THREE familiar faces are getting in on the act at the Beacon after being appointed to the board.

Businessman Puneet Gupta, former school teacher Gerry Maguire and producer Jo Walmsley have all become directors following a recruitment drive.

Labour's general election candidate for Inverclyde, Martin McCluskey, has also joined the board.

Sean Paul O'Hare, Beacon chief executive, said: "It's very welcome to bring so many experienced and skilled people on board. "It's more good news for the Beacon."

Puneet is involved with several organisations, including award-winning Greenock company PG Paper based in the Custom House next to the theatre, and dental firm EnVisage, which is opening a new practice in Kilmacolm, where he lives with his wife Poonam and two children.

He said: "The Beacon is a business as much as it is a community asset and has to make money to be sustainable.

"This is an opportunity for me to help make a difference with my business acumen."

Joining him on the board is former All Saints Primary head teacher Gerry, who retired in 2014 after a 34-year teaching career - with 21 of those spent in charge of schools in Greenock's east end.

He said: "I'm an avid follower of the arts and I like watching and encouraging talented people, something that I'm used to doing in schools.

"I was told that I might have something to contribute and I'm delighted to join the board."

Fellow new director, Jo Walmsley, grew up in the west end of Greenock just a stone's throw away from the Beacon's predecessor, the Arts Guild, where she was a regular as a child and inspired her career in the industry.

Jo is an arts producer and head of engagement at the renowned Tramway in Glasgow where she helped organise the 2015 Turner Prize celebrations at the venue.

She said: "My whole career is about engaging different people in the arts and that's what I want to bring here. "Growing up in Greenock with the Arts Guild was such a powerful, formative experience and everybody should be able to take part in the arts."

The new additions to the board takes the number of directors to 12.

Vice-chair, Isabel Lind, said: "We're really pleased with the reaction we got when we let it be known, through the Telegraph and social media, that we were looking for new directors. "We got a tremendous response and we were spoiled for choice. "These were the four we chose to complement those already on the board.

"It's very exciting."