FLOORING retail and wholesale company CreateCity has broken with tradition and appointed a non-family member to its board of directors.

The company is owned by the Maguire family, of Darlington, and has become a major force in the UK carpet and flooring sector.

DAVID STUBBS has been appointed finance director after only three years with the business.

The 46-year-old, who lives in Trimdon Village, joined CreateCity as company accountant in July 2000, following 18 years with Schott Industrial Glass, in Newton Aycliffe.

In November 2001, he was promoted to company secretary, which then led to his appointment to the board of directors.

Mr Stubbs said: "CreateCity are forward thinking, ambitious and focused on giving the customer a service way beyond their expectations.

"My aim is to play a pivotal role in the future success of the business and continue to build a company which secures the long term future of all our employees."

* ANYA HOCKING, 28, has joined the Government Office as publicity and communications manager for the European Secretariat. With six years experience in PR and communications, Miss Hocking, from Whitley Bay, previously worked for Gateshead Council in its communications team. In her new role she will be responsible for raising the profile of European funding and the benefits it brings to the region.

* Business advisor STEPHEN HOLLINS-GIBSON has taken over as president of the Northern Society of Chartered Accountants. The 56-year-old, who is senior partner at Armstrong Watson, in Carlisle, succeeds Derek Tait Walker.

* PAUL GOODRUM is celebrating his appointment as personnel & staff development officer with the North-East Chamber of Commerce. In his new role, Mr Goodrum will be responsible for staff development, training and induction, bringing in new ideas along with managing Investors in People. He previously worked at Lumley Castle Hotel as personnel assistant while studying for a degree in Business & Human Resource Management at the University of Sunderland.

* Bett Homes has appointed a senior member to its technical team. He is NICK BECKWORTH, 30, who joins the company as a senior engineer, with more than eight years experience in the construction industry. He held a similar position with Newcastle consultant engineering firm Wardell Armstrong, heading its design and infrastructure team focusing on housing developments, business parks and landfill sites. In his new position, Mr Beckworth will work on the design, infrastructure and organisation of Bett developments, and will monitor drainage, road and landscaping activities.

* SEAMUS WATSON, 35, has been appointed as managing director of Yarm company Steel River. Mr Watson moves from Steel River-owned Just Harleys in Thunder Alley, Newcastle, where he was manager. He previously spent 12 years at a BMW dealership.

* LEE SPENCE has been rewarded following his accolade of Salesman of the Year at Jennings Ford, with promotion to sales controller. The promotion will see the 26-year-old from Ingleby Barwick move from the Yarm Road branch in Stockton to the group's Carville operation in Durham. There he will be responsible for assisting the sales manager with the day-to-day running of the branch, as well as overseeing the work of the sales team.

* DAVID COOMBE, a partner at Gordon Brown Associates, has taken on the role of head of litigation. Mr Coombe joined the firm in Chester-le-Street, County Durham, in 1996 as a family law specialist, and was made the practice's third partner, alongside Ian Lawson and senior partner Gordon Brown, in 2000. From Peterlee, Mr Coombe began his legal career in 1988 with Peter Thubron and Co, having completed his articles with Clinton Gething and Co.

* Newcastle Building Society has appointed JANET TOWERS, 41, to its board of directors. Mrs Towers, who is already on the executive team as head of human resources, has also become operations director in a new role created to oversee a number of projects recently launched by the society as it experiences a period of rapid expansion. A qualified chartered accountant, she joined Newcastle Building Society nine years ago and has worked in finance, customer services and human resources. Before that she was with accountants Ernst & Young in Newcastle.

* The Endeavour Partnership, the region's fastest-growing firm of commercial lawyers, has increased its legal team with the appointment of RICHARD CAMPBELL as an assistant solicitor, and LEWIS GOODWIN as a trainee solicitor. Mr Campbell, 35, from Redcar, studied law at the University of Teesside, before completing his legal practice course at the College of Law in York. Mr Goodwin lives in Low Worsall, near Yarm, and went to school in Northallerton, North Yorkshire. He read Law and European Languages at UWE Bristol, during which he spent ten months working as a paralegal in Nuremburg, Germany