Justin Cole is the Executive Director of External Relations at Newcastle University and is responsible for the communications, student recruitment, admissions, marketing, advancement, international, engagement and corporate communications teams.

Justin joined the University in 2021 and is a former Chair of the University Marketing Forum (UMF) and continues to serve on the European board of the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education (CASE).

Prior to joining the University Justin worked in the civil service, principally as a communications adviser to successive higher education ministers and to the Paymaster General before more recently serving as a director at Sheffield Hallam and Bournemouth University.

Canadian by birth and Australian by heritage, Justin is a graduate of Curtin University’s business school and holds a master’s degree from the University of Leeds.

Sarah Bostock leads on institutional marketing strategy at Loughborough with a specific focus on brand, demand generation and enhancing the University’s reputation in the UK and overseas for research and innovation. She works with senior leaders across key, high-profile projects and initiatives, consulting on best practice, innovative approaches and identifying opportunities for growth, collaboration and optimisation. 

Prior to Loughborough, Sarah held a number of roles at the University of Bristol, most recently as Deputy Director of Marketing, where she was instrumental in transforming the scope and visibility of marketing and led the team to a CASE Circle of Excellence Award. Before her career in Higher Education, Sarah worked in charity and corporate sectors and has nearly 20 years’ experience in marketing, communications and public relations. She’s a member of the Chartered Institute of Marketing, studied at the Institute of Direct Marketing and is a member of the Volunteer Executive Committee for the CASE Universities Marketing Forum.

Martyn provides strategic and operational leadership for the University’s marketing, communications, student recruitment and development activity with responsibility for around 200 staff in the Marketing & Advancement Directorate.

Prior to joining Loughborough, Martyn has held a number of senior recruitment and marketing roles across different organisations within the HE sector including the British Council, University of Nottingham and IDP Education. More recently he was Interim Director of Marketing, Recruitment and International at Swansea University.

Martyn is a graduate of Cardiff University with a bachelor degree in English and a Masters in Strategic Marketing, he also holds a postgraduate qualification from the University of Manchester. He is a former Vice-Chair of the British Universities International Liaison Association (BUILA) and of the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) Higher Education Special Interest Group.

Martyn is a current member of the Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) Global Advisory Committee and also sits on the District Cabinet UK and Ireland for the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE).

Ed has over 17 years’ experience in marketing and communications, with 12 years in leadership and consulting roles. He led the marketing and recruitment teams at the University of Hertfordshire for 6 years and has provided consulting services to over 90 organisations across the UK and Europe to develop their portfolio, communications and brand experience strategies.

Raman brings a wealth of experience from her 25 years in Marketing, Communications and Brand Management roles in a variety of private and public sector organisations.

Raman started her career in universities as a fresh-faced and keen graduate at the University of Liverpool before going on to hold marketing positions for The Drum Arts Centre, Black Country Chamber of Commerce, West Midlands Regional Development Agency and Growth Hub before taking on the Head of Marketing role at the University of Wolverhampton – looking after student recruitment, marketing, international recruitment and research marketing. During her 13-year tenure, Raman was instrumental in growing student numbers and the university brand as well as mobilising the £60m Springfield Campus.

Since then, Raman has held a senior marketing role at Student Roost, working with a national network of 100 university clients and now has returned to her passion of building university brands and student recruitment in her role as Deputy Director at Anglia Ruskin University.