contact.

who we are, and what we do.

We’re a small and mighty team based in Newcastle upon Tyne, delivering an eclectic range of events across the UK since 2014. Including conferences, exhibitions, award ceremonies, celebrations, team engagement events, virtual, hybrid, outdoor and festivals.

Our team has extensive experience in delivering events across sectors, including sustainability, innovation, tech, design, finance, education, architecture, healthcare, environment, community, marketing, sport, public and creative arts.

We take pride in centering our delivery around our sustainability strategy and have been recognised for our environmental, societal and governance efforts industry wide and further afield.

We focus on delivering events through clever thinking, sustainable solutions and exceptional customer service to bring events from ideas to impact.

sarah thackray.

co-director and founder

sarah thackray.

co-director and founder

A linguist at heart and a perfectionist by nature. Originally from London, Sarah moved to Newcastle to study modern languages at Newcastle University. Having fallen in love with the region Sarah now lives on the coast with her family.

Having previously lived and worked in both Spain and France, Sarah began her career in the North East as a relocation consultant with IBM. Strengths in project management and communication skills made for a natural transition into the events industry. Sarah has spent over 20 years working on a range of conferences and events across the UK as well as in the Middle East.

Having delivered events in nearly every sector and industry, Sarah co-founded BeaconHouse Events in 2014. Passionate about driving sustainable change in the events industry, Sarah spearheads the agency’s ESG strategy, founded the north east event sustainability supply chain roundtable and has been named as one of the UK’s leaders in event sustainability by micebook and Isla. She is an expert in growth strategy and finance with particular strengths in event strategy, budget management, programme curation, and stakeholder management.

Holding PRINCE2 and Chartered Institute of Marketing qualifications, Sarah is an established and experienced events and conference specialist. Sarah is also a Voluntary Director and Chair of the charity Groundwork North East & Cumbria‘s trading company. She is also a Director of tech network Dynamo North East CIC and the North East’s Entrepreneurs Forum.

sarah@beaconhouse-events.co.uk

cat duhaut.

co-director and founder

cat duhaut.

co-director and founder

After exploring radio and television at University, an MSc in Project Management solidified a future in large-scale project management for Catherine. Working in event management since 2007, organising and running events across the UK.

Starting out specialising in the production of outdoor events helped to establish Catherine’s reputation for meticulous attention to detail and high-level management of complex projects. Referrals and recommendations soon opened opportunities to diversify the range of clients available and saw the creation of BeaconHouse Events.

In 2014, Catherine co-founded BeaconHouse Events and has since been focusing on attracting talent to bring together a fantastic, dedicated team to cope with the delivery of the growing event portfolio. BeaconHouse Events now delivers over one hundred events annually to a wide range of loyal clients, which Catherine manages alongside her continuing interest in developing new event ideas and business development.

Catherine has enjoyed working with clients across the medical, sport, technology, finance, automotive, scientific and media industries, managing large budgets and events for up to 24,000 attendees. Catherine stays connected to industry best practice, joining the A-List for industry professionals by C&IT, being a full PCO Member with the Association of British Professional Conference Organisers and attending industry events nationwide.

catherine@beaconhouse-events.co.uk

sophie flanagan.

senior event manager

sophie flanagan.

senior event manager

Sophie is an event and people engagement specialist with over 15 years of experience, driving high-impact events across B2B, both agency and in-house.
Since joining BeaconHouse Events in 2017, she’s produced everything from internal celebrations to global conferences, working with high-profile speakers including prime ministers and TV personalities such as Joe Wicks.
While off duty, Sophie is determined to encourage everyone, including those in the North East, to adopt a daily SPF habit.

sophie@beaconhouse-events.co.uk

katie whitehouse.

event manager

katie whitehouse.

event manager

A staunch ‘boro supporter, Katie moved to Newcastle to be close to the grounds where her beloved football team play. Lucky for us her passion and enthusiasm doesn’t stop with the sport, we challenge you to meet anyone as focused as Katie – she puts her head down and gets through a task list at light speed.

Katie’s background from working in venue management makes her the perfect onsite manager, there is no problem she can’t find the solution to, her tireless energy and non-stop enthusiasm is welcomed when working with nervous speakers and anxious exhibitors. She’s the smile at registration and the force behind our recruitment, since starting at BeaconHouse Katie has helped to identify and develop the team that powers our events who share her work ethics and help make the events run seamlessly.

katie@beaconhouse-events.co.uk

katie mcneill.

event manager

katie mcneill.

event manager

Katie is a seasoned event management professional with over a decade of experience organising conferences, trade shows, meetings and weddings. Taking a break from the industry whilst raising a young family, Katie pursued her creative interests and set up an upholstery business which she managed successfully for six years.

In early 2023 Katie was lured back to the world of events, joining the BeaconHouse team to support in the delivery of the inaugural TechNExt festival, and her passion for fast-paced event management was reignited! She eagerly embraced the opportunity to stay on and Katie now brings her expertise, keen eye for detail and steady hand to lots of client events within the BeaconHouse portfolio.

Katie lives at the coast with her family and enjoys paddle-boarding, surfing (still a work in progress!) and pottering at home with her upholstery projects.

katiem@beaconhouse-events.co.uk

alice adams.

event manager

alice adams.

event manager

From a stint studying and practicing architecture, Alice found she enjoyed working on collaborative and cross-disciplinary creative projects and decided to veer from the path to becoming an architect. Alice then spent a number of years working in creative and community arts based settings, whilst studying for a Creative Industries Management MA.

Alice joined the team at BeaconHouse Events after working in Membership Experience at the Royal Institute of British Architects, where she supported North East members and delivered a variety of regional and national events and initiatives.

In her spare time, Alice is a trustee and player of the North Tyneside Steelband and enjoys rehearsing and performing with the band regularly.

alice@beaconhouse-events.co.uk

claudia elwood.

project coordinator

claudia elwood.

project coordinator

Before moving into the events industry, Claudia completed an ambulance placement whilst training in emergency care as a former Student Paramedic. She loved the fast-paced nature of the role, but realised she wanted a more creative career that still brought people together in meaningful ways. This led her to study BA (Hons) Tourism and Events Management at Northumbria University.
Alongside her degree, she’s gained hands-on experience as an Event Production Intern, assisting with the production of ‘Beyond the Horizon 2025’ – a MOBO Fringe Event. She’s especially passionate about sustainable events and creating experiences that leave a lasting impact. Claudia aspires to combine her passion for event production with her love of creating memorable audience experiences.
Originally from Lincolnshire, Claudia grew up in a house full of rescue dogs and cats and now lives in Heaton with her gorgeous Ragdoll cat, Fudge. Outside of work, she enjoys keeping active at the gym.
luna.

barketing specialist

luna.

barketing specialist

Luna started at BeaconHouse Events in 2019, since then she has gone from entry-level-pup to established Barketing Specialist.

She gives a lot day-to-day, focusing her efforts on team well being; demonstrating best-practice when it comes to the benefits of movement and fresh air at lunch time, and giving a warm welcome to anyone visiting BeaconHouse HQ. You’re not likely to work directly with Luna, she’s a real ‘behind the scenes’ contributor to our event work, she will occasionally pop up on a Teams call for a quality check in, or share her opinion on a topic that needs the voice of reason.

our values are front of mind in everything we do.

trusted.

We continually strive to achieve trust across all elements of our industry. We work hard to earn it through transparency, realism and performance. Our clients trust us to think of the detail so they don’t have to. We advise from experience and hundreds of interactions that have honed our craft to a fine art.

purposeful.

Each detail and action supports businesses and individuals to fulfil their objective. Every task is meticulously planned to move the project towards its bigger goal. We move quickly and with purpose, whether that is onsite at an event or during the planning process. 

resourceful.

We go above and beyond to make things happen, we work together to find efficient and clever ways to overcome difficulties to make an event better. We do so with grace, calmness and a smile. 

connected.

We don’t make connections, we get to know people. We know the best people, we forge strong meaningful relationships, we conduct stringent checks to maintain quality and consistency and we make introductions and collaborate for the greater good. 

beacon out of the house.

contact.

We’re happy to talk about events, any time, any place, if you would like to ask us something, we’re here to help. 

Contact.