HOME is delighted to announce the appointments of Pearl & Dean CEO Kathryn Jacob OBE as Chair, alongside new Trustees, Dr Ruth Bromley and Sita McIntosh. They join the existing Board of Trustees at Manchester’s international multi-arts centre and will support HOME’s work in this pivotal time of recovery and in shaping future strategy.

Director and CEO of HOME, Dave Moutrey said: “It is a great pleasure to welcome our new Chair and Trustees to HOME. They bring with them an exceptional set of skills and experience, and all share HOME’s commitments around tackling inequality, supporting health and wellbeing, and developing great artists and art. Throughout the pandemic, the Board has been an incredible support and has encouraged HOME to be ambitious, proactive and creative in its response to events. I look forward to working with each of our new members as we develop our future plans.”

Kathryn Jacob OBE has extensive experience in many areas of the media industry including national newspapers, magazines and radio. She has also run cross-media initiatives that have expanded her role into television, posters, radio and cinema.

As well as her role at leading cinema advertising company Pearl & Dean, Kathryn is a member of the RADA development board, the Council and Board of the Advertising Association and is on the Executive Council of SAWA, the worldwide trade body for cinema advertising. Kathryn is the Chair of the Advertising Association workstream on Inclusion, an initiative that involves every aspect of the communications industry. She has also co-authored two books on diversity and inclusion. The first, published in 2016, was “The Glass Wall” and focused on gender equality and opportunity. The second “Belonging: The Key to Transforming and Maintaining Diversity, Inclusion and Equality”, published in 2020, reflected the necessity of driving inclusion across all underrepresented groups.

Dr Ruth Bromley has been a GP for 18 years, spending 12 of those as a partner at a practice serving a diverse community in Wythenshawe. In 2012, Ruth became the lead for Ethics and Law at Manchester Medical School and she is also a Trustee for the Institute of Medical Ethics. Ruth has been part of the MHCC (Manchester Health & Care Commissioning) since its inauguration in April 2017, where she led on neighbourhood transformation at Board level. She has a career-long interest in children’s health, particularly safeguarding. In July 2018, Ruth was appointed as Chair of the MHCC board and board representative for Equality & Diversity and Creative Health, Arts & Wellbeing. Alongside her responsibilities as Chair, she retained her role as Clinical Lead for Homelessness in the city.

Sita McIntosh has over 30 years of sales, marketing and ticketing experience in UK theatre with tenures at venues, agencies and most recently, WhatsOnStage where she was the COO for over seven years. She now works as a freelance consultant for the industry, specialising in audience development and diversification. Sita also sits on the boards of Kiln Theatre in north London and Curve Theatre in Leicester, and recently stepped down as Chair of Tonic Theatre after two terms.

New Chair of the Board, Kathryn Jacob OBE, CEO at Pearl & Dean comments: “HOME Manchester has been a real force in developing and nurturing artistic talent and creativity across all art forms and it is a great honour to be joining the team as new Chair of the Board. Being a part of HOME feels like the perfect fit and we share a lot of similar values in terms of encouraging diversity in the industry and the importance of empowering individuals to have a voice creatively. I am looking forward to having a significant role in driving growth at HOME and supporting the team in its ambitious targets next year and beyond.”

The new Trustees will work alongside existing Board members Nihal Arthanayake, Jo Bloxham, Natalie Ibu, Chris Jeffries, Victoria Pinnington, Cllr Luthfur Rahman and Raj Ruia.

HOME also thanks outgoing Chair, Jonty Claypole, and Trustees Karl Jackson and Stephen Sorrell – all of whom have had a huge impact during their time on the Board.

About HOME
HOME is Greater Manchester’s vibrant cross art form centre. HOME commissions, creates and presents contemporary theatre, visual art and film and provides a space for experimentation where art forms meet and interconnect. HOME’s programming is political, international and experimental. The programme is presented across two theatres, five cinema screens, 500m2 gallery space and digital platforms, as well as through its talent development and engagement programme and in the communities of Manchester.

HOME first opened its doors in May 2015, and since opening, it has welcomed over 3 million visitors and contributed over £101 million to the Greater Manchester economy. Producing new work across theatre, visual art and cinema, HOME has achieved local, national and international artistic recognition.

HOME also relies on trading and ancillary income to support the charity, including two bars, a restaurant, event spaces and retail space. The patrons of HOME are Danny Boyle, actress Suranne Jones, playwright and poet Jackie Kay CBE, artists Rosa Barba and Phil Collins, filmmaker Asif Kapadia, and actress and author Meera Syal CBE.