguson

Having worked in digital for over a decade, Dave’s background is in customer experience and business development, working with a strong customer focus to deliver successful digital marketing campaigns. As Head of Account Management, Dave is responsible for every interaction SQ Digital has with our most important asset – our clients.

When not at work, Dave can be found being a very average golfer, playing video games, supporting Liverpool Football Club, playing the guitar and annoying his wife and son.

A fun fact about Dave

Dave has actually flown a plane.

Laura Blenkinship

Laura is our resident designer, and what a trooper she is! She’s responsible for all visual assets, including video and bespoke visual designs. Her role involves designing newsletters, creating re-marketing banners and adverts, and designing brochures, as well as some more traditional print design.

When she isn’t designing, Laura enjoys listening to live music, walking her 2 dogs in the countryside, and baking up a storm in the kitchen.

A fun fact about Laura

Laura used to be the district champion in the 100m.

Fraser Dockerty

Fraser deals with the day-to-day management of Paid Media activities at SQ Digital, working on lead generation and driving web traffic for clients through Google and social media.

Outside of work, Fraser enjoys spending time with family and watching all kinds of sport, including Football, Formula 1 and the NFL. He also enjoys attending as many live music events as possible.

A fun fact about Fraser:

As a baby, Fraser was allergic to both milk and cats. Until recently, Fraser’s sister always thought he was allergic to cats’ milk!?!

Michelle Charnley

As a Paid Social Media Executive, Michelle is responsible for advertising on social media platforms, like Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn. Her role involves discovering new places to reach customers and executing, managing and optimising paid campaigns. Her favourite part of the job is developing relationships with the paid social clients she manages.

When she’s not thinking about paid social campaigns, Michelle can often be found walking around the Yorkshire Dales, growing her own veggies and herbs, gaming, and practising illustration.

A fun fact about Michelle

Michelle summited Gran Paradiso in Italy (and can be found on Google images somewhere). She is also the proud owner of 27 house plants (and counting).

Mike Atherton

Mike has over 16 years of experience in marketing, working with both small SME businesses and large international brands. As the Content Marketing Manager, Mike leads a team of talented content creators who are responsible for everything content related – from press releases to video content, and everything in-between.

Outside of work, Mike enjoys spending time with the family, he’s a keen runner (when his ageing knees allow), and he loves to get out into the wilderness to enjoy spot of landscape photography.

A fun fact about Mike

He spent a year living and working in Australia including two months in the outback – and didn’t see a single kangaroo!

Jonny Coole

With over 20 years in the industry, Jonny adds a wealth of knowledge and experience to the Design & Development Team.

Prior to working at SQ Digital, Jonny travelled the world as a freelance designer with his travel photographer wife before settling back in the UK to start a family.

A fun fact about Jonny

That actually is his real name.

Eddie Bradshaw

A member of the SQ team for over eight years, Eddie’s role is focussed around organisation and process. As Lead Project Manager his time is split between ensuring work is delivered on budget and developing new products and processes to make sure we’re always improving our offering to customers.

When Eddie isn’t at his desk strategising, you’ll find him at his desk, playing strategy games. Occasionally he will also sit at a table to attend Magic the Gathering tournaments across Europe.

A fun fact about Eddie

Eddie managed a World of Warcraft guild of over 250 members through University and still managed to complete his studies.

Clare Armstrong

Clare joined SQ Digital as a Project Coordinator. In this role, she supports the team with project organisation, scheduling and developing processes to ensure we offer the best customer experience to clients. 

Outside of work, Clare enjoys exploring the local countryside, anything water-sport related, travelling and eating cake! Before moving back home to Lancaster, she lived in Belfast for two years to learn traditional Irish music which you can often find her playing on the fiddle. 

A fun fact about Clare 

Clare has scuba-dived on the Zenobia shipwreck near Cyprus, which is rated as one of the top ten wreck dives in the world according to Google. She also got stuck upside down once when trying to swim through a ship’s porthole in the local dive site of Capenwray… one cake too many perhaps. 

Grania Shankley

As an experienced creative content writer, Grania is responsible for creating thought-provoking blog content and on-site copy and building engaging social media campaigns. 

She applies her skills in content creation across many different clients and a multitude of different industries. And she has a real passion for all things digital, especially copywriting, SEO and brand identity. 

While she lives and works remotely from her home in Glasgow, Grania is originally from Kendal, just north of Lancaster in the Lake District.

Away from her home office, you’ll find Grania playing football for United Glasgow, supporting Manchester City and hanging out with her dog-child, Beef! 

A fun fact about Grania

Although she’s terrified of the ocean, Grania once swam with great white sharks at diving hotspot Gansbaai in South Africa. 

Teresa Garanhel

As someone passionate about writing, Teresa enjoys creating content that helps our clients grow their business. She enjoys the varied nature of her job, especially the opportunity to come up with different content strategies and ideas for SMEs.

Writer by day, avid reader and gamer by night, Teresa is also a huge fan of exploring the beautiful North West countryside. And she believes there is nothing that can beat a nice cup of coffee in the morning while listening to music.

A fun fact about Teresa

Teresa is bilingual, can play the piano and loves playing poker (though would never bet real money).

Kamal Essa

As Managing Director of SQ Digital, Kamal oversees all of the companies business operations, from ensuring that SQ Digital achieves its financial vision to making sure the business stays on track with all strategic goals – ensuring that SQ Digital continues to grow and thrive.

Outside of the office, Kamal loves nothing more than getting competitive in one of our many SQ sporting challenges and spending quality time with the family.

A fun fact about Kamal

He absolutely loves DIY!

Raimy Greenland

As SEO Executive, Raimy looks after our clients’ websites from an SEO point of view, monitoring keywords and rankings, and fixing technical issues that can affect their visibly on search engines.

When Raimy isn’t helping our customers get seen on Google, she can be found at home entertaining her daughter or hanging from a metal hoop at her aerial hoop classes. A book lover and keen writer, Raimy runs two blogs of her own about books and parenting. Her weekends aren’t complete without going on long walks in the woods or on our beautiful local beaches.

A fun fact about Raimy  

She’s been quoted in several awesome books.

Elizabeth Goldsbrough

Lizzy is our resident SEO guru. She manages SEO campaigns for clients from a wide range of industries. Her role includes identifying relevant search terms for clients’ websites and making onsite improvements to increase Google rankings for search terms. Lizzy’s role also involves a lot of technical elements, like crawlability for user experience purposes and Schema.org mark-up, which can benefit the click-through rates of pages in search.

Outside of SEO, Lizzy has numerous adventurous hobbies, including fell running and climbing. When she isn’t seeking that adrenalin rush, Lizzy enjoys drawing and spending time with her two cats: Riley and Eva.

A fun fact about Lizzy

Lizzy once missed a train in Slovenia after running down the platform to catch it. The conductors made it stop and come back for her after it had already left the station and disappeared from view.

Nathalie Hill

Nathalie is responsible for implementing strategy plans for our clients, working with both the Account Management and Digital Marketing teams. With a background in marketing management, Nathalie brings with her a varied skillset and loves putting together creative marketing campaigns.

Outside of the office, Nathalie has a passion for travel and enjoys researching new places to explore, whether that’s the Lake District or further afield.

A fun fact about Nathalie

She’s rubbed shoulders with the animated stars of the big screen, having worked at Walt Disney World for a year as part of her uni course.

Luke

Luke is SQ Digital’s Head of Employee Wellbeing, a crucial role within the business providing emotional support and improving the general welfare of our team. Luke has gained a lifetime of experience in Change Management and Employee Engagement roles. In his previous position, he worked his way up from Junior Sales Rep-tile, all the way to Re-tale Scales Director.

Luke certainly isn’t shy either, he can often be found entertaining crowds as a stand-up chameleon in the local bars. And at the end of a hard day’s work, he loves nothing more than sitting down to his favourite film, The Lizard of Oz, with a nice glass of prosse-gecko (ok, that one was a stretch).

A fun fact about Luke

Luke once won 1^st place in the North-West Under 16s Scale-Extric Championship.

Maria Cuenca

As a member of our SEO Team, Maria helps to manage our clients’ websites, this involves monitoring and applying fixes to keywords and rankings to ensure the best possible visibility in search engines.

Outside of work, Maria loves all kinds of board sports, including wakeboarding, snowboarding and surfing. When she’s not riding the waves, Maria enjoys getting stuck into a good book.

A fun fact about Maria

Maria got the taste for caffeine at a young age when, as a child, she would drink her mum’s coffee when she wasn’t looking – it’s probably why she needs to burn off all that energy by surfing and wakeboarding!