CIM Wales Committee

Gavin Davies FCIM Chartered Marketer

Dr Gavin Davies is an award-winning senior strategic marketing professional with 25 years' senior management experience in international sales and marketing within the B2B technology/engineering and life sciences sectors. He has worked within the manufacturing sector for large companies and SMEs in both the UK and the USA.

Gavin gained his first-class BSc (Hons) and PhD degrees in chemistry from Cardiff University and studied eMarketing at the University of South Wales. He is a Fellow with CIM and a Chartered Marketer, having been a member of the Institute since 2000, and in 2014 won two Canmol: Wales Marketing Awards.

Gavin is currently Marketing Manager with Markes International, a specialist manufacturer of scientific instrumentation, where he has a global remit for integrated marketing communications. He also works at board level as a Member of Council for the British Measurement and Testing Association (BMTA) - a trade association for British companies involved in all aspects of metrology. In this role, he also sits on its Events and Marketing Committee, defining marketing strategies to drive membership and also assisting in delivering a programme of annual events for both members and non-members.

When not engaged in marketing, Gavin is also a professional opera singer, and since 2006 has performed as an extra chorister with the Welsh National Opera.

Beth Cummings DipM MCIM Chartered Marketer

Beth Cummings is a Lecturer in Marketing and Programme Director at Swansea Business School, University of Wales Trinity St David, a Chartered Marketer and a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.

With over 20 years of experience in marketing, Beth has held a number of senior marketing positions in technology, tourism and education before moving into academia and consultancy.

As a consultant Beth works with clients from a range of sectors to develop and deliver strategic and operational marketing plans.

Within her role as Programme Director Beth is responsible for the portfolio of undergraduate business programmes as well as delivering the CIM qualifications.

Martin Sutherland FCIM

Martin is Commercial and Marketing Director at the Food Industry centre at Cardiff Met University. Martin joined the Food Industry Centre in 2014. His knowledge of the requirements of both suppliers and retailers enables him to provide strategic, marketing, category management and trade engagement support for food and drink companies.

His food industry experience started with McVitie’s, where he was Marketing Manager for the Penguin brand. He then joined Tesco and was responsible for marketing the chilled product category which included own label development. His food industry career continued at Somerfield Supermarkets where he was Brand Marketing Director and a member of the Executive.

Martin returned to the supplier-side as Marketing Director at Bon Bon Buddies, a Blackwood based confectionary company before becoming a Director of a food and drink consultancy business.

Martin graduated in Agricultural and Food Marketing from Aberystwyth University/University of California, Davis and has an MSc in Food Policy from City University, London.

Philip Preston DipM FCIM

Phil is a Fellow of The Chartered Institute of Marketing, a Chartered Marketer and holds diplomas in Marketing, Direct Marketing and the CAM Diploma in Digital Marketing. He is responsible for raising the profile of CIM among members and the wider marketing and business community across the East of England and Greater London.

After leaving school at 16, Phil went to college to train to become an Accountant – there he saw the light and switched to studying marketing with the CIM. The rest is history… Consequently, he is now a strategic marketer with over 20 years’ experience in a range of senior marketing positions.

Previously he was Director of Marketing at Archant Norfolk, part of Archant Group Ltd, one of the leading regional media companies in the UK. Phil was responsible for the marketing and sales of Archant Norfolk’s newspaper, web and magazine titles. In addition, he controlled the company’s market research and database marketing activities. He specialises in New Product Development, Marketing Strategy and Market Research as well as integrated marketing communications.

In his spare time he likes to bob around the Mediterranean on a huge cruise ship visiting exotic locations. Cruising also gives him the opportunity to practice his ballroom dancing skills.

Rachel Owen MCIM Chartered Marketer

As a Cardiff University graduate with a post-grad diploma from the University of Glamorgan and a CIM professional qualification, Rachel Owen is a marketing professional with 9 years’ experience of FMCG product marketing. Her experience covers B2B and B2C marketing, managing both channel and brand activities through the full marketing mix.

Rachel currently heads up the UK marketing team of international stationery giant STAEDTLER. Her responsibilities involve devising and implementing strategic marketing plans that deliver high levels of ROI. Several past campaigns have won recognition in the form of industry awards.

With a strong commercial awareness and the ability to engage with a range of stakeholders, Rachel is an accomplished leader and manager who enjoys mentoring team members and creating a dynamic and inspirational work environment.

Georgina Lewindon MCIM Chartered Marketer

Georgina Lewindon is a Chartered Marketer with over 15 years’ experience building and managing marketing functions across a diverse range of industries and sectors.

Georgina is the owner of Glew Marketing, a strategic marketing consultancy which helps small businesses develop a more connected, strategic approach to their marketing.

With a Masters in Language and Communication Research, Georgina specialises in carrying out analytical marketing audits to develop a greater understanding of the strategies and tactics that will deliver the best return for her clients.

Prior to setting up Glew Marketing, Georgina was the Marketing Manager for Wales’ national supercomputing network, where she was responsible for strategic marketing, brand development, stakeholder engagement, communications and event management. Prior to that, she managed the marketing for the internationally renowned Law School at Cardiff University.

Within her position as CIM Wales Committee member, Georgina is currently responsible for coordinating and supporting CIM Wales events programme.

Laura Aherne MCIM

After a decade of agency and freelance roles in Marketing, Laura launched her own operation, Millrace Marketing, in 2017.

Her initial career in marketing started at a national accountancy firm, since then Laura has predominately produced B2B marketing strategies, working closely with public sector, education, SMEs and charities throughout her career.

Arguably her strong commercial nature teamed with an honest and direct approach are the key ingredients to Millrace’s success. 

Laura has a professional qualification with CIM and has been a member since 2006. 

Sarah Vining DipM FCIM MSc BA Chartered Marketer

Gareth Morgan MCIM

With over 15 years’ history in SEO, PPC and Content Marketing, Gareth Morgan is one of Wales’ most experienced digital marketers.

In 2008, after working in-house in digital marketing roles for a Fast-Growth commercial finance company and an international B2B software house, Gareth founded Liberty, a specialist digital marketing agency in Cardiff.

Liberty was created because Gareth saw no marketing agencies taking digital seriously in Wales. He identified a gap in the market for a transparent, innovative agency that specialised in digital and search marketing. Over 11 years later, Liberty now has a staff of more than 30, and has helped a wide range of brands and organisations including Admiral, Universal Music Group, Benefit Cosmetics, Welsh Government and Not on the High Street.

Gareth’s role at Liberty centres around strategy and business growth, helping the agency stand out in an increasingly-competitive market and doing the same for key clients. He is also a certified coach on the Welsh Government Accelerated Growth Program where he offers digital strategy and training for high-growth Welsh businesses and start-ups and regularly speaks at marketing events about the latest techniques in PPC and content marketing.

As the Digital Ambassador on the Committee, Gareth’s mission is to highlight the importance of digital skills in Wales and help marketers in Wales use digital better as a channel. By working alongside CIM Wales in this manner, he’s excited about overcoming the skills shortage in the country and putting Wales at the forefront of innovative digital practices.

Carl Mather FCIM

Carl Mather has long and varied experience in academic, marketing and leadership roles in public and private sectors. Having been a college head of business studies, he became marketing manager and subsequently a Director of Coleg Menai. He was then appointed as the founding Marketing Director of Grwp Llandrillo Menai (group of colleges).

The lure of independent working proved irresistible and Carl has now established himself in a consultant role to a diverse group of organisations, ranging from Colegau Cymru / Colleges Wales to a fast-growing travel company. He uses his keen interest in economic, political and cultural affairs to inform decisions on strategic developments in the projects in which he is involved.

In the field of marketing, Carl’s principal strength is communication through a variety of channels and media, and his particular interests are in branding and customer profiling.

Carl is also committed to volunteer roles as a chair and vice-chair of a primary and secondary school respectively.

In the limited spare time he has, he keeps fit through running and mountain walking, travels to less-visited corners of the world and, to maintain a sense of the triumph of hope over experience, supports Wrexham FC.