Cornerstone's big 10th birthday party

Cornerstone Design and Marketing 10th anniversary celebrations at The White Hart, Lydgate. Left to right are: Nicola Adamson (Cornerstone), Fiza Shadab, Cllr Shadab Qumer (Mayor of Oldham), David Wadsworth (Cornerstone) and Sarah Smethurst (Cornerstone).

A design and digital marketing agency celebrated its 10th anniversary with a party attended by business clients, the Mayor of Oldham, friends and family.

Oldham-based Cornerstone Design & Marketing held the celebration at the White Hart in Lydgate which was attended by over 100 guests.

The agency is based in Lees, Oldham, and was founded by managing director David Wadsworth.

Launched from his parents’ attic in Clarksfield, Cornerstone has grown steadily over the years and currently employs ten people.

Its’ services including graphic design, website development, digital and social media marketing campaigns, print, advertising, signage, video, photography and PR.

At the anniversary party, Wadsworth welcomed the Mayor, Councillor Shadab Qumer, and daughter Fiza Shadab, along with other guests.

During a speech reflecting on Cornerstone's development, Wadsworth first paid tribute to his mum, Anne, and late father, Tom.

He also thanked his fiancée, Sarah Smethurst, a former Breeze Hill School pupil who now heads Cornerstone's graphic design team, and long-serving designer Nicola Adamson, who was their first employee.

They first met Nicola, a former Saddleworth High School pupil, when she was a student working at the Church Inn at Uppermill, where she 'pulled a cracking pint', Wadsworth recalled.

Wadsworth attended St Anne's Primary and Our Lady’s RC High School in Royton then graduated from Huddersfield University with a marketing degree. He worked for an agency in Leeds before setting up his own business.

From small beginnings Cornerstone gradually grew as Wadsworth won contracts with a number of Oldham businesses.

The agency later moved to an office at Wood End Mills, in Lees, and then to its’ current base nearby on Lees High Street.

Now the company is again looking for a new, bigger home in Oldham to accommodate its growing portfolio of work and employee numbers.

Cornerstone has become one of the largest, full-service design, digital and marketing agencies in the Oldham area.

It works with private, public and charity businesses and organisations in sectors including leisure, health, manufacturing, engineering, scientific, textiles, property, construction, arts, retail and recycling.

Clients include Oldham-based furniture components manufacturer and distributor Hills Panel Products (HPP), Oldham Community Leisure, Age UK Oldham, Dr Kershaw's Hospice, North West Ambulance Service and Fineline Interiors.

At the White Hart celebration, Wadsworth thanked everyone who had played a part in Cornerstone's success including the many local firms who have become clients.

He said he had learned many important business lessons from them, who he saw as partners and friends.

He was also proud of Cornerstone's role in Oldham's contemporary economy, especially its’ contribution to employment and skills in the digital, design and marketing industries.

The celebration included live music, a fun casino and a buffet.

Cornerstone was a finalist in the 2012 Oldham Business Awards and it has entered this year’s awards, which coincidentally, have reached their 10th anniversary year.