We sat down with our project manager Mel Newton, who is overseeing the latest phase of renovations for The Roxy, to get to know her a little more.
Tell us a little bit about yourself?
I own MN Consulting, which is a Marketing Consultancy aimed specifically at supporting sole traders and small businesses with straightforward marketing to help them grow, which I’m really passionate about.
My husband and I also run 2 companies, Lily Fox Property Solutions, which is where I project manage property renovation projects for clients, and a plumbing and heating company (my husband has been a plumber and gas engineer for over 25 years) that focuses on commercial contracts with letting agents, holiday management companies and caravan and lodge parks.
Although I’m from Manchester originally, I’ve lived in Urswick (just outside Ulverston) for the last 21 years and wouldn’t want to live anywhere else! We live with our youngest son (19) and have two other children who have their own families (including our 4 grandchildren!)
Between the businesses and family, life is glorious chaos and I wouldn’t have it any other way
And on the rare occasion when we do get some downtime, we try to explore the UK either on our motorbikes or in the camper that we converted ourselves from an old police custody wagon.
How did you get into project management and marketing? What do you enjoy about it?
After finishing my degree, I worked in Marketing in the corporate world for 22 years, completing my Masters in Strategic Marketing whilst I was working. As my career progressed, I got more and more involved in managing specific marketing projects, so undertook the PRINCE2 qualification in Project Management, becoming a PM practitioner.
Over the last 5 years, we had started to look at property investing, specifically properties that needed renovation work, and at the same time, a couple of contacts had asked me to project manage their property projects, which is where the project management side started to span both marketing and property. Which is when I decided that I could say farewell to working for someone else, and build businesses doing what I love. I’m very lucky.
I love both marketing and project management as so many elements of both appeal to my strengths and passions, – I love the creativity of marketing and the relationship focus that is key for small businesses, along with the ever-evolving marketing landscape, it’s so dynamic. With project management, and specifically property, it’s the organisation and planning side that appeals to me and especially seeing what that process has created in terms of the finished result.
What was it about this project officer role that appealed to you?
The Roxy project appealed to me because it’s such a beautiful building and I love the ethos behind what the Roxy Collective are trying to achieve with it, in terms of creating a community hub. It’s a part of Ulverston history and I think it’s fantastic that they are working so hard to keep it as an integral part of the community.
What are you hoping to achieve?
I’d like to ensure that I build some great close relationships with the Roxy Board to bring to life their vision for the building.
Do you have any memories of previous visits to the Roxy? A film you watched, an event you attended?
My fondest memories of the Roxy are Christmas Eve visits with mum to watch It’s a Wonderful Life – which is a film that we have watched every Christmas Eve for years at home before we started going to see it at the Roxy.