Simon Broadbent, the creative director of Connectpoint before it became part of Amaze, has become the deputy creative director at Refinery Marketing Communications.

Broadbent headed up Connectpoint's creative team until last September, when the agency was merged with Amaze and Pavilion and re-branded as Amaze by its owner, the Hasgrove group.

Amaze managing partner Nick Bradshaw recently confirmed that Broadbent was no longer working with the agency full-time and told The Drum that Broadbent had been working in a freelance capacity.

But it has now emerged that Broadbent, affectionately known as 'Bertie' by peers, has made the permanent switch across Manchester to the 78-strong Refinery agency.

Refinery's creative director, David Pye, said Broadbent's appointment follows a long search for a senior creative.

"We’re continuing to put on business and we’ve been looking for the right senior creative to add to our team for some time," Pye said.

"Simon’s wealth of experience on Co-operative Funeralcare, Henkel, Sadolin and Crown makes him a perfect fit with our client base," he added.

Refinery has also recruited Nikki Moore from Manchester advertising agency BJL as a senior designer and John Hewitt, former creative director of Huet & Company, as a senior copywriter.

The agency says its continuing expansion has seen the arrival of major new accounts in the last 12 months, including Magnet Trade. It also works with the Co-operative across its food, funeralcare, pharmacy, legal services and group marketing divisions, and Akzo Nobel.