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Awards & Recognition
Recognising the UK's most influential people in digital & tech.
Every year, we celebrate 100 of the people who are leading the industry right now. We’re not talking about work and projects – we’re talking about the leaders, pioneers, entrepreneurs and changemakers – the people we look up to. Entries open 11 January 2021, with the final 100 announced 6 May 2021. It’s one of the biggest nights in the digital industry’s calendar, attended by (amongst others) the top 100 brightest digital stars, judges and the wider digital community.
BIMA 100 seeks to recognise the individuals who are shaping the future of Britain’s digital industry. There are 10 categories for you to nominate against, allowing us to honour a well-rounded list of the individuals really nailing it in our industry.
People whose outstanding leadership within an organisation has created an environment where their people feel genuinely supported and able to excel at work and where the company has made a significant step change. Open to all: big, small, tech to creatives, consultancies to brands etc.
BIMA champions a diverse, inclusive tech and digital world. Our changemakers are the people finding new ways to make it a reality. This category is about the people who are using their professional skills or resources to achieve social good, to change industry cultures for the better, or to bring new and more diverse talent into our industry and give it the support to flourish.
This category is for the people whose energy and ideas have led to new and different ways of working with clients or suppliers, delivering profitable growth for both parties. Nominations are welcome from either side of the client/supplier fence and may include anyone in a client services, client relationship or project delivery role.
The digital designers, art directors, videographers, copywriters, UX and UI specialists (for example) who have developed products, services, campaigns or experiences that are challenging convention. Nominations in this category recognise the people whose combination of creative originality and exceptional execution has seen them push boundaries, deliver a category-defining moment, or urprise and delight clients or consumers.
Every great business needs someone who zags when everyone else zigs. The people who see the norm as restrictive and boundaries as a challenge. Crucially, these aren’t just people who make noise they make a difference. Nominees in this category will have influenced significant change in developing or launching a new service, product or digital venture. Or they will have driven a brand or agency to define new standards or ways of working in their sector
An exceptional director, executive or manager can transform a business – or drive the success of a brand new one. Nominees in this category will have made just such a difference in their organisations.
Marketeers will have done it through developing exceptional in-house digital capabilities or by leveraging the latest technology to deliver exciting new products, services, campaigns or experiences. And new business developers will have done it through building new relationships, pitching their way to growth, and by creating a distinctive space in the market.
Celebrating the future leaders of our industry. Nominations are open to anyone aged 30 or younger. They are ‘ones to watch’ – earmarked for success because of the influence their ideas or work are having in their organisation or the wider world.
Recognising the people who have applied digital insight and/or technological innovation at either an organisational or product/service level to shift perceptions, solve business problems or, in some cases, bring about complete organisational transformation.
Open to any apprentice or student who is studying full or part time or on an apprentice scheme. Nominees will be making an impact on the industry now, perhaps via the organisation with which they work; perhaps via their ideas or innovations. This isn’t a recognition of potential – it’s an acknowledgement of real achievement over the past year.
People who are using emerging technology to bring innovative ideas to life – to create digital and physical experiences in the real world; and/or people who are using data in ground-breaking ways to enable new services.
Aishat is the strategic lead for Livity’s emerging talent programme, Creatives and Entrepreneurs in Residence, which engaged 600 young people in the first three months.
Aishat also runs Digify, Livity’s digital marketing diversity internship. She is responsible for bringing young diverse talent into the creative industries whilst helping brands and agencies to create the talent processes and cultural shifts needed to help them flourish.
With a deep connection to youth culture, Aishat works with young entrepreneurs and creatives to develop and execute groundbreaking projects. She uses this first hand knowledge of the audience for brands such as Warner Music and Nando’s to design innovative strategies that attract, recruit and retain the most creative and diverse young talent in the market.
@aishattweets
Category Students & Apprentices
The ability to evolve is one of the most important and powerful skillsets needed in our constantly changing digital world. Al is the Transformation Lead with Glasgow based business transformation consultancy This is Milk. He leads operations for the Digital Transformation Programme (winner of the BIMA award for innovation by a consultancy 2018) and supports This is Milk with their wider goal to help organisations navigate strategic operational change globally.
Al is aiming to change the world one person / project / organisation at a time by giving people the skills for the future, tackling big problems, generating creative ideas, telling great stories and giving a voice to those with something to say.
His motto is: Constantly evolving – forever learning.
At school I… was known as being the kid that was never at school. I hated it!
@morris_al
Alastair bridges the gap between the creative industries, digital arts and academia. Juggling his time between a PHD in Architecture at Liverpool University, Creative consultant at AmazeRealise and pursuing an art practice with Meyouandus, an arts company he founded with James Bailey.
At the heart of everything is his desire to bring artistic and creative experiences into the fabric of society and into people’s everyday lives and interactions.
The last 12 months have seen Alastair lead the Fantasia Express, commissioned by the Department of Transport. The project re-imagines train journeys. using Augmented Reality and locative media to connect passengers to the locations they pass by. The prototype was publicly trialed by LNER on the East Coast mainline during February 2019.
Relaxation is… zoning out playing African Xylophones.
@Alastair_E
A leader who champions creativity, inclusiveness and the power of digital. Under his watch as Managing Director, Huge London was voted by the industry as ‘2018 Best agency to work for’ by Creativepool and also contributing to ’Working Not Working’s ‘Top 50 company’s creatives would kill to work for’.
Alex took over leadership of Huge in April ’18 and in less than a year has more than doubled the size of the agency. The agency has gained a growing reputation as a progressive force and Alex led the business to a faultless pitch win record against both larger digital agencies & consulting firms winning eight new household brand names. He is a supporter and active champion of a whole host of activities to promote young talent, returnships and grass roots diversity and flexible working programs.
Not many people know that I… have competed in the X-Games.
@alexpym
Alisdair is accredited as one of Scotland’s leading sector-specialist advisers, tech ecosystem builders and innovation experts amongst the digital, data, creative and deep tech industries. Focused on developing the service transformation and agile growth of businesses, organisations and market-listed companies, Alisdair is recognised for his experience and dedication to developing Scotland’s Digital, Technology and Creative Ecosystems including the development of many of Scotland’s prominent digital and technology businesses.
Experienced in designing and delivering Tech Accelerators and Innovation Labs, Alisdair has recently been focused on developing a range of Global Partnerships dedicated to growing the International Trade for Scotland’s Digital, Data and Technology Industries and was also the co-founder of the internationally acclaimed Turing Festival (now Turing Fest).
Not many people know… that I am a qualified BASI Ski Instructor.
@aligg
Amali de Alwis is CEO of Code First: Girls, a multi-award winning social enterprise that works with individuals and companies to increase the number of women in tech. As part of their mission they delivered £2.5 million plus of free coding courses in the last year alone, and helped clients and partners such as BT, Twitter, and Thoughtworks hire more diverse tech talent.
Outside of the day job, Amali is a Board member at Ada National College or Digital Skills and a London Tech Week Ambassador for 2019. She was recently named The Most influential woman in UK IT and was awarded an MBE in the New Year’s Honours list 2019 for Services to Diversity and Training in the Tech Industry.
The innovation that has excited me lately is… Boston Dynamics’ Handle Robot (imagine a hummingbird on wheels that packs boxes!)
@amali_d
Amy Williams is the founder and CEO of ethical advertising platform Good-Loop. The team behind, among others’ things, the world’s first ethical ads on Snapchat for Unilever, Good-Loop work with the likes of Nestlé, Coca Cola and TOMS to convert people’s attention into donations to charity.
Formerly at Ogilvy Advertising, today Amy is one of Forbes 30 under 30 for media & marketing and a regular commentator on the use of technology for good and the growth of profits-with-purpose business models.
My favourite quote/saying is… Knowledge is Power. France is Bacon.
@ala_swimmily & @GoodLoopHQ
As Managing Director and Chief Consulting Officer, Ann led the expansion of Ogilvy Consulting into EMEA in 2017, and heads up the regional team in the UK, delivering brand strategy, digital transformation and innovation consulting solutions for clients ranging from established brands to disruptive technology players.
In January, Ogilvy Consulting was named a UK Leading Consultancy by the Financial Times for the second year running and recently published ‘The CMO and the Opportunity of an Era’,a paper about galvanising enterprise transformation around a vision for brand experience.
With a career spanning multiple digital roles in Ogilvy and in WPP, Ann is also passionate about the development of people and tackling challenges like diversity and mental health.
The film/book title that describes my life is… ‘How to Fail’ by Elizabeth Day, a brilliant articulation of the strength to be found in surfacing our vulnerability.
@ann_higgins
Anne manages technology strategy at Cancer Research UK as part of a 300+ strong team. She recently lead the development of a new tech strategy for the charity taking an iterative and collaborative approach to the work to make sure it’s done with people, not to them.
Anne’s work means that leaders at CRUK are now making digital and technology a priority, embedding it into their operational plans, and are challenging themselves, their teams and third parties to adopt a test & learn approach and agile and lean ways of working.
Before joining CRUK she spent a number of years in various digital publishing and content strategy roles at global organisations in the B2B and consumer goods sectors.
My favourite quote/saying is… Culture eats strategy for breakfast.
@annebien
Anne is a passionate and unwavering champion for change in our industry. She has been a key partner in delivering the Daydream Believers pilot with Edinburgh College promoting creative and critical thinking at school level. She also ensured her mostly female Creative Team in the AmazeRealise Edinburgh office have felt empowered to lean in and take on new and challenging opportunities. She was one of the participants in TRC’s Special Edition Training Course.
The fact she won one of only eight places is a testament to her drive to fulfil her potential and give back to the digital community. She also became a Digital Trustee on the Board of an Edinburgh-based social innovation charity called People Know How.
My desert island luxury would be… A kindle with everlasting books and battery power.
@AmazeRealise
Artur is a technology enthusiast, developer and maker, with a passion for excellent service, innovative ideas and is fascinated with the latest and coolest products. When not building or breaking new gadgets, he is busy thinking about how to make tech more intuitive and easy to use for everyone. As a Tech Lead at GPJ, he is mainly responsible for prototyping, R&D, coming up with new ideas and leading the dev team when creating brand new and amazing experiences for the clients.
When not in the office, you can find him snowboarding on a snowy mountain or kitesurfing till sunset with his friends.
The next big thing in digital will be… easy to use augmented reality glasses and AI that will help us to speed up how we solve many of the top problems.
@techyinnovator
Leading delivery teams in Glasgow and Manchester, Ashleigh’s focus on agile project delivery has seen the team evolve their way of thinking to facilitate better working practices.
Working with organisations across the UK and US, Ashleigh has built a loyal following of clients. This includes the University of Colorado, The Honolulu Museum of Art and the Royal Academy of Dance. Her strategic approach, coupled with a passion for data-driven results, accompanies her empathetic nature to launch 1st class solutions; it also makes her a much-valued extension to client teams.
Ashleigh’s links with Founders4Schools, a charity connecting school children with business leaders, has seen children being mentored by an exemplary female leader in digital.
My favourite quote/saying is… With brave wings, she flies – without having the courage to challenge yourself you’ll never know what you’re capable of achieving.
@ashecameron
Cally Russell, 31, started Mallzee, the UK’s leading multi-retailer fashion shopping app, in 2013 in Edinburgh. Downloaded over 1.5 million times and featuring 150 plus high street retailers the unique product preference data generated powers Mallzee Insights, the B2B element of the business. Mallzee Insights provides pre-release product testing and retail insights to help retailers maximise the profitability of every product. Originally from Dunoon and a Dundee University Graduate, Cally has grown Mallzee to employ 26 people, raised over £5m in investment and won a range of tech, fashion and entrepreneurial awards. Selected by Forbes for their prestigious 30 Under 30 European influencers list, Cally has also been named by Drapers as one of their 30 Next Generation.
My one wish would be… that Liverpool would win the Premier League and Champions League double this season!
@CallyRussell
Because at the end of the day, the web is still built by people, for people.
At school I… was the first kid to ask for my curriculum to change from woodshop to sewing, eschewing gender-roles at an early age.
@fiinixdesign
Carole is a team leader, developer & community meetup organiser. With an interest in web & IOT technologies, Carole has a passion for how to use technology to solve real-life problems. As well as software development, she has an interest in the “people” side of tech, how we make the industry a better place to work for everyone and ultimately build better products.
Based in Glasgow, at digital agency Equator, she organises local meetups including Ladies of Code Glasgow & Glasgow Umbraco. She’s an advocate for women in development & feels it is important to show women leading technical conversations at work and in the digital community – recently speaking at conferences in Scotland and Europe to show women this is a role they belong in.
Relaxation is… a long run listening to a good podcast.
@crgrieve
Caroline teaches physics at Penketh High School, Warrington and is Director of Spark Penketh, a school makerspace dedicated to embedding digital skills across the curriculum. Through the first digital creative pathway of its kind in the UK, she has taught hundreds of students Industry 4.0 skills and this year won the TES New Teacher of the Year award for her STEAM/digital learning work.
Caroline also co-founded Liverpool Makefest, a festival promoting science, technology, engineering, art, maths and maker-education for young people. Now in its fifth year, the festival attracts 6,000+ visitors annually and Caroline has co-authored the framework to roll out Makefests nationally.
Caroline believes passionately in providing diverse, rich learning environments in which the creativity of students as “makers” can flourish.
At school I… was a trouble, but I had patient teachers. It’s one of the reasons I got into teaching myself.
@ka81
With a remit to establish a team and infrastructure of cross-agency talent, Cat heads up Brand Scotland and leads the bold, new #ScotlandIsNow campaign, looking to deliver a strong nation brand that positions Scotland for sustainable growth, resilience and future prosperity.
With talent from across VisitScotland, Scottish Government and Scottish Enterprise, Brand Scotland aims to activate partnerships across the public and private sectors to drive reputational value and awareness of our progressive nation. The team have already achieved staggering results and been shortlisted in some of the nation’s most prestigious awards.
Formerly, Cat ran the strategy and marketing teams for a multi award-winning digital agency, After Digital, for seven years and outside of her day job she was one of five who lead on TEDxGlasgow, building it to be one of Europe’s most established TEDx organisations.
The innovation that excites me is… anything in the realm of data science and technology meeting medicine.
@C_Leaver
Through strategic thinking and the smart use of technology, Catherine has played a pivotal role in transforming the Nomensa brand, positioning it as one of the most respected European digital UX agencies with a growing international presence.
She’s an unstoppable force, showcasing the brand’s next-level thinking and promoting the agency’s exemplary work through clever campaigns. Committed to continuous innovation, Catherine has also integrated tracking across the business to support client wins using behavioural insights that shape marketing activity in real-time. As a result, Catherine has been instrumental in changing perceptions and raising wider awareness of design, customer experience and UX in the digital industry, while also increasing Nomensa’s new business conversion rate by 39% in the last year.
My desert island luxury would be… Earl Grey tea – after all, what’s an island life without a quintessentially British cup of tea!
@LadyVaughan77
Charlotte was one of Born Social’s founding team. Today, it is an an award-winning social media agency for businesses that think like David, not Goliath, with a team of over 40, a 50:50 gender split, no pay gap and world class clients.
As COO, Charlotte has successfully scaled every part of the business from process to people. The last twelve months alone involved: restructuring the business; creating five new teams; 20+ hires; creating company values; an admirable wellbeing initiative; a learning & development programme; and a company-wide incentive scheme.
Charlotte won Women In Marketing’s ‘One to Watch’ award, completed The Marketing Academy Scholarship Programme, mentors young women in industry and was listed on 2019’s Forbes Under 30 in Media & Marketing
I’m where I am today because… I didn’t follow my dreams of being a Sky Sports reporter
@bebornsocial
Christel’s passion for influencing change can be traced back to her early school years in Denmark where she campaigned for students right to influence education. Today, she has made it a career spanning marketing, organisational change and digital strategy; leading cultural transformation at Deloitte and launching Digital at KPMG in the UK.
Her move to Epam was driven by a curiosity to approach change from a technology perspective, and she now dedicates her time to working with senior leaders as they navigate the complex, but exciting, challenges brought by digital.
She is an Apps for Good Mentor, a mother of two young daughters and a knowledge hunter with a huge passion for Karaoke.
Not many people know that I… trained to be a ballroom dancer.
Drawing on her fascination with the human mind, usability and human- computer interaction, Cristina has worked on a wide range of projects to achieve the best experience for users across industries and contexts. Her most recent success at Cyber-Duck was a huge, complex digital transformation project or a global medical and travel security company. Cristina also enjoys blogging and public speaking. In 2018, she spoke about the discipline of UX, ethics of design and positive friction, at events including UXPA UK, Leeds Digital Festival, UX Cambridge, Ladies that UX, Coventry University and Northumbria University. She also enjoys giving back to the community by running the BIMA Digital Day and careers panels at local schools, growing the next generation of designers.
I got into digital because… I want technology to be people-centred and solve problems instead of creating new ones.
@crvigano
Christel’s passion for influencing change can be traced back to her early school years in Denmark where she campaigned for students right to influence education. Today, she has made it a career spanning marketing, organisational change and digital strategy; leading cultural transformation at Deloitte and launching Digital at KPMG in the UK.
Her move to Epam was driven by a curiosity to approach change from a technology perspective, and she now dedicates her time to working with senior leaders as they navigate the complex, but exciting, challenges brought by digital.
She is an Apps for Good Mentor, a mother of two young daughters and a knowledge hunter with a huge passion for Karaoke.
@chionwurah
Damian is Head of Strategy at independent digital agency Redweb, where he leads the agency alongside the founder and CEO. An award winning digital polymath, he has built his career by helping organisations to build competitive advantage through design thinking and transformational strategy.
Over the last year he has led Redweb to a new proposition, visual identity and evolved structure by reimagining the agency/client relationship as a partner
model based on mutual value, disrupting the established industry status quo.
Damian leads by example, continues to push boundaries and supports others to grow by creating an environment where everyone is genuinely part of the drive to create change – for themselves, Redweb’s partners and the industry.
Relaxation is… a paddle, pedal or plod around the New Forest I call home.
@randomapricot
Managing Director Kagool
Category CEOs & Leaders
Dan is the Managing Director of Kagool, an award winning digital agency and Sitecore specialists. Under his leadership Kagool is now an established Econsultancy top 100 agency and 41st in the Drums list of independents.
Dan is passionate about culture. Under his leadership Kagool is one of the highest rated UK agencies on Glassdoor, holds Investors in People Gold status and is also recognised by Best Companies, with an inclusive working environment focused on its people.
An IOD Director of the Year winner, Dan has also been recognised by Sitecore, a Digital Experience Platform leader, as a Most Valuable Professional for the past 2 years.
Away from Kagool also volunteers as a Trustee providing digital consultancy to charitable organisations.
I’m where I am today because… of the support and encouragement of my family.
Dan jointly leads Creative Products, which has quadrupled in size during his time with the business. After several years running tech start-ups Dan joined Nice Agency in 2013, shaping their Agile Development proposition ahead of the acquisition by Karmarama and the subsequent move in to the Accenture Interactive family.
Dan’s remit is to build the User Interfaces that enable progressive customer experiences; combining human insight and data with brand creative and tech driven design.
As well as running diverse product programmes for Sky, Deutsche Bank and AstraZeneca, recent work includes a Stroke application to reduce patients’ long-term brain damage
and identifying potential product opportunities to improve the standard of life for the visually impaired, on behalf of Guide Dog’s for the Blind.
Not many people know… that I launched my own social network before Facebook. Unfortunately, Zuckerberg’s was better
@danmoranuk
Dan runs business growth and brand agency Why Digital. This past year has seen Dan driving change in the business he’s worked on growing; as well as encouraging new talent to engage and collaborate with the wider agency community.
With hugely successful community engagement pieces, including leading another Do It Day, Dan has overseen agencies, brands, charities, educational establishments and freelancers working together to solve challenges from employee wellbeing to children’ mental health services in both the Dorset area and nationally.
His culture-led growth strategy has seen multiple businesses grow and drive profit, whilst creating successful and healthy cultures. His mentoring of young entrepreneurs has seen them go on to win awards for emerging talent and young business leadership.
My one wish would be… to live in a world where people no longer fear talking about mental health.
@Daniel_willis
Daniel Gilbert is founder and CEO of Brainlabs, the smartest performance marketing agency on the planet. In 2018, Daniel was named #1 in PPC Hero’s Most Influential PPC Experts in the World list, crowned Biddable Media Professional of the Year at the Biddable Media Awards, and was a finalist for the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award London. He was a keynote speaker at Hero Conf London 2018 and spoke at events such as DMX Dublin, Friends of Search, and Campaign Breakfast Briefings.
On top of his contributions to publications including City A.M., Campaign, Econsultancy, and The Drum, Daniel was also a judge for the Campaign Media Awards.
My little-known hobby is… gymnastics.
@dangilbertppc
A jack-of-all-trades, the role of Strategy Director at Hydrogen fits Daniel Rae to a T.
Daniel is hands-on and loves to continually hone his skills: most recently as a 2018 delegate on TRCmedia’s exclusive Cross Creative programme for senior digital professionals.
He also contributed to marketing book Think Video, providing insights on video marketing and social media influencers. As well as supporting those already in the industry Daniel is keen to help the next generation and headed back to his old school for BIMA’s Digital Day to highlight VR, AR and digital as career options. He is currently working with 3rd year Glasgow Caledonian University design students, creating a course project to help them understand design in the digital world.
The next big thing in digital will be… brands using one-to-one messaging and bots to provide more information and build deeper relationships with customers.
@iamdanielrae
Since taking the helm at leading digital agency Digitas, in June 2018, Dani Bassil has already delivered a new digitally-focussed proposition, led on the organisation’s rebrand and shifted the agency to create even stronger digital experiences, that go beyond the expected. And all this in her first few months.
The future of the agency is certainly bright with Dani in the hot seat, with one eye on the present and one in the future, she recently appointed a new senior executive team, made up of a cross section of digital and creative talent, not only the best of the best but also the right fit for her future vision, those committed to the team and to take the agency into its next era.
I’m where I am today because… of my amazing family, friends and colleagues who supported me and all those who didn’t (fuel to the fire).
@dannibass
Danielle has worked in technology for over 15 years and is Head of Technology at the 150-year-old Co-op, responsible for technology ranging from the Co-op membership and data platforms to the new Co-op Health and Insurance Distribution businesses. Danielle has worked in the digital space at the Co-op since 2001 and has worked across a multitude of sectors ranging from food to funerals. Danielle is a prominent figure in the North West technology community, regularly speaking, running events and judging technology competitions locally and globally. A well known passionate, active champion of diversity in technology, she is a Non-Executive Director of Innovate Her which is an 8-week, after school programme dedicated to giving girls aged 12-16 the self-belief and skills they need to pursue a career in technology. She is a Board Director of the Co-op Credit Union and co-founder of @MapClubMcr.
Relaxation is… reading my collection of Isaac Asimov books.
David’s a technophile who loves helping people understand the tech landscape and plan their approach to success. In addition to his role running WordPress agency Pragmatic, he is leading a
sister blockchain agency Dcent.tech, co-chairs the BIMA Blockchain Council and is an international speaker.
I’m where I am today because… I was lucky to be born a white man in twentieth century Britain.
@divydovy
Dipa started her career in the fashion industry, working on digital design and art direction for brands such as Burberry, Warehouse, TOPSHOP and Ted Baker. She also made her mark across the revamped Crabtree & Evelyn brand redesign.
Now Senior Digital Designer at Wunderman, her work across a broad sector base doesn’t just start and end at design. She fully immerses herself into the strategy and UX teams striving to find the best design solution possible and feeding into customer experience.
Since leaping into the ad agency world, she has broadened her skillset to work across more digital tech-led projects such as apps, AI and VR. You can see some of Dipa’s work in the recent Fund Female campaign as well as across the Selfridges ecommerce experience, style guide and online look and feel.
Given the chance, I’d tell… my younger self to trust my own instincts and take more risks!
@DipaThanki
Don Smith is an inventor and has his own invention and disruption practice called One Hundred Flowers. He consults on innovation, invention, disruption and creative strategy and also runs a business developing his respiratory invention, The 1nhaler.
Until 2016, Don was an award-winning Creative Director in digital marketing, which he then left to begin a new career as an inventor, looking to bring his philosophy on innovation and invention into the fields of health, energy, environment and sustainability.
He has recently been involved with projects relating to Artificial Intelligence in life sciences, business modelling in financial services, blockchain technology in healthcare, data-driven innovation in transport and travel,and marine conservation in tidal energy.
Not many people know that I… invented a revolutionary new, compact, respiratory inhaler, designed to deliver dry-powder medicines
@donsmithb100m
Hui’s focus in 2018 centered on driving an audience-first approach across Sony Music’s UK labels to ensure marketing strategies continue to adapt to ever-changing consumer habits. Her leadership helped Sony move early into podcast development and voice activation. Sony Music became the first UK label to launch artist Amazon Alexa Skills with projects from Paloma Faith and Little Mix.
Hui also served as Chair of The BRIT Awards Digital Committee 2017 – 2019, working with UK music trade organization BPI and content agency Somethin’ Else to expand the show’s digital footprint and boost online viewership throughout her tenure.
My little-known hobby is… photographing street art around the world for my blog http://graffitilanes.com
@ruffian
Duane is a strategic polymath, accelerating ‘edge thinking’ from emerging culture, science and tech into brand futures exploration and creative experimentation. His cross-discipline work in 2019 saw him: explore new-age sustainability with BLOCKTAIL, a concept cocktail powered by blockchain, showing full traceability of each ingredient’s own supply chain; explore retail through a human-first lens using the psychological concept of FLOW; see a Buddhist Monk, a neuroscientist and an Immersive Theatrical Director share unexpected insights into how
Connected Retail can absorb shoppers in the moment through immersion and personalisation; and be selected as one of only a few content partners at FUTUREFEST, Europe’s largest festival of the future, exploring how multisensory and interactive design is changing the rules and future behaviours of flavour.
Not many people know that I… run an experimental supper club called Ready Meals.
@dhready
Elen’s work aims to create improved situations and reduce exclusion by design both physically and socially. She uses human-centred design methods to create designed products that are current and inclusive.
With a background in Three Dimensional Design, specialising in product, Elen has worked directly with a wide range of materials helping to develop her creative problem solving skills. She is confident in pushingthe boundaries of what is possible.
Currently studying a Masters Degree in Industrial Digitalisation, Elen’s focus is on using digital processes to innovate everyday products and services. She uses digital technologies combined with design thinking to improve the efficiency and desirability of the products with which we are surrounded with,
in particular assistive technologies and medical devices.
My greatest idea is… to innovate assistive aids and medical devices – essential for some, desirable for all
@elen_parry
Life is short, so Emil decided that family should always come first and the work should only be done with people who care for others. Through trial and error he’s trying to find his way in this world, always experimenting and never conforming.
Relaxation is… essential
@emilblum
Emily joined hedgehog lab in early 2018 as a UX research intern working alongside the team. Upon completing her masters in Research Psychology she joined the team permanently.
With 2+ years of practical psychology research experience in varying fields, Emily has quickly adapted and applied her skills within the design industry. Her psychology knowledge and background has helped hedgehog lab create and implement a more formalised structure ensuring scientific user research is incorporated into projects. Emily works with hedgehog’s design team to empower them to inform their work with effective and reliable research.
Emily is passionate about discussing and teaching about psychology in user research and design and has written blog articles and delivered presentations within the local design community.
My little-known hobby is… baking, I almost always ‘accidentally’ bake enough cookies to feed a small country.
@emilymhewitson
Emma is an interactive producer, she’s spent well over 15 years giving audiences agency to explore stories in exciting new ways. She cares a lot about the people at both ends of the process, the makers and the users. Emma loves anything that grabs attention, drives education and makes voices heard. She has produced games for marketing, entertainment, learning and social change, working on a few BAFTA winning projects along the way. Currently working with Cooperative Innovations helping them to grow the business, to create and define best practice for immersive content and also produce tools to help developers make the best of all the newly emerging hardware. Emma is also Executive Producer of Sheffield Doc/ Fest’s Alternate Realties programme.
Not many people know that I…have one leg longer than the other.
@em_cooper
Emma is a creative, author, blogger, vlogger, budding stand-up comedian, five times TEDx speaker and regular on the tech conference circuit. After being diagnosed with Parkinson’s at the age of 29 she made it her mission to raise awareness about the condition and continue her life as she planned.
She featured in the BBC2 documentary The Big Life Fix where Microsoft’s Haiyan Zhang created a bespoke wearable device that allowed Emma to write and draw for the first time in years.
This year Emma is doing something new every day and blogging about it at www.thef—itlist.com to shine a light on the importance of investing in our own development and happiness. Emma is also Creative Lead at Parkinson’s UK and last year spearheaded the creation of their Devices and Apps library to help those with the condition discover effective and safe tech.
My favourite quote/saying is… ‘Man cannot discover new oceans unless he has the courage to lose sight of the shore.’ Andre Gide
@ems_lawton
Emma leads the Creative team at Spotify UK, which exists to help companies and brands best utilise Spotify’s advertising products.
Before joining the Spotify team, she was a Creative Specialist at Snapchat and prior to that a Creative Specialist at Twitter. Her role is an amalgamation of creation, co-creation and consulting. Co-creation is at the core of what she does; working closely with agencies and brands, with their creative campaigns, and advising on the best ways of using Spotify within those campaigns.
Relaxation is… running along the East London canals on a crisp sunny day.
@emmahopkins
Appointed Managing Director in 2016, Ete has led AnalogFolk to unprecedented growth and creative excellence. Placed 29th in Econsultancy’s Top 100 Digital Agencies 2018 and ranked amongst it’s ‘top four’ creative agencies, AnalogFolk also placed 2nd for Campaign Magazine’s ‘Digital Innovation Agency Of The Year’ and was IPM COGS ‘Service Agency of the Year’. New business wins have taken AnalogFolk London from a UK- centric business to a regional European offering, culminating in recognition as an ‘outstanding all-rounder’ in the FT’s ‘UK Future 100’, for UK companies making a positive long-term impact on their sector and wider society, and achieving exceptional financial performance.
Away from AnalogFolk, Ete is a leading protagonist in driving diversity, inclusion and equality across the industry.
The innovation that is exciting me lately is… 5G because it will disrupt how software is done, and the lower latency could change almost every sector.
@CultureHeroesUK
Gemma started a global movement that encourages and celebrates the achievements of IT architects, with a particular focus on women, who are vastly underrepresented. In 14 months, over 2,000 people globally have been inspired to start progressing towards technical project leadership roles. Thanks to this movement, Gemma has helped a small corner of IBM cover new ground in the salesforce.com technology space.
Gemma also writes a blog that provides exam tips and tells the personal story of her fight with breast cancer. Gemma values learning and now strives to become a technical authority, having recently attempted the Salesforce Certified Technical Architect exam. Only 5% of the 250+ certification holders worldwide are women, so she is keen to show others that it’s achievable.
At school I… was often in trouble, because I wanted to know why the rules existed in the first place
@gemziebeth
Georgie Barrat is a technology journalist, broadcaster and presenter. At the beginning of 2017 she joined The Gadget Show’s new presenting line-up.
Alongside her work as part of the Gadget Show team, ITV Tonight, Good Morning Britain, ITV Weekend and is a regular on The Jeremy Vine Show and James Martin Saturday Morning. She often comments on breaking tech stories for the likes of Channel 5 News, BBC Radio 5 live, talk radio & BBC Radio 2.
She has contributed to reviewing the latest apps and devices for The Mirror, Tech City News, The Guardian, Marie Claire & The Metro.
Georgie is passionate about women working in technology and devotes time to encouraging more girls to be involved in STEM subjects.
@georgiebarrat
Hannah believes a job will only be done outstandingly if you truly care about it.
In the last year, she’s been the driving force behind talent programme, Digify, supporting emerging talent into the digital creative industries. Through this, she’s presented her views on skills training alongside Sadiq Khan as well as showcased best practices to inclusivity to the Deputy Prime Minister of Hong Kong.
Aside from developing businesses through talent, Hannah believes in the power of co-creating alongside your audience. She’s led and executed global creative projects for Netflix, Facebook and most recently NGO Better Care Network on an international behavior change campaign targeting volunteers and encouraging them to think differently about voluntourism.
At school I… was always getting in trouble for chatting and passing notes. That’s a big part of my job now so it worked out well!
@LivityUK
Ingrid has spent the last year working at Red Badger helping win new client accounts, growing existing accounts and implementing processes designed to scale in the future. Working with a fantastic Badger pitch team, key client 2018 wins include News UK and Tandem Money. She has also helped develop and implement new sales and account growth processes, which have been rolled out and are being used across the business. As part of her continued drive to ensure happy clients and sustainable growth, she is now focused on creating and launching Red Badger’s partnership strategy, designed to develop strategic partnerships with leading technology providers, to ensure that Red Badger continues to deliver best-in-class work for a range of new and existing clients.
My desert island luxury would be… a great sound system and big selection of music.
@ingridolmesdahl
Isabel is Founder and CEO of Creative Mentor Network, a charity which mentors young people into creative careers. For four years Isabel was a Teach First teacher, then she trained incoming teachers for Teach for Lebanon.
In 2014, back in the UK and noticing a lack of opportunity in the creative industries for young people from low-income backgrounds, Isabel established Creative Mentor Network. The organisation has helped 400+ young people into jobs across the industry, and partners with 40+ creative businesses including Soho House, Sky, Sony Music and M&C Saatchi.
Named the 2018 Major Players Diversity Champion, Oystercatchers Industry Leader, and Campaign Magazine’s Future Trailblazer, Isabel’s mission is to ensure the industry includes young people who don’t start out with the right network.
I’m where I am today because… I never understood ‘no’ to mean ‘no’.
@isabelfarchy
James is a director and developer at Parallax. He’s been working on developing city-wide IoT streetlighting projects, smart city and in-store experiential projects.
He’s spent his time using data to save councils’ money on energy bills by building a dashboard, an over-the-air-update protocol and testing tools, which were quickly rolled out across multiple cities.
His interactive media work includes in-store activations for major shoe brands. Using touch tables for data collection, customers’ can build a photo collage that is then printed on a photobooth printer.
I’ve never… liked toasted crumpets.
@mrrio
James Hilton is founder and Global CEO of M&C Saatchi Performance. In 2006, dissatisfied with the lack of quality and marketing knowledge when looking for
a mobile marketing supplier, James made the decision to found his own company Inside Mobile.
Over the past decade, James has led the agency to keep pace with the rapidly evolving digital industry. In 2018, this
meant taking the necessary step to more accurately reflect the direction of the agency by rebranding to M&C Saatchi Performance, with James identifying performance as the next frontier in digital.
James’ steadfast belief in the power of performance has seen the agency grow at an exponential rate, employing more than 150 staff in 11 locations globally.
The next big thing in digital will be… overcoming the complexity of multichannel attribution which will create yet another surge in digital media expenditure.
@mcsaatchiperf
For 10 years, James Wilkinson has been bridging the gap between digital marketing and web development. Specialising in producing multi-channel digital marketing campaigns, he believes in the competitive value of digital-centric organisations. From this standpoint, James modernises and increases clients’ reach across any industry, from charities to B2C commerce.
Since joining CTI Digital as Marketing Director, James has grown a client service marketing team from the ground up. The team has been enhanced by James’ dedication to investing in the professional development of those around him. More recently, James has increased his focus on client empowerment. By leading training courses, he teaches clients to take control of elements of their own marketing and, ultimately, the future of their brands online.
My little-known hobby is… meditation. I think it’s extremely important to take time away from work and learn to focus inwards
@jamesWilkinson
James works with some truly inspiring clients that are changing the world one day at a time. Whilst being supported by a talented team, he’s enabled these clients to tell their engaging and powerful narratives and assisted in pushing their organisation’s objectives forward.
Working closely with Anglia Ruskin University, James plays a considerable role in preparing students for life in the industry. He’s helped sculpt a module for the Graphic Design BA (Hons) course to give students an insight into working on a professional level multi-discipline project whilst getting helpful feedback from a real agency.
At school I… was told I should give up my dream of becoming a designer.
@dellar
Jared is a data scientist at Atos- Google AI Lab a global leader in digital transformation. Having joined as a graduate in 2016, he has quickly established himself as an expert in the areas of machine learning and AI. Passionate about technology, mathematics and data, he has delivered many innovative solutions to clients from a diverse range of industries.
In 2018 Jared put a number of technologies to successful use, from using machine learning to power recommendation engines, to working with genetic algorithms to solve complex optimisation problems. Recently Jared has been working in the Atos-Google AI Lab alongside AI experts from both Atos and Google to show clients the power of artificial intelligence and how it can be applied within their organisations.
I am where I am today because… I’ve had an amazing family supporting me who I strive to make proud, in particular my little brother.
Jennifer has been an integral part of various cyber skills campaigns across the UK including working with government and corporations surrounding the issues of ethical hacking, cyberbullying, and what to do in case of a security breach. Through her efforts in legislation, events, and security, Jennifer started Hacker House as a community of hackers in East London in 2014 and since then has launched a training portal to help bring more students into the industry of cyber security. In the last year she has trained students all over the UK and has expanded her work to the west coast of the USA to help encourage companies to adopt the same strategy of endorsing cyber skills.
Not many people know that I… can recite copious amounts of Shakespearean text.
@Jennifer_Arcuri
Atos brought Jillian into the business in 2017 to establish and grow the UK&I Digital Practice. Leveraging her expertise from leading business units at Logica, Sapient Publicis and Slalom, she focused her team on solving clients’ business problems with digital solutions that were truly effective at scale.
Today the UK&I Digital Practice is made up of over 160 colleagues providing services ranging from Industry 4.0 and IoT to data, analytics and AI, customer experience and business digitisation. The team partners with clients across all industry sectors connecting these services to design, build and deliver everything from innovative prototypes to multi-million pound engagements, which, in turn, led towards Atos Digital Services’ recognition as #3 in eConsultancy’s Top 100 Digital Agencies 2018.
Relaxation is… hovering at 30m down in the ocean, taking photos of passing manta rays and sharks.
@jillian_moore
Jodie leads Microsoft’s Cloud Scale Analytics business in the UK, shaping their Big Data & Analytics strategy across Product, Marketing, Sales & Partner. She’s a firm believer that with better data you’ll make better decisions.
Prior to this in her role as a technology strategist, Jodie played a vital role in shaping an entirely new partner ecosystem for Microsoft. She engaged digital agencies around the UK, evangelising Azure’s Data & AI capabilities through roadshows and workshops.
Jodie brings a vivacious and infectious energy to everything she does witha particular passion for championing and recruiting female talent. This is demonstrated through her mentoring of early in career females, speaking at partner events and through social media.
I got into digital because… I had an incredible school teacher called Miss Farmery who supported and inspired me.
@jodieerodgers
John has worked in the digital sector for almost 25 years and leads large-scale creative and digital solutions for major international brands.
As the head of a team that won a 2017 BIMA award for a new e-learning platform, he now works at the UWS as Head of Digital where he is applying his years of digital experience to the exciting challenges and opportunities facing Higher Education in the digital world. Over the past 12 months he has applied a strategic perspective to the digital activity and promotions to help move to a digital-first approach across platforms, services and promotions.
John was previously Digital Director and a Co-Managing Director at Front Page and before that worked in User Education for Adobe.
I got into digital because… Digital (along with a healthy dose of critical thinking) can help solve so many problems.
Jonny is the founder and CEO of LAB, the independent digital agency that uses a blend of consumer neuroscience, psychology and behavioural economics to design, build and market digital brands and experiences.
Jonny has overseen a standout 12 months for LAB, in which it has moved to a new, bigger space in the heart of Soho and hired Gocompare.com’s Adrian Webb as Chairman, as it looks to its next chapter of growth.
Under Jonny’s leadership in the last year, LAB has been named a ‘One to Watch’ in Econsultancy’s Top 100 Agencies; placed at number 6 in the Wirehive League Table; and featured in The Drum’s Top 100 Independent Agencies for the second year running.
Not many people know that I… refuse to take my phone / laptop with me on holiday.
@jonnyto
Josh Akapo is a multifaceted creative who has immersed himself in the digital space. In his growing career, he’s worked with Lovebox Festival, the NHS, Stormzy and many more
– all by 21. Working at student marketing agency Hype Collective, he set up the Hype Mentoring programme which connects talented young people with the creative industries at large, and he also aids the team in creative strategy and research. As youth mentoring not-for-profit Joined Up Thinking’s marketing lead, he has been instrumental in curating inspirational events, as well as helping to launch campaigns such as the NHS Blood + Transplant collaboration, tackling organ donation within the black community. He also has a clothing company, ARCHTYPE, and finds time to study at KCL.
The innovation that excites me lately is… the ‘water box’ device used to clean contaminated water in Flint, Michigan.
@jalekapo
In six years, Josh has risen from a graduate trainee at the Jellyfish Academy, the agency’s in-house training programme, to become PPC Director. Responsible for leading client strategy, developing the
team around him and continuously improving the agency’s paid search offering, he oversees a team of 17 paid search specialists and leads the strategy across some of the agency’s most long-standing accounts.
He was one of only four industry experts invited to speak at Google’s Firestarters event on performance marketing. Coinciding with Google’s 20th birthday, the theme was ‘Twenty years on: The present and future of search’. Josh’s talk focused on technology and his belief that it will enhance rather than hinder the role of the future search practitioner.
The film/book title that describes my life is… Happy Feet
@JellyfishAgency
As Director of Marketing at WPP martech agency, Cognifide, Josie champions CSR and sustainability. Over the last 2 years, she has coordinated the establishment of a strategic sustainability framework that allows colleagues across the organisation to determine where and how they make a difference. Last year alone, the company supported 13 individual projects, involving over 100 staff and over 390 hours of volunteering. Josie oversees all UK initiatives and has personally advocated for several, with a particular emphasis
on gender balance and inclusion. In 2018, these included working with the charity Hestia to help women suffering from domestic abuse; with #techmums, to reconnect women with technology and with the charity, You Make It, to help transform young lives.
My desert island luxury would be… Friends. Is that allowed? I can’t imagine being stranded anywhere on my own for too long.
@JosieKlaf
As Client Strategy Director, Karen Pearce has shaped Digirank into what it is today: a people-powered, insight hungry, award-winning, and strategic digital marketing agency.
Karen leads our team of talented digital experts. Her knowledge, guidance and support enables the team to help make local and national clients market leaders in their sectors through strategic digital marketing.
Aside from growing the business, Karen is passionate about involving the
local community in digital, nurturing talent and opening doors for the next generation of digital as part of Digirank’s ‘Digiskills’ programme. 2018 was a whirlwind year, with Karen inspiring record business growth. 2019 is shaping up to be even bigger, she will be heavily involved in exciting business changes and will be working towards a ‘mini MBA’ run by Google.
I got into digital because… anything is possible. It’s shaped by people and creativity, there really are no limits to what can be achieved.
@karenhowells1
Katie is Co-Founder and Director of StateZero Labs, the world’s first solution-led Blockchain Lab for startups. Having spent her entire career working with startups in emerging tech in the UK, Europe and Latin America, she now focuses on educating the tech market on genuine business use cases for blockchain, and the importance of diversity and inclusion in the workforce.
The innovation that’s excited me lately is… the shift in focus on blockchain for enterprise solutions rather than just cryptocurrencies.
@KatieMillsSZL
Passionate about new business and marketing, Katie has had a busy year focusing on developing a new proposition to market for the ever growing Etch Group.
Already seeing great success, Katie has focussed on driving a sales and marketing strategy that increases the agency’s reach and drives new business opportunities by developing a robust marketing strategy and training the heads of department across the agency group to drive outreach and sales.
At school I… spoke even more than I do now! Known for speaking up, I have always voiced my opinions and challenged the status quo.
@katiestreetmate
Kevin is co-Founder and CEO of specialist SEO and content marketing agency, Re:signal, leading a team of 15 people and £1.5m in revenues.
He has founded and grown one of the UK fastest growing companies (Deloitte Fast 50 UK and 500 EMEA 2017), working with clients including Expedia, Auto Trader and ASICS. Re:signal has won 5x industry awards for its work in 2018, with Kevin voted the prestigious Search Personality at UK Search Awards, totalling 20x for the agency since launch in 2012.
Kevin initiated the voluntary SEO support for PrideMatters and Make a Wish foundation. He is also a judge for the US Search Awards, MENA Search Awards and Interactive Awards.
I got into digital because… I was told journalism was too competitive and I should find something different!
@kevgibbo
Leigh Dobson is the Client Service Director at Signal. Part of Cello Group PLC, Signal is a full-service digital & CRM agency with over 250 staff and offices in Edinburgh, London and Cheltenham.
She has responsibility for the client, commercial and cultural health of the agency in Edinburgh. This equates to the happiness and satisfaction of a broad, diverse and ambitious staff group and an equally demanding set of clients that include The Royal Bank of Scotland, The Edinburgh Fringe, The British Red Cross, Baillie Gifford and Nando’s.
Day-to-day, she manages a 20+ team comprising Account Management, Project Management and Marketing Operations and leads the operational decision-making of Signal Edinburgh as part of the Senior Management Team.
My favourite quote/saying is… “Pour yourself a drink, put on some lipstick, and pull yourself together.” Elizabeth Taylor
@leighdobbers
Passionate about the opportunities that technology and particularly apps offer to improve health and care efficiencies and outcomes, Liz founded ORCHA, the Organisation for the Review of Care and Health Application in 2015, determined to present a way to offer guidance to app developers to help raise app quality, as well as helping the public and professionals to confidently find and apply apps that could genuinely improve public, patient and organisational outcomes.
Initially a Speech Therapist, Liz has 20 years NHS experience. She has successfully led innovative change and service transformation in complex health economies. She has led national and European change programmes and networks to deliver transformational shift and has experience of working collaboratively with public sector, industry and academia.
I’m where I am today because… of tenacity, tenacity tenacity! I will not give in!
@LizAshallPayne
Lindsay Herbert is an IBM Inventor, as well as the iX Innovation Leader. Among Lindsay’s IBM inventions is IBM Instant Checkout, a ground breaking system that detects shop items without needing to individually scan them, and then enables quick, secure payment.
Lindsay is also a Governor for the Museum of London, as well as the author of the book Digital Transformation, which published with Bloomsbury and has received international praise for its no-nonsense approach to innovation in major organisations.
A sought-after speaker, Lindsay draws upon her own insider insights leading major innovation with a diverse set of leading brands. Lindsay’s core message is that real digital transformation means to become more adaptive to change itself, and that it’s accomplished by leveraging the new ways of working brought about by the innovation age.
My one wish would be… that science andtechnology can release the wisdom of human minds from the constraints of their malfunctioning physical bodies.
@digital_lindsay
Lucy is a senior art director at Great State and one half of Two Girls Co with her wife, working on everything from websites, video content, campaigns, product design to print.
At Great State, Lucy conceived and art directed the UNHCR’s Step with Refugees – a global campaign launched in 2018 that syncs with fitness applications, where users can ‘donate’ their miles to match the 2 billion kilometres covered by refugees each year.
In early 2019, Two Girls Co launched the Girls Who Design enamel pin to empower women in the design industry to feel proud of what they do. This pin is a perfect conversation starter to help bring more diversity to creativity, something Lucy is incredibly passionate about.
I’m where I am today because… my wife forced me out of the humdrum and made me create my graphics portfolio.
@lucy_w_shrimp / @twogirls_co
A digital marketing student from Bournemouth, Maddie specialises in paid search marketing. She only joined the digital industry around 18 months ago but in that short period she has discovered that she has a talent for it, and “absolutely loves” delivering formidable results.
Outside of work, Maddie applies her marketing abilities (and her addiction to social media) to fundraising. In the last two years she has raised money for Dorset Mind, The Alzheimer’s Society, and We Do Ethical, all causes she strongly supports, and all of which have benefitted from her digital skills.
Maddie loves… spending time with her friends and family, reading, listening to music and finally her cats!
@Madison_C64
Mark led digital transformation programmes for large enterprise clients at IBM iX. He is passionate about creating high-performing, digital design and development teams that help iX’s clients get closer to their customers and increase their pace of delivery; two key ingredients for dealing with the disruption many industries are facing.
In 2018, Mark lead a new partnership between IBM iX and Audi UK, to bring Audi’s digital experience in line with the intelligent and beautiful cars the brand is known for. To achieve this, Mark lead the creation of an Agile development hub, where iX, Audi and Audi’s partners work side-by-side to build, test and learn about the ‘best digital experience, bar none’.
Relaxation is… playing with technology, just for the sake of it.
@markc303
Matt is responsible for the continued commercial success and strategic evolution of R/GA in EMEA. As R/GA continues to scale its teams, client portfolio and offerings in the region, Matt’s decade of industry experience ensures that the right working practices and culture are in place to allow the agency to act as a trusted partner to its global clients. Over the last year, Matt led the EMEA launch of R/GA’s new Transformation at Speed model, resulting in significantly increased revenue from 2018. During this time the agency also won 13 major new clients, delivered award winning work for clients such as Google, Nike and McDonald’s, and culminated in R/GA London being named Digital Innovation Agency of the Year by Campaign Magazine – for a record fourth time in the last six years.
I got into digital because… I believed in a more human future
Matt is a digital designer at Sightsavers, a non-governmental organisation that works in developing countries to treat and prevent avoidable blindness and promote equality for people with disabilities. His experience spans creative disciplines including branding, UI/UX design, illustration, animation and art direction, and he now focuses on accessible and inclusive design, for which he is a keen advocate.
He has written for Creative Review about being a colour-blind designer, and he helped to create Sightsavers’ Perspectives exhibition at the D&AD design festival in 2018, which encouraged designers to make sure their work is accessible for everyone. He has also worked with global banknote manufacturer De La Rue to develop a more inclusive approach to designing banknotes around the world.
My one wish would be… To have just one day a year where the internet is switched off across the world.
@the_other_matt
Since taking over as Head of Digital Marketing for Jellyfish Connect, Matthew has transformed the way the digital marketing team works, both structurally and with regards to its progressive approach to technology and growth. Under his leadership, the team have been able to deliver 22% year-on-year growth across its 3 core products whilst still being able to reduce costs, streamline procedures and work more efficiently.
Key to this success over the last year has been down to Matthew bringing all channels into one central team, moving away from a siloed approach and moving towards an omni-channel strategy that allows for greater expansion across all channels and has now set the framework for continued future growth.
My favourite quote is… ‘A man who stops advertising to save money is like a man who stops a clock to save time.’ Henry Ford
@matthewread88
Michael Olaye is CEO at Dare, a digital agency with hub offices in London and Stockholm; and Chief Technology Officer at Inside Ideas Group.
His experience has seen him named one of The Drum’s 100 most influential people in UK digital. He was also recently named one of the 100 most influential Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) leaders in the UK technology sector, in a House of Commons and Financial Times-backed list.
In his spare time Michael mentors, helping up-and-coming industry candidates and supports local communities in the UK & Sweden. Healso advises digital businesses and is active as a guest speaker in the wider digital & technology sector.
The innovation that excites me is… driverless cars – it’s the next best thing to having a chauffeur.
@magicTuscan
An experienced brand and innovation specialist, Melissa leads digital strategy and audience-first thinking at WIRE; one of Scotland’s foremost creative agencies.
Her passion for finding new ways to connect technology with stand-out creative thinking has been instrumental in some of organisation’s biggest wins; from Highlands and Islands Enterprise to the Communicorp group. Industry accolades in the last 12 months have included Best Digital Strategy, Best Social Media Campaign, Best Low-Budget Campaign, as well as a personal listing in The Drum’s 50 under 30.
Melissa regularly acts as a thought-leader at events and in the media. After a sold-out talk on artificial intelligence last year, 2019 has seen her feature on BBC’s Good Morning Scotland and STV’s Scotland Tonight.
The next big thing in digital will be… the disappearance of the word digital. Online and offline will find new ways to connect.
@secretcelebrity
Mike has forged a career making data science as accessible and impactful as possible – spending the last year focussing on innovative applications of natural language processing to help businesses make the most out rich text data in the digital space that was previously under-utilised.
Establishing and growing the data science offering and team at SHARE to develop and deliver novel data solutions whilst championing transparency and ethics in applied AI, Mike has worked to help build the reputation of data science in the wider digital marketplace and enable clients and colleagues to make data powered decisions.
I got into digital because… I’m a huge data nerd and no other industry offers the wealth of data to do cool stuff with!
Nathan has been steadily growing CreateFuture’s client and project base as they enter their third year, working most recently with Adidas, FreeAgent, Penguin Random House and The Macallan. CreateFuture’s headcount has grown to 10, as they develop and refine their hybrid model, pointing client/agency teams at brand, marketing and product design. Highlights include helping established clients take two new financial services businesses to market.
He has also been active in supporting BIMA’s Scottish council work.
My great idea is… Gladiators meets Love Island – looking for backers if you’re interested 🙂
@kidcamel
With previous careers in law & advertising, Nick founded Big Group in 1991 as an integrated communications agency. 2018 proved seminal with the acquisition of two agencies in Amsterdam
to form Big Amsterdam and winning 14 creative industry awards. Nick has driven the agency forward with a 1st class management team and as CEO, he is ambitious for new digital opportunities alongside developing a strong culture across it’s locations in London, Bath, Newbury and the newly opened Amsterdam.
Outside of executive responsibilities, Nick co-founded The MOBO Awards, relaunched The Prince’s Trust Fashion Rocks and received the 1st ever honorary Brit Award in 2018 for managing a successful 20 year partnership between Mastercard and the Brit Awards.
Relaxation is… weeding the drive at my home in the South of France.
Nikki joined Unilever in 2012, driven by a passion for technology with a purpose. Her time at Unilever has been focused on partnering internal teams to find the best technology solutions for every-day business opportunities. Key roles include implementing predictive capabilities to accelerate consumer research, and software development to support simulated product development within packaging teams.Since 2017, Nikki can now be found in London, partnering Marketing Innovation teams -finding new digital capabilities to embed consumer feedback into product development and simplify internal processes to enable fast decision making, entrepreneurship and creativity. Her ambitions are to champion lean principles (build-measure-learn) through digital capabilities designed for experimentation and learning and empower our Innovation teams with a founder’s mentality.
My favourite quote is… ‘I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways thatwon’t work.’
Nina Jasinski is the CMO of Ogilvy UK. She has helped shape the proposition for Ogilvy’s world-class capabilities from a
marketing perspective, bringing in new clients in need of not just advertising solutions, but overarching marketing transformation.
Not many people know that I… Once skateboarded really well (I know!)
@ninajas
With 18 years experience working in SEND education, mainly with children with Autism, 2018 saw Paul see the fruition of several years of work in aiming to improve the employability and career choices for his students in digital industries.
With 75 students taking part on the day, several teams of students from Paul’s school made the finals of the BIMA Digital Day competition, with one team winning the Vodafone challenge. They are the first SEND school to achieve this.
Paul continued to champion the rights of the neurodiverse in employment as a guest speaker at BIMA’s ‘Importance of inclusion and diversity in digital industries’ breakfast briefing in March and through developing digital training projects for his students.
I’m where I am today because… I’m a dreamer with a bit of luck.
@pauldav1975
As part of Toptal’s 3% global design talent, Pharaoh’s skills in the field of Digital Product Design have helped many startups and brands to create world-class digital experiences.
After founding his own design studio in 2016, he received a BIMA Award nomination for his outstanding design work on ‘Now’, a pioneering social matchmaking app that grew weekly by 270% after its initial launch in 2018.
Whilst operating as one of the Directors of Now, Pharaoh also forms part of InVision’s Design Leadership Forum and serves as the Chief Design Officer at Appello, an international full-service design and development agency.
With a wealth of experience in digital, Pharaoh continues to be an advocate of holistic design, with an emphasis on thoughtful reduction, mindfulness and craftsmanship.
Not many people know that I… am into quantum mechanics.
@neworks
Phil joined VCCP iX in 2016 and oversees a talented engineering team based in both London & Prague. His true passion lies in technical innovation, and it is his time spent working with creative disciplines that has driven some truly unique products and platforms, such as easyJet, Look&Book.
Agencies and clients require a new type of Technical Director who are as comfortable and effective in the delivery of corporate developments as they are in the creative use of emerging technology and innovations. Phil fits this bill perfectly and provides a reassuring, confident partner for clients trying to navigate the unpredictable, morphing world of technology.
Relaxation is… Inbox Zero.
Phil is Founder and Creative Director of BAFTA-winning gamestudio PRELOADED. Since 2000 he has worked with game-based technologies to create playful, purposeful experiences for adults, young people and kids.
Over the past 18 months he has focused on bringing purpose to immersive platforms; working with WITHIN on their voice-based AR story platform, exploring accessibility in AR with BBC R&D and partnering with VIVE Arts and Google VR on landmark factual experiences. Currently he is working with Magic Leap on a new MR educational experience.
Outside of PRELOADED he sits on BAFTA’s Games Committee and BIMA’s Immersive Council. In 2019 he also gave his first TEDx talk: Games with Purpose – a manifesto for the role of games beyond entertainment.
The innovation that’s excited me lately is… mixed reality. We’re witnessing the birth of a new medium, which will change the way we see our world forever.
@philstuart
Phil Stuart
Founder and Creative Director PRELOADED
Category Tech Trailblazers
Phil is Founder and Creative Director of BAFTA-winning gamestudio PRELOADED. Since 2000 he has worked with game-based technologies to create playful, purposeful experiences for adults, young people and kids.
Over the past 18 months he has focused on bringing purpose to immersive platforms; working with WITHIN on their voice-based AR story platform, exploring accessibility in AR with BBC R&D and partnering with VIVE Arts and Google VR on landmark factual experiences. Currently he is working with Magic Leap on a new MR educational experience.
Outside of PRELOADED he sits on BAFTA’s Games Committee and BIMA’s Immersive Council. In 2019 he also gave his first TEDx talk: Games with Purpose – a manifesto for the role of games beyond entertainment.
The innovation that’s excited me lately is… mixed reality. We’re witnessing the birth of a new medium, which will change the way we see our world forever.
@philstuart
Priya Lakhani OBE is Founder CEO of CENTURY Tech, the award-winning AI teaching and learning platform. Launched in 2015, CENTURY creates personalised learning journeys for students in schools across the world. This year the company agreed a landmark partnership with the Belgian government to use CENTURY in all state schools in the Flanders region, the first state-level rollout of AI in schools.
Last year Priya, alongside Professor Rose Luckin, Director of EDUCATE and Sir Anthony Seldon, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Buckingham, established the Institute for Ethical Artificial Intelligence in Education, which aims to tackle potential threats to young people from the rapid growth of new technology.
Priya regularly comments on world news, politics, business and technology for BBC World News.
At school I… sold Chomp bars and Curly Wurlies to the other students.
@priyalakhani
Richard has gone over and above his everyday role to support the Sagittarius Marketing team and has been instrumental in the agency’s survival as it has evolved from a team of 36 to an 85-strong company. It is his mission to ensure all the developers, across the globe feel supported and well-informed on client projects whilst also leading into new digital frontiers.
When it comes to innovative agency projects he leads the way in tech on client proof-of-concepts including a Virtual Concierge (Microsoft Chatbot) for travel giant, Red Carnation Hotels.
As well as being the first developer to write Augmented Random Search in C#; a cutting-edge AI technique like Google DeepMind and can teach a robot to walk by experience.
My favourite quote/saying is… let one walk alone, committing no sin, with few wishes, like elephants in the forest.
@richardbrisley
9-5: Richard leads change and makes good things happen between brands, agencies and talented folk. He specialises in accelerating modern marketing & enabling digital transformation.
5-9: Richard is an award-winning advocate for diversity, inclusivity and equality. Named by the FT & Management Today as one of the top 30 men championing women in the workplace and a ‘Campaigner for increased diversity’ by Huff Post. Chair of The Ideas Foundation, Board Member of Creative Equals, BAME2020 & Token Man, the first male SuperMomma for SheSays and an Ambassador for The Marketing Academy Foundation.
My favourite quote/saying is…that digital transformation is 90% people and 10% tech.
@londonrobinson
Rob has been running Graphite Digital since 2009. He has steered the agency’s growth and they work in partnership with some of the world’s biggest organisations to deliver exceptional digital customer experiences. Clients include Pfizer, Costa, BP and Harvey Nichols.
Rob has dedicated much of his time this year to running BIMA Young Talent Council initiatives and creating a Future Talent Programme to drive change, alongside his Graphite team.
Rob is the South East ambassador for BIMA’s Digital Day and this year he helped to onboard the 150 agencies & schools taking part. He continues to help digital professionals connect with young people, striving to bring diverse talent into the industry and giving young people the support they need to flourish.
My great idea is… To reinvent the work experience model, so it’s more informative for students and more sustainable for companies.
@rob_v
Having previously led the marketing function he stepped into a newly formed role to lead the development of the organisation’s digital programme – building direct relationships with the fans, grassroots volunteers and players in the game. The work so far has involved the development of a single customer database and a step- change of The FA’s digital platform to directly support engagement in the game across both men’s and women’s football from elite to grassroots. The launch of Matchday with PayPal and FA Superkicks apps are at the heart of a modern engagement approach.
The future potential of OTT, wearables and how technology innovation will shape the football experience for all is also a key part of his focus.
My favourite quote/saying is… “If it matters enough to you, you’ll find a way to get it done, if it doesn’t then you’ll find an excuse.”
@jamesrm
Sam has a track record of delivering growth and change through innovation, and is an expert in brand, product management, channel development and commercial operations. In 2017 he was behind the creation and launch of the FTSE 100-listed Centrica Business Solutions, a start-up consisting of six existing and acquired businesses and brands. He has since launched the company’s fully integrated digital demand generation platform in eight markets, delivering in 2018 a 9-point increase in NPS and order book growth of over 50%, with indirect channels on track to deliver over 25% of OI for 2019.
Prior to his success at Centrica, Sam was Global Digital & Marketing Operations Director for Vodafone Group Enterprise and Global Marketing Director for Cable & Wireless Plc.
Shona Gold is Director of Sales & Marketing at Vue Entertainment, she sits on the executive team, and is on a mission to deliver the best big screen entertainment on the planet. She thrives on building teams and working with people who are razor sharp, ambitious and a great laugh. Shona has redefined Vue’s role and positioning, and has utilised research and insight to shape the company’s strategic initiatives, keeping customers at the core of what Vue do. She has developed a stellar digital team with whom she has defined Vue’s digital strategy, built a market leading web and mobile capability, accelerated key initiatives such as PPC, CVM, social media as well as adopting new technologies in payments and personalisation to enhance customers experience.
The next big thing in digital will be… a flash in the pan.
@vuecinemas
As a Creative Technologist, Sam works to blend digital and physical spaces. This year, he’s created an assistive AI- driven music-box for dementia patients and an ‘Internet of Things’ solution
that teaches children how to properly maintain and look after their first plant. He’s concepted and overseen the development of a LEGO ‘shop’ on Snapchat, where users can look around and purchase clothing via AR. According to Snapchat, it’s one of the leading examples of what’s possible on the platform.
Sam also designed and built wearable tech to help support him on his climb of Kilimanjaro, which helped track his heartbeat, blood oxygen levels, altitude and GPS location. The data he captured is currently being translated into a data visualisation art piece.
The innovation that has excited me lately is… The emergence of “calm technology”.
@SamuelCox
According to their website, anything is possible. They believe it so much they made it their brand.
It’s been quite a year for Sam and the agency he co-founded in 2018. Multiple awards, client wins andrapid growth followed, proving integrated media, creative and consultancy services deliver a compelling proposition. Sam is challenging the traditional client/ agency model and bringing back client trust in their agency partners.
Success is measured by their impact on a client’s triple bottom line – profit, people, and their impact on the planet. They link their payment models directly to success. His introduction of development funding for life and a tech innovation fund supporting self-build projects has made Anything is Possible a great place to work.
Not many people know that I… gave up my job and spent a year on honeymoon, travelling the world with my wife. It was the initial spark that inspired Anything is Possible.
@sjfe
Simeon Quarrie is a renowned storyteller and international speaker using story and interactivity to drive change. The owner of VIVIDA is a Canon Ambassador and GTeam member. Listed as one
of the world’s most influential creatives, he works to tackle issues of diversity and inclusion with Canon across Africa and Europe and played an instrumental role in creating Burberry’s new Burberry Inspire programme. His agency VIVIDA added VR to its storytelling toolkit and works with brands like Barclays and Merck to use story and interactivity to nurture resilience and innovation. He was selected to Keynote on creativity at Apple HQ in San Francisco. He has also personally funded projects designed to change perceptions of blindness and mental health.
I’m where I am today because… I believe everyone has a story worth sharing.
@simeonquarrie
From consulting at adidas to launch a new running brand last year, Sunny provides the direction and connected UX strategy for Tribal Worldwide. He has helped shape the entire digital customer experience for Volkswagen UK, an enormous responsibility given its position as the most visited automotive website in the UK.
The pinnacle of Sunny’s contribution in 2018 came when he helped the DDB group retain Volkswagen’s business in the UK and Europe. His customer-centric militancy and his advocacy for digital experience – in the middle of a global advertising pitch – was a huge success. He brilliantly represented experience design and creativity, garnering accolades from VW clients and agency network colleagues alike.
My desert island luxury would be… a couple of cases of Flying Goose Sriracha Hot Chilli Sauce, it makes anything taste good.
@priyalakhani
Umesh (uMe) Pandya is driven by using design and technology to solve problems that matter, he has been working as a practitioner in the digital sector for over 18 years, conceiving and launching inclusive, human-centred, digital products, services and ventures.
In addition to co-founding Wayfindr, a multi-award-winning, social tech, not-for-profit that empowers vision impaired people to navigate the world independently, uMe has been
transferring and adapting tools, process and methodologies from the design
and start-up sectors to help accelerate product and service innovation in the social impact sector. He is currently developing the Social Venture Canvas
– a free to use tool that supports social tech entrepreneurs on their journey in creating purpose-driven, impact led, sustainable digital businesses.
My favourite quote/saying is… “Design needs to be plugged into human behaviour. Design dissolves in behaviour.” Naoto Fukasawa
@the_ume
As Marketing and New Business Director, Victoria is responsible for driving Think’s growth, brand, marketing and technology partnerships.
She’s part of a leadership team that has helped steer the agency through an incredible year. As well as winning a host of awards including The Drum’s Digital Agency of the Year, Think saw a 60% growth in revenue YoY – with Victoria driving highly competitive wins for Liverpool FC, Shop Direct, LV=, The Adecco Group and Knight Frank.
To top a defining year, Think was acquired in 2018 by EPAM, one of the world’s largest engineering firms. Victoria played a crucial role in the acquisition’s success; bringing all of her responsibilities together to enable Think to not only dream big for its clients but deliver big too.
The film/book title that describes my life is… Well Behaved Women Seldom Make History
@weevics
Warren has been working in experience design for 20+ years, working for Yell, PA Consulting, Oyster, Framfab, LBi and Universal Music. He founded experience design consultancy ELSE in 2010 to specialise in behaviour change, new product development and service innovation. ELSE works with multinationals and start-ups and includes UBS, Adidas, Boehringer-Ingelheim, T. Rowe Price and Kodak as clients. ELSE has a strong focus on its culture, employing a 4-day work week, protected R&D time and a generous training budget.
Warren is a guest lecturer at Brunel University, delivering the Experience Design module on the MSc in Digital Design, and he’s also lectured on the MBA at Cambridge. ELSE is also involved with Northumbria University and Imperial College.
I’ve never… had the desire to leap from a plane, go to Vegas, or listen to Radiohead.
@snowbadger
Before joining Facebook, Zaynah studied at The Global Academy where her passion for tech grew. Previously she attended a grammar school, an environment she could not thrive in. Even though facing societal and family pressure, she took a risk and decided to build a new path for herself. She set up her own business using Instagram called Zaynah’s Bakes, a home-sale cupcake business where she reached 16,000 people within the first 2 weeks. Zaynah also built a strong portfolio through various work experience and internships. She is now working in the marketing team at Facebook where she is responsible for managing regional campaigns which run across Facebook & Instagram. Currently she is working on a program which supports young BAME women in Tech
& Apprenticeships, which she wishes to launch in the near future.
Given the chance, I’d tell… my younger self: “You’re doing great sweetie”.
@zaynahdin
Alex Price is the founder of specialist digital agency 93digital, which he started in his bedroom before dropping out of university to build an award winning agency. Alex serves on BIMA’s Young Talent Council helping to get more young people into the digital industry, and has featured in the BIMA 100 on two occasions previously in the Rising Star category. Alex was also named as The Drum’s Agency Rising Star in 2016.
As VP, Marketing and Business Development, Alex led Huge’s notable European growth in 2017, welcoming new clients including Expedia, Hugo Boss, Zalando, Google, Esprit and Thomson Reuters, as well as winning the AAR’s largest digital pitch of the year. Alex was also the driving force behind a new workshop partnership with London Business School, as well as a push to use digital as a medium for social good, partnering with local authorities in East London to tackle the knife crime endemic.
Alex leads the ‘Make Something You Love’ event series, curating makers from all walks of life that can provide inspiration to those working in the digital industry, and has supported BIMA with Digital Day and the BIMA Mentoring scheme.
@alexpym
Alexandra has achieved industry-wide recognition for building an award-winning digital and communications strategy for Wimbledon.
Through the combination of a content-first, platform second approach, a data-led audience strategy, and placing value on consistent innovation and continuous evolution, Alexandra has led Wimbledon to become one of the most well-respected digital brands in sport.
She was named one of the BIMA 100 2018, Drum Digerati 2018 & 2017, Sports Technology Young Exec of the Year 2017, and Leaders Under 40 and Sport Industry NextGen Classes of 2016.
She has an MA in History from Oxford University and an Executive MBA from Harvard Business School.
Alexis is quickly becoming a leader in strategic innovation and digital futures, helping organisations, governments and NGOs to reimagine tomorrow. Her recent work includes helping government leaders develop a vision for 2030 and further build out programmes, policies, and services for the future. She also helps lead engagements with big tech, exploring digital security issues and developing human-centric technologies around people’s online privacy needs and concerns.
The impact of Alexis’s work is not only evidenced by her delivery of client projects; she thrives in both business development and team management. Her avid curiosity, strategic mind, and innate ability to connect with people, make her a valued part of the Idea Couture team.
@ideacouture
Industrial Sector Lead at IBM iX.
Alison, Clarky as she’s known leads an incredible team focused on the Automotive, Aerospace and Defence industry. She works with businesses struggling to digitise by using creativity and design to help solve complex issues.
From a standing start, she’s delivered some incredible digital transformation projects; on production systems, using design techniques and processes to prototype, engaging engineering stakeholders, and delivering through agile processes. She’s an exceptional creative brain in a sector where creativity is not highly valued. She’s encouraged a sea-change, and clients now come to her for creative-lead solutions to deeply complex business problems.
@IBM_iX
Alistair is ECD at agency We are Social. Having worked for incredible companies like Agency Republic and Guardian Labs, he continues to seek out the most interesting work in the most cutting edge new areas of advertising.
Recently his 5 part content series investigating technology’s effect on privacy in the 21st century won a D&AD Pencil, was featured in the Big Bang Data exhibition and screened at the WEC in Davos.
His short film, The Last Job On Earth which brought to life the issues surrounding automation in the work place, was awarded Best Animated Film at the Lovies and is being featured in the exhibition Robots at the German Design Museum.
@VariousProjects.
If you’ve not met Andy before he could arguably beBritain’s most energetic tech entrepreneur. He is founder and CEO of Angel Solutions, a Liverpool based software agency established in 1999. This Ringmaster and his team of 50 (and growing) create innovative products out of an award winning circus themed office! Andy was in the 2018 BIMA 100, is the Chair of BIMA Liverpool and is a regular speaker at both local and national events. Andy now spends most of his time working across the city region on projects that invest in young people and mentors other businesses & aspiring entrepreneurs
Anna Rafferty runs BBCW’s global digital marketing portfolio. She leads the company’s shortform and social content production, drives the corporation’s reputation for innovation and editorially develops new IP’s. In the past year she has worked on brands including BBC Earth, Blue Planet II, Doctor Who, Top Gear and Hey Duggee.
She joined from Pottermore, J.K. Rowling’s entertainment company where she was Director of Product, Content and Creative and part of the launch team for the Fantastic Beasts’ franchise and Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. Rafferty previously spent 11 years at Penguin Books where she was Digital MD. She is the Chair of Culture24, a digital arts charity and on the board of the Women’s Prize for Fiction.
@raffers
Antony is a strategist, speaker and writer. He is CEO and co-founder of Brilliant Noise, a marketing-led digital transformation partner for global brands. In 2017 Brilliant Noise grew by 30% and welcomed a number of senior colleagues. In addition to designing market leading transformation programs for clients including Diageo, adidas and Universal Pictures, Antony is a regular industry speaker. He hosts Brilliant Noise’s annual Dots conference and is a regular contributor to publications including Forbes and The Huffington Post.
Antony also serves as the Chair of Lighthouse, an arts and culture agency producing, supporting and presenting new art, film, music, design and games. In 2017 the organisation was awarded continued Arts Council England National Portfolio funding, ensuring investment until 2022.
@amayfield
Ardy doesn’t fit the mould of advertising.
Politely doing what clients ask has never been his style.
His approach is lateral, even asymmetric.
He asks too many questions.
And pushes hard when the answers are weak.
But entrepreneurs like Ardy fundamentally don’t fit in the mainstream.
They hunt for opportunities at the margins.
Opportunities like using tech to: make ads, talk to clients and (god forbid) even make advertising profitable.
If opportunity is found at the margins, Ardy proudly sits there.
Having launched M&C Saatchi Accelerator, he works everyday to find new ways to grow the tech-enabled businesses of tomorrow.
Think of him as a hunter of opportunity, whose digital tools are as disruptive as his questions.
@ArdyDanielewicz
As well as his day job as Director of Legal affairs and Third Party Sales at ITV – co-ordinating some of the biggest changes to commercial TV (and its digital offerings) over the last five years – Barry has created and developed the Social Mobility Business Partnership (SMBP).
The SMBP is a volunteer-led charity which brings together over 80 professional services firms, and some of the country’s biggest brands, committed to supporting students from low income backgrounds in their pursuit of a career. From a programme of 20 students in London in 2014, Barry has grown the scheme to accommodate over 400 pupils in nine locations around the country. For more info visit https://smbp.org.uk/.
@SMBP_UK
Ben is Director of drpdigital, part of creative agency drp. Under Ben’s stewardship drpdigital has committed to a number of pioneering shared value recruitment initiatives. Developing and nurturing new talent with local partner enterprises has become a core strategic focus which has facilitated a rapid and substantial expansion of the digital team over recent years.
Ben’s strong links with local colleges and universities have been pivotal in implementing a development programme that gives invaluable insights, experience and apprenticeships for future digital talent.
Additionally, Ben and his team have collaborated with the National Autistic Society and charity ASPIE, to provide workshops, work experience and paid employment at drp for autistic team members.
@drpdigital
Carl is the co-founder of LivingLens, a technology business which unlocks the insight in people’s stories to inspire decisions. With his passion for consumer insight and unbounded enthusiasm, Carl has raised millions in equity investment to fund LivingLens development over the last 4 years.
The past 12 months has seen LivingLens add offices in New York and Toronto, and build significant AI capabilities. This has opened up new ways for businesses to understand their customers more effectively than ever before to improve areas such as product development, campaign testing and customer experience feedback. The result for LivingLens has been 400% growth, 40% of business coming from North America, pipeline conversion more than doubling, and projects delivered in over 40 languages.
@carllw7
As Strategy Director at SHARE Creative, Carla is responsible for bridging the gap between the data and creative and is known for placing consumers at the heart of any project.
With 10 years’ experience in various research, data and analytic roles, Carla has helped deliver integrated campaigns and build bespoke data products across a variety of sectors and FTSE 350 brands spanning healthcare, automotive, FMCG, financial and lifestyle with clients including Sky, FCA, Southern Comfort, The North Face and Vans to name a few.
Carla has recently been featured in an inspirational piece for wearethecity.com as an identifited woman leader in Tech.
When she’s not at work she can be found salsa-ing around or spending time with her family.
In 2017 Casey became the first ever elected President of SheSays. In that year she doubled the amount of events they ran, continued to grow their online community, built new brand partnerships and led the ‘I AM REINDEER’ Xmas campaign for a second year.
As well as leading the wider team she continued her work with the mentor scheme – Who’s Your Momma, a scheme that has paired over 200 women in 3 years.
Outside of SheSays she is the Creative Lead of Refinery29 London and the founder of The Freelance Circle – a venture that allows freelancers to anonymously review their experiences of advertising and marketing agencies.
@caseyjbird
Charles believes a deeper understanding of human behaviour is essential for the future of the UK creative sector, in order for us to maintain our global position as creative elites. He is bringing the most innovative minds in the industry together to create a movement that leads to further integration of behavioural science to continue our outstanding creative contribution to a global audience.
Alongside co-founding Unity & Motion, delivering successful video campaigns for Tefal, Stella Artois and KPMG, Charles mentors progressive individuals from Deloitte consultants, investment bankers, city lawyers and agencies. He trains teams and individuals to gain a deeper understanding of how people process information in different ways, the value systems people operate from and how to communicate progressively.
@parkinson.charles
Charlie is obsessed with virtual reality. In 2016 he co-founded Wolf in Motion alongside design partner Guillaume Couche with the aim of creating innovative and engaging immersive experiences. The duo have been busy helping brands such as Pilsner Urquell and Glenfiddich take their first steps in the virtual world whilst keeping time for more experimental training, artistic and augmented reality projects.
Recently Charlie has lead the development of a physically accurate VR photography simulator, the world’s first synchronised live VR and live music performance, and an innovative VR mixed-media experience, released at the Winter Olympics in South Korea.
@charliefuller
Chris is a pragmatic staightalking northerner heading up the Realise customer experience offering. He has changed Realise immeasurably since his arrival and is now tasked with creating a more compelling offering accross all strategic design service’s, to allow Realise to challenge clients to think bigger, be more ambitious in their outlook and recognise the true value in what they are doing.
This approach has seen Chris help shape the fan experience of over 60 EFL club websites, rethink the role of “digital” in large investment management compnies and figure out how to make the end to end journey of bus travellers as stress free as possible.
@realisetweets
Chris heads up the experience design team at ORM. Since joining, Chris has focused on collaborating with leading transport and financial brands to reframe their digital products with client owned customer data and insight driven conversion at the heart of everything.
Within ORM, Chris has devised new structures and processes to break down silos, enhance communication and derisk delivery; tactics that he best describes as “not that dissimilar to the ‘total football’ philosophy of the 1974 Dutch team”.
Off the digital pitch, Chris hosts a podcast noted by The Observer as one of the sports podcasts of 2017: ‘Quickly Kevin, will he score?’ – a sideways reminiscence of 90s football.
@cjscull
Claire has driven the quality of CG Visualisation. In the last year, Claire has pushed the boundaries of architectural visualisation into Virtual Reality. She partnered with Aitken Turnbull and Hammond Care to develop VR-Empathy Platform (EP) technology, enabling Architects and designers to create dementia friendly spaces using VR-EP to understand how dementia affects vision. Combining years of technical skills and knowledge; sales, business development and contract/client management experience, Claire cultivated an approach that has confidently secured and sustained relationships with substantive clients. Claire has most recently collaborated with Multiplex, Morrison Construction, Interserve and Vital Energi to win competitive multi-million-pound contracts.
@ClaireTMcGarry
Craig has run a series of innovative online workshops for young learners that explore cyber security skills in a fun and practical way. Almost 2000 young people from across the UK and internationally have taken part in the live-streamed sessions in the past 6 months and learned “How to Rob A Bank”. This is bringing in new digital talent who don’t have the opportunity to learn these much-needed digital skills.
These online collaborative games have made learning digital skills a fun and sociable experience, and feedback from learners is that it has increased their awareness of jobs in digital.
@Craig88
Dan owns brand strategy agency, Why Digital. When diagnosed as bipolar, he leveraged his influence to drive mental health awareness, and volunteered his time giving marketing advice to charities, whilst also rallying the local digital community to drive change. He created a fringe event of The Drum’s Do It Day in Bournemouth, focusing on mental health awareness, involving leading creative and digital minds to conceptualise solutions. He implemented a campaign to engage influential business people to share their mental health stories and encourage conversation around mental health.He’s delivered talks on using technology to manage his mania and depression with such success, his psychologist discharged him from therapy. He’s now developing this further to create a solution to help others.
@why_digital
Danielle makes up half of Redweb’s marketing team, and takes responsibility for internal and external brand activity, as well as events and community initiative involvement.
Danielle is passionate about educating people on the breadth of opportunities in digital, she organises Digital Wave – the largest digital careers conference for young people in the UK. She attends careers fairs and schools delivering inspirational career talks. Danielle continuously promotes apprenticeships to bridge the gap between education and careers and is part of the Young Apprenticeship Ambassador Network (YAAN). Danielle is also part of the BIMA Young Talent Council. In 2017 she was recognised jointly in BIMA’s Top 100 as a Digital Ambassador and received a Rock Star award in 2017 for Rising Star.
@Redweb
Darren is currently resident inventor at Digitas – always testing emerging technologies, building prototypes, and constantly leaving them all in wonder of what he’ll dream up next. There are no small words to describe his depth of technical knowledge and his drive to bring ideas to life.
Darren’s technology-fuelled creations include everything from a Santa skill for Alexa at Christmas, pitch-winning VR experiences, room-sized holograms, AR experiences and even a cryptocurrency platform that he put together in the space of an hour-long meeting.
Whatever the challenge, Darren will come up with a creative and technical solution to inspire people and smash it.
@pixelpig
Davor has lead the team at B-Reel to punch well above their weight and deliver one of last year’s most awarded pieces of work; the Official Gorillaz App. Recognized around the world, from Cannes to New York and beyond, the work has firmly put the UK digital creative scene front of mind.
He joined B-Reel London in September 2015 and has, together with Managing Director and Founding Partner Johannes Åhlund, been instrumental in building a new team that has moved B-Reel from digital production into its current position as one of the UK’s most progressive and interesting creative agencies.
@B__REEL
When Castrol chose IBM iX to be their digital transformation partner, their goal was to leverage digital to create superior customer experiences. Des knew that a total shift in mindset, culture and working patterns would be required to be successful in this new world. Des and his team would have to embrace more risk, more ambiguity, and accept some failure through experimentation and prototyping. And that’s what he did.
Des created a true partnership – IBM iX & Castrol together – co-creating in shared spaces, innovating in an environment that absolutely demanded a “one team” approach and a single minded focus on the customer. He led the joint team from the front and people naturally followed.
@therealdesj
Dominic has been creating digital experiences for over 17 years in a range of sectors and now engineers experiences as a Senior UX Consultant at Valtech. He’s an advocate for UX and customer-centric insight driven design and has been shifting organisations towards data driven developments whilst still keeping user needs at the heart of their digital offerings.
For him, it’s simply not a case of just understanding the problem, but delivering success both for the user (exceptional, usable experiences) and for the business (transformation, added value, organisational objectives).
Away from the office, Dominic is a presence in UX and measurement circles; both attending, speaking and running events as well as being a UX mentor for the next generation.
@dh_analytics
Appointed as Managing Director in 2016, Ete has led AnalogFolk towards a period of unprecedented growth and creative excellence, which saw AnalogFolk placed 29th in Econsultancy’s top 100 digital agencies 2017, and one of the ‘top four’ creative agencies; recognised in The Sunday Times Hiscox Tech Track 100, winning The Drum’s ‘Content Marketing Agency of the Year’ and a runner-up for Campaign ‘Digital Innovation Agency Of The Year’.
A Drum Digerati “Top 100 people in UK Digital” 2017 and 2018 Alumni, Ete was recognised in the BIMA 100 in 2017 (‘Champion for Good’) and in 2018 (‘Leaders and Visionaries), as well as Creative Pool’s ‘Top 100 Influencers’ 2018 and Campaign Magazines ‘Top 10 Trailblazers’ in 2017 and 2018.
Euan is co-founder of WhiteHat. WhiteHat is a tech startup which matches talented, driven young people with apprenticeship opportunities at some of the world’s best companies; ranging from Google and Warner Bros through to Just Eat and Sage. WhiteHat works primarily with 16-23 year olds who have chosen not to go to university and help them accelerate their careers, delivering a range of apprenticeships designed for the digital age.
WhiteHat’s mission is to create a diverse group of future leaders by focusing on building an outstanding alternative to university and transforming the way our education and employment system currently works for young people.
@WhiteHatGB
Gary has been at the forefront of Mando’s journey into using Artificial Intelligence, regularly consulting with FTSE 100 companies to enable them to improve customer experience, by innovating with cutting edge technology such as intelligent chat bots and machine learning.
Gary was one of the first Microsoft AI MVPs (Most Valuable Professional) globally, with a focus on the Microsoft Bot platform and Cognitive Services. He speaks at conferences, both locally and internationally, sharing his technical knowledge with peers and helping to open the eyes of business stakeholders to the art of the possible with AI. He also helps to lead Mando’s thought leadership events and activities and is working to define Mando’s long term approach to ‘innovation-as-a-service’.
@garypretty
With a background in digital marketing and product development, Giulia currently leads a team of digital change agents at Cancer Research UK, and is the driving force behind the charity’s transformation journey. She’s embedded a hub and spoke model which devolves digital skills into the organisation through cross-functional agile teams. She works tirelessly to influence and educate, and frequently shares her experience with other charities. Giulia’s impact has helped Cancer Research UK becoming a sector-leading digital organisation and user-centric, lean and agile in everything they do.
Giulia is also a champion for diversity and inclusion in the workplace, and a passionate advocate for women in technology.
Gregor is a firm believer in thoughtful and holistic design executed with beautiful consideration and craft. Within 8 years of his graduation, he has trailblazed his way through his career, picking up an award/honour at each of his positions along the way.
He has now taken place leading the creative team at renowned Edinburgh agency Tayburn as Design Director, where he brings his in-depth knowledge of digital design, conceptual thinking, art direction, UX and digital strategy to further strengthen the team.
A strong advocate of ‘paying-it-forward’, Gregor has also mentored the design courses at Edinburgh College for several years, helping graduates to develop industry-ready skills.
@gregormatheson
Helen is a Marketing Communications Strategist at Dog. During the last year, she has been fundamental to the growth of BIMA Scotland. She has helped build a strong council, curated excellent speaker panels, supported the growth of BIMA Digital Day and helped launch the first ever BIMA curated university guest lecture programme.
Helen is particularly passionate about championing female talent, something that has grown since participating in TRCmedia’s Special Edition programme, a course designed to address the gender imbalance at board level in the digital and creative industries in Scotland.
Ultimately, Helen always seeks to leverage her vast network for the mutual benefit of everyone involved, ensuring talented individuals get their time in the limelight.
@dogdigital
Helena Good is a design lecturer at Edinburgh College. As a lecturer she has sought to develop how employers and educators connect to create the workforce of the future.
Over the last 9 years she has developed an award winning Mentoring Programme involving designers from leading agencies. The success of this programme has enabled her students to regularly win national design and marketing competitions. In January 2017 she launched Daydream Believers, a programme of engagement in secondary schools promoting creative thinking, digital skills and employability. Helena believes that one of the best ways to activate our highest potential and achieve our goals is to daydream. Her desire is to open the doors to a world that pays you to daydream!
@helenamgood
Inga leads the BA (Hons) Interaction Design programme at the Glasgow School of Art, and since its inception, she has been committed to its growth and development nationally and internationally. Over the last 12 months, Inga has delivered several projects which beyond providing excellent skills and experience for the students, has made great strides in bringing the School into much closer collaboration with the Arts, the local community, and our Scottish-based digital industry leaders. She is collaborating with BIMA to establish a guest speaker programme by inviting members of BIMA to speak to students studying Interaction Design and other design programmes, thus strengthening links between education and industry.
@ingapaterson
James is the founder of Cambridge-based digital agency Onespacemedia. A designer, creative director and computer scientist by profession, James has spent his career working at the intersection of design and technology. Having founded two previous agencies, James launched Onespacemedia in 2011 to help Cambridge’s rapidly expanding technology and life science sectors to leverage cutting edge digital to compete on the global stage.
James has created a company ethos that insists on the highest standards of quality, accountability and transparency – this strategy is the driving force behind Onespacemedia’s reputation for excellence and its innovative work that consistently delivers measurable success for its clients. As a mentor, guest lecturer and public speaker James is a passionate advocate of the UK digital scene.
@jamescotton
Under the guiding hand of founder and CEO James Freedman, Zone has grown to become one of the UK’s foremost full-service digital agencies. With James providing strategic direction, the agency produced a calibre of work that caught the eye of Cognizant, and in October 2017 James negotiated a deal that saw Zone become part of the Fortune 500 global technology giant.
Zone’s new owners recognised James’ expertise and he retained his leadership role at the agency. James helps Cognizant expand its digital footprint by leveraging Zone’s industry-leading expertise in technology, strategy and content to provide an unrivalled end-to-end digital transformation service for some of the world’s biggest brands, including BMW Group, which was won in 2017.
@jamessfreedman
Janelle Feliciano is an Associate Creative Director in London. She started her career in the advertising industry and over the years worked across multiple communication disciplines specialising in social and digital.
She recently took her digital skills into PR by joining Weber Shandwick. Before that, she was at Jam where she launched Amazon Fashion with body positive campaign, “I Wish I Could Wear” and “Tap to Give”: the world’s first charity turnstile raising funds to provide clean water for those affected by Typhoon Haiyan.
Janelle has won awards such as Cannes Young Lions, New York Festivals, One Show, Creative Circle and Campaign Big Awards. She also mentors for The One Club bootcamp, BIMA’s Digital Day and the PRWeek Mentoring Scheme.
@TheAdnormal
Over the past year, Jessica has been developing a new approach to competitor benchmarking. Her systematic approach to competitor analysis is aimed at helping organisations map out and understand their competitive landscape with respect to UX. She has applied this approach with select User Vision clients, and is currently scaling it for broader use.
This year, Jessica also worked with colleagues to develop and deliver a short course on Designing for Humans – bridging the gaps between psychology and user-centred design. She is presenting these ideas as part of the BIMA curated guest lecture programme at the Glasgow School of Art.
@jessscameron
Jim is the CEO and co-founder of Manifesto, a scale-up agency that employs fifty people and delivering award-winning digital work with a purpose. He’s created a family of talented individuals who work together to do things a little bit differently for organisations such as Unicef UK, Parkinsons UK and the National Trust.
Jim co-hosts a monthly technology podcast, AlexaSTOP! about how technology is changing people’s lives, and presents a weekly tech show, de:code, on Hoxton Radio. Jim’s career also includes his position on the Board of Trustees for Asthma UK. Jim is a great leader who’s energy and enthusiasm represents everything an agency CEO should be.
@jimbowes
Joanna is a stalwart client partner & visionary at Amaze and a campaigner for driving and raising the profile of client services within the digital sector. Passionate about promoting the profile of talent in the North West, Joanna is part of the council that has established BIMA’s Manchester presence over the past year.
In addition to leading a portfolio of global clients, delivering transformational business and marketing communication solutions, and having responsibility for the client services team in one the UK’s leading agencies, Joanna has found time to create a Client Service Community in the Northwest as well as actively promoting the national calendar of events.
Without Joanna, the North West would not have the connected, collaborative and digital centric client service community it does today.
After failing at being in a band John got into designing record covers instead. Then Napster happened so he swapped CD’s for CDing at Grey Direct and Joshua, before moving on to a senior position at AIS. He then traded one start up for another, spending 10 years as a founding partner and ECD at Elvis, winning Cannes, D&AD and The One Show as well as Agency of the Year along the way. John moved to Proximity in 2013 and since then he’s helped the agency pick up nearly 200 awards, including a Gold Effectiveness Lion for The Economist and 17 DMA awards in 2017 and was named in Campaigns top 20 ECDs. He still can’t drum.
Jon joined Vodafone in 2014 as Head of Digital and leads the digital business in the UK covering digital from marketing and sales through to engineering and innovation for all of Vodafone’s consumer and enterprise customers. Along with his 150-strong team of developers, UX designers, creatives, marketers, analysts and product teams, Jon has been busy transforming the digital business at Vodafone over the last 12 months, building an entirely new digital architecture, creating a new digital innovation hub in London and rolling out new digital experiences, including TOBi, the first chatbot in telecoms to offer an end to end sales journey.
Prior to Vodafone, Jon held a variety of digital and commercial leadership roles at Adobe, Orange and Eurostar.
@VodafoneUK
Karmarama joining Accenture Interactive is one of the key defining moments of our industry in the last 12 months and this was led by Jon. He’s constantly on speaker platforms and conferences discussing issues around marketing in the digital age, speaking at Cannes, SXSW and the World Federation of Advertisers Global Marketer conference where he has been part of the team leading ‘Project Reconnect’ , aiming to rebuild trust in brands in a digital world.
@karmarama
Kat is an award-winning CD and the Head of Facebook’s Creative Shop in Northern Europe. Kat’s biggest passion is empowering and fostering women in the creative industries.
She has been instrumental in driving diversity and inclusion by supporting the Creative Equals’ Intern Bursary, which gives junior female creatives facing financial challenges access to jobs in the ad industry. Kat also judged and presented The Drum’s ‘Creative Women of the Year’ award celebrating trailblazer women, who pave the way for others to follow.
At Facebook, she launched a Returnship Programe, upskilling mothers returning to work to be FB and IG specialists. She is a proud member of the Creative Equals’ advisory board and plays a key role in the organisation’s success
@daddycaniburnit
Kerensa runs The Duke of York Inspiring Digital Enterprise Award (iDEA), an international programme aiming to help address the digital skills gap. The programme provides free digital skills education in the form of engaging online modules (badges). The iDEA curriculum has been curated to help inspire people all over the world to become Digital Citizens, Workers, Makers, Entrepreneurs and Gamers to enhance their employability; and to help them become economically active.
Kerensa was previously the BBC’s Head of Strategic Delivery. Her work on the BBC’s Make it Digital strategy earned the Innovation Enterprise Chief Strategy Officer’s Best Innovation Award. Kerensa is also a Professor, an Executive Coach and a bestselling author and is passionate about helping people unlock their potential.
@zinca
Barbican Young Poet, Kieron, broke into the ad industry via the first intake of Ogilvy’s creative internship The Pipe in 2016 and has gone from strength to strength.
With no background in advertising, Kieron’s digital thinking and creative flair has shaped the strategy for Vodafone’s new digital-first sub-brand VOXI – one of the biggest brands coming out of Ogilvy UK right now.
Kieron’s creativity extends beyond Ogilvy in his poetry, with performances at City Hall, The Barbican and Buckingham Palace under his belt.
As a co-founder of Ogilvy Roots, Kieron champions greater diversity of talent within the industry and is passionate about working with London’s inner-city schools to bring the next wave of creative digital natives into the industry.
@Kieron_Rennie
Lani leads cross-functional, agile delivery teams at digital consultancy, Red Badger. She’s also the inspiration, leader and driving force behind its social value task force, a group committed to providing their time and skills to great causes both in and out-of-hours.
In the last year alone, her championing of Payroll Giving (with Red Badger matching donations) has seen the company awarded the platinum certification for participation. She’s set up long-term collaborations with incredible non-profits including Code Your Future, the Anthony Nolan Trust and Pride in London. Combined with a framework she helped develop which rewards volunteering for social value and open source projects, Lani’s determination to drive social change has seen it become a core part of Red Badger’s culture.
@lanishamash
For 20 years, Laura has brought a fresh and experimental approach to digital. Combining tech insights with passionate storytelling, she’s won numerous awards for her commercial work and been recognised globally as an innovator and industry leader.
In 2016, Laura proved her creative prowess when she co-founded The Great British Diversity Project, which went on to prove the power of diversity for creative effectiveness. She sits on international juries from the ANDYs and SXSW to LIAAs, and is a keynote speaker at major festivals around the world.
Laura co-founded SheSays, a global volunteer network with over 40,000 members which works to get more women into the creative industries.
@MrPresident
A rising star in the UK digital industry, Laura has enjoyed a pivotal role in an amazing year at Soluis, leading the creative process on their most ambitious project to date – visualising the reimagination of an entire country! The project saw her steer multidisciplinary teams to transform complex social, cultural, and economic objectives into inspiring, impactful visual narratives, delivered across immersive visualisation platforms, to an audience of world leaders and innovators.
She also sits on the board of directors guiding the re-birth of Brutalist masterpiece St Peter’s Seminary, and was accepted on to TRC Media’s competitive Special Edition programme, which addresses, through specific leadership training, the gender imbalance at board level in the digital and creative industries.
@lauramchard
As Director of Business Development at WPP marketing technology agency, Cognifide, Leigh heads up a team of Client Service and New Business professionals, and owns the agency’s P&L with revenues of over £23m.
In the last 18 months he spearheaded the addition of ten new clients and increased the average deal size from £1.2m in 2015 to £1.9m in 2017. Last year he led teams who successfully pitched for a record 50% increase in new business revenues, adding many household names to Cognifide’s client roster. As an active force within the WPP Adobe Alliance he played a key role in ensuring that WPP were named Adobe’s Experience Cloud Solutions Partner of the Year 2017.
@cognifide
Leyya and Roshni are two brown, female, state-school educated second/third generation immigrants from working class backgrounds, who happen to be creatives in design, tech and advertising.
They co-founded The Other Box – an award-winning platform celebrating people of colour and other minorities in the creative industries – to make the conversation around diversity more intersectional and inclusive. By combining their lived experience of everyday exclusion and tokenism with academic knowledge of race and racism they want to create tangible, long-lasting change.
As well as running workshops within agencies, they’re regularly invited to sit on panels, radio and TV shows. They were recently shortlisted for the WOW Women in the Creative Industries award for Breaking New Ground.
@_TheOtherBox
Loral is the CEO and co-founder of Sustainably, a real time social responsibility platform, making it easy for consumers and businesses to have a positive impact, integrated into daily life.
Sustainably turns busy consumers cashless transactions into impact by rounding up their spare change every time they shop. It enables brands to match donate to causes their customers and employees care about in real time, localising and personalising their social responsibility. Sustainably won Best of Show at Finovate, was nominated for a BIMA Award for Technology with Conscience and is a top 5 Virgin Startup. Loral created this from idea to inception. Sustainably’s advisory board includes the co-Founder of a billion dollar tech company and a unicef ambassador.
@loralquinn
Returning to her talent roots, Louize Clarke created Digital Gum in September 2017. It’s a programme that gives returners, apprentices and small businesses the in-demand skills they need to thrive in the digital economy. “Digital explorers” are immersed in sessions, from social media marketing, app design and coding through to video content, VR and SEO.
This builds on Louize’s digital talent legacy in the Thames Valley. Now in its third year, ConnectTVT’s flagship platform, 50 Game Changers, brings together innovative start-ups and scale-ups to celebrate regional, grassroots talent and success.
A long-term advocate for STEAM, Louize continues to champion Green Meets Grey, the programme that connects next generation talent with business mentors to tackle real-world challenges.
@louizeclarke
Luciana joined REWIND in 2017 to head up new business & partnerships. Previously a freelancer with 5+ years’ experience in award-winning startups, her recent focus has been leveraging her law, business, and entrepreneurial background to support and grow the UK’s immersive tech industry. To that end, she helped co-found Realities Centre London, co-chairs the Tech London Advocates AR/VR committee, and carries out ongoing research on ‘VR for good’ applications, namely within neuroscience and cognitive behavioural change.
Luciana is also co-founder of Unfold Inclusion, a UK social enterprise powering diversity in XR. Passionate about empowering women in tech, Luciana is a STEM and Founders4Schools ambassador, as well as a mentor and spokesperson for Code First Girls, SheWorx, and Women of Wearables.
@LCarvalhoSe
Over the course of 2017, Luke’s passion saw him progress into the role of Lead Designer at hedgehog lab. As a learning enthusiast and problem solver, Luke dedicated his spare time throughout the year to studying various laws and principles of design, putting them into practice both in his work and innovative personal projects.
Luke’s most impressive attribute has been his willingness to share the knowledge and experience he has picked up, both within his organisation and with the UK design community. A keen networker, he regularly travels the North of England to take in presentations from designers and has presented his philosophies at events such as the 2017 Integrated Live Marketing Summit, IxDA and Rise & Design.
@luke_medlock
In 2017, Lydia co-founded FeedForward Ai an artificial intelligence consultancy. Bridging the gap between academia and industry, FeedForward apply the latest machine learning research to real business and creative problems. As well as bespoke consultancy, they have built a solution for personalising customer experience on media platforms.
She is committed to demystifying Ai through communicating its concepts and practical applications, and has started the Innovation AI event series – where research and industry meet. She believes diversity is essential in Ai to maximise innovation and build solutions that benefit all.
Lydia is a member of the BIMA Ai Think Tank, with a particular interest in using technology to enable human creativity and the effect of bias in machine learning.
@Lydia_Gregory
In addition to encouraging students to take up STEM subjects via Founders4Schools, Lynsey is also part of the Skyscanner Future Tech charity team, whose mission is to help make Scotland a great place to base a tech company.
Despite not having a tech background, Lynsey is currently using her network of peers in tech companies in Scotland to bring a similar experience to Girlsday NL to Edinburgh, with an ultimate aim of creating a Girlsday tech event for Scotland.
By spending a day getting a feel for life in a real business, and completing tech tasks to spark interest in a tech future, Lynsey aims to help redress the gender balance in the tech roles of tomorrow.
@lynzsb
Marianne is the founder of Think Designable the alliance for disability inclusive brand practice. Their aim is to better society’s relationship with ‘difference’. They’re doing this by looking at how brand experiences are designed and questioning accesibility and representation at every stage – both digitally and physically. Marianne is in the process of planning their second conference on Inclusive Brand Practice in November 2018 with a view to challenging the way major brands think about disability.
Marianne studied Inclusive Design as part of her Masters, and believes this should be a common part of mainstream brand development. Her aim now is to bridge the gap between assistive and mainstream products and services, thereby improving quality of life for all.
@thinkdesignable
Since 2000 Martin has built a group of successful businesses that deliver best in class 3D visualisation and interactive digital presentation. His vision to connect the latest digital technology platforms to the needs of different market sectors has led his businesses to be among the earliest innovators in bringing the benefits of augmented and virtual reality to the property, design and construction sectors.
Martin’s most recent start-up, Sublime, which he co-founded in 2017 with two other entrepreneurs, is his most ambitious to date. Sublime is building the next generation of tools and content platform for the nascent VR market and the anticipated future AR sector. Early success in the Middle East and Asia point to another successful venture.
@soluismd
Matt’s spent much of the year using technology to disrupt the energy industry. He helped launch Orbit Energy, from concept to a fully functional customer portal in just over 3 months. Collaborating with Create Future, his team has developed the Bryt Energy site, with plans to use assistive AI to give small B2B energy customers unprecidented levels of control.At the other end of the industry he’s helping E.ON launch their first Facebook chatbot.
As well as his project work, Matt’s been in mentoring a growing the technical team. He particularly relishes helping people make the big leap from Developer into a Technical Director, developing the business and management skills required to run their technical practice.
Mel is a dynamic force driving Wunderman’s reputation as a leading digital agency across EMEA. Helping clients looking for a step change in digital transformation, Mel has been integral in winning over 50 new pieces of business in the last year including Samsung and BT.
Named one of Ad Age’s Women To Watch, Mel has the courage and commitment to lead 4,000 people in building a world-class agency by hiring and partnering with best talent in the business. She has been consistently leading the region’s ongoing gender equality and diversity debate, which earned her a spot on the Steering Committee for Gender Parity for the World Economic Forum. She’s also a member of Women in Advertising and Communications London (WACL).
@_MelEdwards
Michael leads the long-term technology vision of Inside Ideas Group and is responsible for its technical collaboration and advanced technology incubations.
Michael’s future-facing ethos saw Dare secure several crucial portfolio wins in 2017’s final quarter, a 25% increase in staff, a 50% revenue boost and industry-leading work for the likes of Chelsea FC, Nike, Starbucks, BMW and Vision Express among others.
For the past 18 years he’s worked as a developer, creative technologist, technical director and founder at Hyperlink-Interactive, BBC, U-dox and more. In 2011, Michael single-handedly created the Havas London in-house technology and digital team. In his spare time, he mentors, speaks and supports local communities with London’s School of Arts and Communications and Future First Alumni.
@magicTuscan
Although Mike is a Creative Technologist he doesn’t always start with a new technology, he starts with people and re-imagines how we experience the world to create meaningful change. He and his team use technology as the tool or platform to communicate their ideas, normally in playful, engaging and unexpected ways.
Recent innovations include Solo, the radio Ai that reads facial expressions to match songs to your mood, and Track, an AR driven app and product that lets anyone attach audio tracks to objects.
Mike’s craft mentality of failing fast and embracing limitations helps him and his team to push the boundaries of what’s possible within technology and design.
@michaelshorter
Miranda is the Business Director at Great State, formerly independent award-winning digital agency e3. She has an extensive background in digital and communications, formerly running Icon Medialab UK and sitting on the international board in Stockholm.
Her current work at Great State has focused on launching the new agency merger with strategic consultancy LSU and on developing new c-suite client relationships, through thought leadership programmes that help brands focus on innovation, develop new digital products and services, and reframe their business models around consumers’ ever-increasing expectations. During her 7 year career break to raise her two children, Miranda published three novels with Random House and has also contrinbuted to business books on social media and digital strategy.
@miraglover
By day, Nathalie works on clients from Pilgrims Choice to Amazon and runs a scheme for single Creatives. By night she’s the co-founder of Taxi Fabric which turns taxi interiors into moving canvas’ to show communities how impactful design can be. This won 2 D&AD Impact Pencils and was shortlisted for a Fast Company Innovation Award.
She also founded #thisdoesnotmeanyes – a photography project which saw her meet the Queen. And she co-founded the #SOwhiteproject highlighting AdLand’s diversity issue. She blogs for Huffington Post, was voted a top 9 female Creative (The Drum), a female leader redefining the Creative industry (The Dots), a top 30 trailblazer (Creative Equals) and just won the IPA’s Women of Tomorrow award.
@awlilnatty
Neil is a design leader and speaker who cares about making an impact for people and profit through insight and design. He heads up his consultancy practice, Industry Visionaries, where he develops new methods to stay at the forefront of his craft.
In the past year, Neil has introduced a futures thinking practice to Nile and its clients, helped NHS Digital reimagine its B2B experience using service design, and introduced new ways to scale customer involvement in digital delivery for challenger banks.
Over the years he has shared his love for design at a number of international conferences, most recently in 2017 at UX London, one of the world’s premier design conferences.
@skuft
Neil has led Sapient, as EMEA Chief Strategy Officer, to two ‘Digital Innovation Agency of the Year’ wins in four years. Prior to Sapient, Neil held strategic leadership roles at Euro RSCG (now Havas) London, MCBD (now Dare) and TBWA/London, where he was first Executive Planning Director and then Chairman. He also founded the independent creative agency Enter in 2006.
Neil is an expert in business and marketing transformation, brand strategy, communications and digital/social across a wide range of categories. Passionate about proving the commercial value of all forms of creativity, Neil was Convenor of the Judges for the IPA Effectiveness Awards in 2008 and is also a Fellow of the IPA.
Nicky has worked in digital storytelling for over ten years. Over the past year she has worked on the National Theatre of Scotland’s digital transformation project with After Digital. She also led on the tender, procurement and delivery of the company’s new website.
Nicky is committed to building relationships and collaborations that support the National Theatre of Scotland in engaging with hard to reach audiences and finding opportunities for artists to realise the potential of digital technologies in their work.
@nickyfagan
Oli is Managing Partner of digital customer experience studio Tangent. Experts in research, experience design, technology and data, Tangent helps businesses navigate the digital landscape and better serve their customers.
In 2017, Oli lead the acquisition of Decibel Digital, a leading strategy and design agency, bringing a number of key staff and blue chip clients into the Tangent family. New business wins in the year included one of the UK’s largest utility companies, Belmond, and The Nido Collection. With 55 staff in London and a new office in Newcastle, Tangent is quickly becoming one of the fastest growing independent digital consutancies in the UK.
@Thisistangent
Over the last year, in addition to continuing his active work on the BIMA Liverpool Council and heading up the BIMA Liverpool Immersive Community, Owen is an inaugural member of the BIMA Immersive Think Tank. He contributed to the first output of the group – BIMA’s VR Best Practice Guidelines – and presented the guidelines at Prolific North Live – the UK’s largest marketing expo outside London.
In the last 12 months, Owen has exited his video production agency of 18 years, Liverpool-based Mocha, and turned his attentions to co-founding Juice Immersive – a specialist agency focussed on delivering end-to-end immersive content marketing campaigns set to disrupt the property development market through the leveraging of VR, AR and MR technologies.
@owencotterell
Pip Jamieson is the founder of The Dots, a LinkedIn challenger designed around the networking needs of ‘no collar’ professionals – creators, freelancers, entrepreneurs and millennials.
Delightfully dyslexic with a distinctive marmite laugh (you either love it or you hate it), Pip was named by The Sunday Times as one of the Top 100 Disruptive Entrepreneurs innovating in their respective fields and by Creative Review as one of the top 50 Creative Leaders.
The Dots’ key innovation is to facilitate networking by collecting data on the full teams that deliver projects (similar to a community-driven IMDB), which means the company is at the forefront of spotting trends in the future of jobs, skills and work.
@Pip_Jamieson
Rachel has over 12 years experience in digital and client services. Since joining Your Favourite Story to head up Client Services, her drive and curiosity have helped reshape that team as well as the wider approach to client work. She is not afraid to interrogate a brief or challenge established ways of working, and does so with complete and persuasive professionalism.
Rachel will always look for ways to deliver incremental value and insight, whether for the agency or a client’s business. And she is committed to developing both her team and herself, including most recently, her role as a BIMA mentor.
@rachelfaber
As Senior Designer at After Digital, Rachel oversees all the agency’s creative output and mentors and develops young talent whilst delivering outstanding UX design for the likes of the Royal Academy of Dance and the Scottish Council for Development and Industry. With a keen eye for detail, Rachel is passionate about crafting beautiful interfaces and applying her design methodologies to produce accessible, user-centred designs. Rachel’s design ethos is to push boundaries, ask questions and never stop exploring.
Prior to joining After Digital, Rachel worked with New York digital agency F Sharp, creating immersive digital experiences for blue-chip brands including Disney, Nike, Microsoft, Spotify and Warner Bros.
@_rachelward
Rachel’s dream was to become Head of Department before 30. Last year, she did just that. She’s integral to the Profero leadership team and has worked extraordinarily hard to gain enviable knowledge and experience.
In 2017 alone she redesigned Primark.com (which receives 3.5M daily hits), designed Diageo’s first chatbot, Whisky Matcher (winning two innovation CampaignTech Awards), and was instrumental in securing major new business.
Rachel’s leadership style is participative and nurturing and she prioritises her team’s happiness. She has dynamic client relationships and is fastidiously commercially-savvy. She runs the internship programme and regularly offers talks and mentoring to universities.
@rachelgoestweet
Richard realised the power of bringing together startups, agencies and brands long before anyone else. This year, the Friday Club London, the non-profit he co-founded in 2012 to do just that, hit the sigificncant milestone of accepting its 600th member. ‘Another bright marketer keen to mentor the best startups in town and learn something along the way.’ His words.
Richard is also one of Europe’s most active tech investors with a portfolio that includes many of the leading lights in the ecosystem from SoFar Sounds to Kalo to What3Words, a privileged position that’s established him as one of the go-to people when you need a view on the future. Even if sometimes he doesn’t even know what’s happening today.
@richard_fearn
Following his recognition in the BIMA100 Rising Stars in 2016, Richard has continued to rise in the digital industry.
Joining Thomson Reuters 18 months ago, Richard has already made an immediate impact by leading a global digital transformation programme to re-imagine the customer experience. Central to this is a new enterprise-wide digital touch point, MyTR, which is a consolidation of multiple legacy portals. As well as providing the vision and strategy, Richard mobilised a team of 200 people to create the platform in just seven months.
With an ability to define and articulate the future digital vision, drive performance, and execute, Richard balances all parts of the equation to deliver digital success.
Richard has a rare combination of creative and commercial skills with a contagious energy that he directs across content, brand, service design and organisational engagement with emotional intelligence and strong leadership.
Richard’s ethos is ‘show, don’t tell’ – hence this client testimonial from the Principal Adviser on Digital and Social at Rio Tinto: “Richard has built a relationship with me that is based on honesty and fairness. I don’t do slick well – it is enough of a reason for me to not work with an agency. So, Richard’s approach and attitude has played a big role in the successful relationship between our company and Rufus Leonard.”
@rufusleonard
Rob Edwards is Managing Director at GIANT – a tribe of digital creatives, dedicated to cause-related projects. In the last 12 months, Rob has driven GIANT to accelerate positive change in the cause market by encouraging the use of leading-edge technology such as blockchain, chatbots and artificial intelligence.
A key component of this strategy was the launch of Overherd, a quarterly charity event that tackles the digital challenges the nonprofit sector faces. As well as completing the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses programme, Rob was appointed trustee of two pioneering charities: YAUF, a charity that supports disadvantaged children through music and arts; and Khulisa, a charity that aims to reduce reoffending and rehabilitate young people.
@robedwards
Robyn has seen a gap in market and worked tirelessly to engage digital agencies, develop educational links and work with local government to create a route for young people into the digital industry.
Robyn displays maturity well beyond her years, she is engaging, personable and has tireless energy and this has been demonstrated in the success of the Catalyst programme. She is absolutely one to watch in digital!
@robyndooley
Roxanne has a strong voice in the industry, working on the Diversity and Inclusion agenda. Her work with female leaders explores what stops us from truly showing up. She believes gender stereotypes harm everyone and has brought men to the gender conversation via the HeANDShe conferences.
Her work on Unconscious Bias has raised awareness of how we are all part of the system that perpetuates harmful stereotypes.
In 2017, Roxanne played a key role in starting the neurodiversity conversation. She wrote a book ‘Diverted’ charting her family’s journey to this newest frontier of inclusion and co-founded the #diverseminds conference alongside Creative Equals. This was the industry’s first conference for those who are neurodivergent and has started a new conversation.
@roxanne_hobbs
As a business consultant and digital change agent, Ruth is a go-to commentator on the evolving technology and business landscape. She focuses predominantly on business development as MD for ThoughtWorks UK and is a trusted adviser on leadership, business and digital to Regent’s University Faculty Board. She is an Advisory Board Member of the Chief Marketing Officer Council Europe, regularly contributing to research and informing market leading industry publications on digital trends and business transformation.
She is a regular speaker at conferences (including Women of Silicon Roundabout, Rant&Rave, ARC, Retail Week and CMO Summit Europe) on issues including women in tech and diversity and inclusion, and is an adviser and mentor to start-ups on funding and accelerator strategies.
@RuthHarrisonUK
Sam is CEO and Founder of Just After Midnight, the go to support people for brands and their agencies. Sam has held senior roles at digital agencies across EMEA and Asia Pacific for over 10 years before founding the business. An entrepreneur with a reputation for creating new services and new ways of disrupting the traditional agency model, his experience over the years has helped him establish a healthy breadth of knowledge across the strategic, technical and creative elements of the industry.
After many years working in digital, Sarah changed tack completely when a trip to Uganda led her to co-found Y.O.U Underwear, a social business that is changing the world one pair of pants at a time.
Y.O.U makes 100% organic cotton underwear for men and women. They use sustainable manufacturing processes, ‘real models’ to promote body confidence, and have a ‘buy one give one’ model to provide underwear to people who don’t have it.
In the last year, Sarah has taken Y.O.U from an idea to a small global business, with a successful Kickstarter campaign, an initial range shipping to 10+ countries around the world and, most importantly, hundreds of pairs of pants delivered to women and children in Africa.
@sarahbjordan @YOU_underwear
Selma Nicholls is CEO and Founder of Looks Like Me, a talent agency that aims to redefine beauty by raising the profile of underrepresented groups in the fashion and advertising world.
The name of the agency, Looks Like Me, was inspired by her three year old daughter, Riley-Ann, who questioned her own identity when she saw limited imagery of children that looked like her in the media and asked why. With a background in creating content, casting and production, Selma designed and developed tailored workshops, editorials and castings that would open the door for black and ethnic minority groups to be more visible by challenging the status quo in the world of brand communications.
@NichollsSelma
Shannie has played a key role in forging new pathways for diverse talent as both co-founder and Head of Talent at The Elephant Room. Her commitment to bringing in a wider pool of talent from across the creative industries has seen film makers, directors and writers brought in on client briefs and demonstrate that there is indeed a place for them in an industry which often feels far out of reach. Having global heads of HR from some of the world’s biggest brands ask her to help with their own recruitment shows that her ability, to tap into and access talent, will be a gamechanging one for the industry in the years to come.
@shannieloves
Shaun heads up The Studio School who are growing digital talent from the age of 14 upwards. Students have an extended school day so they can create digital products, learn ‘Agile’ and use platforms such as Unity, .Net and other technologies from a young age. They run an Edge Foundation funded ‘Digital Entrepreneurship Network’, are a Playstation First school and bring in industry mentors to support students to become industry ready. They consult with local agencies to ensure that they are delivering the right skills.
Shaun himself joined the BIMA Young Talent Council to give a voice to education. Notable student successes include a BAFTA Young Games Designer and an Internet Society ‘25 under 25’ award.
@LPSPrincipal
Simon is Chief Creative Officer at Isobar and works across the Dentsu Aegis Network portfolio of agencies, to champion the creative use of digital. He is instrumental in the Craft Matters global programme that brings together clients and agencies with the world’s leading and most disruptive technology companies, to innovate the way brands are built.
His work has been recognised internationally, scooping many awards and is also a regular jury member on numerous award shows. He is a member of the IPA’s Effectiveness Council, championing how creativity is critical to effectiveness in the modern economy. He is also co-founder of CANNT, the world’s festival of creativity, which brings creative thinking, action and enjoyment to a wider, more diverse community.
@skinnybouffant
As Marketing Manager, Sofia tells Cyber-duck’s story and ensures the agency’s work and ethos are known throughout he industry. Sofia first joined Cyber-Duck as an intern after graduation from the University of Cambridge, with a background in geography. She trained herself and rapidly progressed through five roles in less than four years.
With the founder and CEO, Danny Bluestone, Sofia now leads the Cyber-Duck Marketing Department. Her team enjoy promoting the agency’s user-centred expertise with a creative twist.
@cyberduck_uk
The igniter of hearts creatively, a creative collaborator and adventurer, Sulaiman is the Founder and Chief Purpose Officer of ThisAbility, the network that supports and celebrates creative disabled talent. He is also an independent consultant, speaker and writer on Divergent Leadership, Creativity, and Inclusivity and Advocacy.
@Kinectricity
Susan Hallam was awarded an MBE for innovation and enterprise in the Queen’s New Year’s Honours List 2018 in recognition of her contribution to the UK digital industry. She is Managing Director of Hallam, a digital marketing agency with more than 50 specialists, and clients including the United Nations, Speedo, and Suzuki.
She is thought leader in the digital space, speaking at conferences including SMX, ClickSummit, and for Vistage, the world leading organisation of chief executives. She is a leading figure in digital marketing in the Midlands, organising the Nottingham Digital Summit, a Fellow of the IDM, a Freeman of the City of London, and a Trustee of Nottingham Castle.
@SusanHallam
Tim is growing the Auto / Mobility practice he leads and helped establish. Tim is a passionate advocate for human–centred design, creating mobility experiences that are user–led not engineering–led. The pioneering book Humanising Autonomy, co–authored by Tim which champions ethical, inclusive and human–centred design for autonomous mobility is a first for UX design for autonomous vehicles.
Tim’s work has informed papers for the likes of Intel, Siemens and RCA. Tim has talked at Web Summit, London Tech Week and MWC and is passionate about design education, having set briefs and lectured at UCL and CSM.
@mypoorbrain
Tolu is a socially conscious entrepreneur with the firm belief that great businesses and brands do well when they become more than a means to an end for the consumer, and become brands that invest in people and which in turn people invest in. He has developed a personal brand that puts him at the forefront of championing equality and opening up opportunities to aspirational people from disadvantaged backgrounds. He founded his recruitment consultancy/ mentoring company, Limitless Future Achievements, in 2011. Since then he has worked with all the major creative agencies in the UK.
He is the co-founder of The Great British Diversity Experiment, the Emerging Talent Manager at Livity and the programme director at The Ideas Foundation.
When Tom’s not running user research tests, leading design workshops or delivering beautiful design experiences at TH_NK, he’s busy being a leading voice for UX in the North East; giving talks or penning thought-leadership pieces on the future of UX, AI and Virtual Reality; holding digital bootcamp days in schools; or mentoring emerging talent through his volunteer work with STEM. Driven by his infectious enthusiasm to make the world better, Tom is not just championing the UX industry, he’s championing the people who make it.
@tomwaya
Vicky Brown is a research-driven designer who’s passionate about psychology, service design and problem solving. Despite being only 26, Vicky manages a team of UX Consultants at Nomensa, leading and training the next generation of talent.
She is one of the main driving forces behind Nomensa’s ground-breaking and award-winning work for National Trust, Gatwick Airport, the Eden Project, Unite Students, npower and Innovate UK. Vicky is known for the positivity and energy she brings to all projects and challenges. She thrives in collaborative teams, leading researchers, designers, developers and clients to design elegant solutions to real, complex problems.
@vebrown
Victoria became ECD at Tribal Worldwide in January 2017 after 25 years in digital. She is an artist, a coder, a games programmer, a CD-rom developer, an interactive TV designer, a website creator, a digital communication machine, an inventor and an ever transforming digital head. She has proved that science and art, creativity and innovation, and tech and women go together.
An IPA Woman of Tomrrow 2016, a Creative Equals board member and a beacon for creative digital women, Victoria works with her own daughters, the kids at her junior school, the young women at university and all the females kicking it in the industry to champion women in digital and shape the future of digital.
@vics_buchanan
Will Cookson is on a mission to bring to life digital ideas, products and services that he thinks should exist. Last year he designed Skyjacker, an augmented-reality iOS game using real-time flight data, because airplane geeks would love it. Previously Will co-founded Believe.in, a software platform to help charities connect with donors, raise funds and increase awareness of their causes. He also built Bookindy, a chrome extension that compares local bookshop prices whilst browsing Amazon.
Will has 15 years’ agency experience at R/GA, Wieden+Kennedy, Razorfish, Poke and AKQA and has received a number of awards for his work.
Some people call him Dogg.
@willdogg
‘We don’t want to work for you, we want to work with you.’
This is the motto that Zoltan Vass lives and works by. And it’s been critical to the growth of CoderDog. His success is based on developing businesses by developing strong relationships – with clients, with suppliers and within his own agency.
To get results he breaks down barriers and builds bridges across teams (and between them). Attentiveness, curiosity, innovation, transparent communication and collaboration are the cornerstones of his approach. These are the values that make and create lasting relationships. These are the values Zoltan uses to develop businesses – and the people within them.
With client’s best interest at heart, Adam’s focus to redefine the way Reload delivers their expertise has challenged the way traditional agencies work.
Passionate about people, Adam has developed a client intimacy framework based on the findings of his extensive external and internal research solving pain points marketing managers often face when working with an agency.
After training the Reload team in his client intimacy framework just 6 months ago, Reload is now one of Europe’s top rated digital agencies according to Google. Adam’s training has also caught the attention of the world’s most esteemed Shopify web developers. We Make Websites who have asked Adam to contribute to their client training.
Twitter: AdamJamesClarke
Insta: Adam_james_clarke
A modern day CEO makes people believe in their vision. They create an atmosphere for their employees to grow, excel and push the boundaries of what they thought was possible. They bring together the best minds and talent in the industry and build an environment for them to collaborate and thrive. They also lead from the front and steer the business in the right direction.
Adam embodies all of these values. His vision has the potential to change the way people understand their own bodies and engage with their personal health data. His multi-disciplinary team continues to innovate around biometric data, AI, machine learning, and blockchain to deliver market-leading health insight solutions.
Twitter: @PrevaylAdam
Adnan is a designer in the truest sense. A problem solver, a thinker, and an expert at applying thinking to making ideas into real output that works, not only looks great. His understanding of design principles, culture and audiences, and the craft, allows him to create brand identities, establish design systems and roll out stories and interfaces that feel timeless, and relevant to audiences. His work for some of the biggest businesses in Europe and the World captures brand essence but is familiar and always understandable as a product with a purpose. He creates designs that clients can really implement, and people love to use. And that inspires the design team, and keeps VCCP CX’s output progressive and relevant.
Alex’s approach to innovation with his practice Aeon Industries is both playful and pragmatic – he starts with the big out-there ideas, then roots them back into the reality of who would want this, why, and why now. The end result is original creative works and brand campaigns that sizzle with relevance, intrigue and a sense of tomorrow’s world having already arrived today.
Twitter: @Alex Hoban
Insta: @aeon.industries
Ali Hanan is an inspiration and driving force for cultural change that makes ALL of lives (and workplaces) a better place. By fighting for inclusion for all, our industry will make better work and we will be better employers and employees. We will be future proofing ourselves and our communities by embracing the changes Ali is instigating.
Twitter: @CreativeEquals
Insta: @CreativeEquals
She’s passionate, curious, solutions focused, inspirational and a joy to be around. Through her work with Erasmus, Young Mayors, key Havas programs and charity accounts she constantly strives to make a difference to the world and is passionate about giving her generation a voice. Only with people like Alice around will real change ever be able to take place; within our industry and within the wider landscape.
She’s inspirational by following her passions – art, music, performance – and by always being true to herself. I can’t wait to see where she is by the time she’s 30 – I’ll probably be working for her!
Insta: aliceimis
Alice has been a revelation since joining Tribal Worldwide London from AKQA in Melbourne. She is the safest of hands, in terms of account handling, but never rests on her laurels challenging both the internal team and the client to do better, to try new things or a different approach. She is brilliant at balancing the client needs of today around performance, but also with a view to thinking about the future of their business and how the agency can support them on that journey. This strategic thinking has been developed further through her MBA studies, which somehow, she is able to pursue at the same time as working full time with the demands of our clients – truly a superhuman effort.
Ally has worked day and night to make the BFS a huge success. She has transformed the lives of so many people and most importantly addressed an overlooked part of the creative industry: she has created ‘equity’. This means giving people who would not have access or opportunity to our ‘network’ driven sector means and a pathway in. Ally herself grew up on the Grenfell Council Estate in London and knows first-hand what classism feels and looks like, having experienced it throughout her career. Self-funding and building from scratch is a massive task which takes guts, courage, setbacks and a tireless work ethic to create something that is meaningful within the industry. We all know there is a lot of ‘diversity PR’ around where people will host dinners and ‘talk’, but the Brixton Finishing School is where the real, raw, action happens. If anyone deserves an accolade, it’s Ally. She was even working at 7.30am on the morning of her birthday this year.
Twitter: @BrixtonFSchool
A lot goes into outstanding leadership. Accounts must grow so teams have the opportunity to do great work. Andrea grows them. In a global marketplace, you may have to deftly run three offices in three different countries. Andrea has it covered. To grow and thrive, teams need an inclusive, supportive environment where high standards and empathetic mentorship go hand in hand. Andrea cultivates it. New services must be invented so that the overall team can envision, create, and deliver work that clients truly need. Andrea invents them. And when you triple the headcount and revenue of you office, remember to have a whole lot of fun along the way. (Andrea and her team always do.)
Anwen volunteers a phenomenal amount of time (equivalent to a month’s work a year!) to organise, Codebar Brighton: the weekly meetup that enables underrepresented people to learn programming in a safe and collaborative environment. Anwen finds industry coaches, students, sponsors, and venues for every workshop, every week. Her own story is an inspiration, and she spends evenings and weekends promoting Codebar everywhere she can.
If everyone gave the same amount of time, effort and enthusiasm that Anwen gives, there’d be thousands more opportunities for people in underrepresented groups to take the first step into a career in tech.
Twitter: @hello_anwen
Albert is one of the most influential people working in the immersive industry. As it grows and develops, he gives advice and works incredibly hard to help clients and colleagues. He is known for being cheerful, funny, intelligent, and incredibly driven to help everyone he can. The industry would not be the same without him.
Twitter: @Bertaroo
Insta: @Bertaroo
It’s not about how long you’ve been in the tech industry or your previous experience. Being a tech trailblazer is about pushing against the status quo, innovating and challenging what came before.
Step forward Bella Hepworth. In less than a year in the tech industry Bella is pioneering the way for women inventors in the UK being named as the sole inventor on high proportion of Prevayl’s patent applications, compared to the industry wide average of just 13% of worldwide patent applications being from female inventors.
She continues to use her knowledge of the fashion industry to push the boundaries and possibilities of wearable tech.
Bianca is one of the most important people in our community of creatives at Deloitte Digital. A skilled and passionate designer, but more so a passionate supporter of other people, Bianca connects us all with one another through her tireless commitment to running the Design Guild – our in-house community of creatives, makers, designers and thinkers – and works hard to help designers starting out on their design journeys to make the most of their talent, enjoying really involved and meaningful careers with Deloitte Digital.
Twitter: Kingbinks
Insta: King_binks
A leader, innovator and all-round great guy, Bill keeps pushing the boundaries with one of the last independents left, AnalogFolk. It takes courage and perseverance to keep pushing the boundaries after your most successful year ever, but that’s exactly what Bill has done.
And boy did he do it with style. 15 new business wins, an acquisition and new office launch in the same month, as well as recognition from both the FT and London Stock Exchange. More importantly, though, Bill and AnalogFolk have achieved all of this whilst remaining true to their mission of using digital to make the analog world better.
Cat is an absolute tour de force; as well as the huge job of leading Potato’s product delivery across its three studios, Cat is also focused on driving widescale change in the industry through her unique initiative The Gender Equality Collective (GEC), a platform and community aimed at redressing gender equality in businesses, educational settings and homes.
Sitting on Potato’s board and leadership team, she does a fantastic job of raising the profile of inclusivity daily within the business at a senior level. Her energy, passion and enthusiasm can be felt at every level within the business and she has also had an immeasurable impact on our interactions with clients, who have voiced their interest in ways we are driving inclusivity as a business.
Twitter: @catwildman2000
Insta: @gendercollect
Charlie has spent the last 10 years creating an environment that allows people to work in a way that allows them to bring their best selves to work. He has developed seven key values that drive this culture – and have shaped the culture of Beyond across its three studios, in London, New York and San Francisco. These values revolve around the wellbeing and development of all staff members, their career development and client needs. Charlie is a natural energiser of people who encourages them to embrace creativity, self expression, curiosity, respect, empathy and change. Further, by taking a human-first approach to technology, he has grown a team of individuals that produce world class projects for high profile clients.
Twitter: @Charliely0n5
Charlotte embodies the true spirit of digital transformation – whether it’s driving through agile ways of working, or hiring and mentoring digital rock stars from within the food industry, or delivering big digital ideas to help grow the UK’s biggest retailer’s share of voice (and revenue). Winning 2019’s ‘CMA International Content Marketing Awards – Editor of the Year’ (the first digital editor to win the award), as well as made The Grocer’s ‘Top New Talent of 2019’ list (only 36 on the list) is a testament to how she’s viewed by clients, colleagues and the industry – as well as her appointment as a judge for the UK’s Great Taste Awards.
Twitter: @charliesjones
As someone who successfully led last year’s largest deal for an independent digital partner in the performance sector, Chris is cutting a new model for Chief Financial Officers in the digital sector. The success of the investment and subsequent company integrations will no doubt ensure Jellyfish’s continued growth, as a challenger to the big network agencies and a global digital partner to some of the world’s leading brands.
But it’s his dedication to inspire and develop the current and next generation of digital marketers that makes him an inspiration to leaders around him, and crowns him as a worthy winner of this award. His work to provide mentorship programmes across the industry and the support he gives to the education sector is highly commendable and encourages a fluid pipeline of marketers for many years.
Twitter: @Chris_Lee1969
In her time at Rufus, Cierra has had a truly transformative impact on the strategy team, the offer and the business. Her natural curiosity, relentless pursuit of improvement and her deep seated empathy have been the engines of her impact. Everyone needs a Cierra on their team!
Twitter: @CierraDobson
Insta:
cierradob
Craig’s dedication to digital in the North West makes him an obvious choice to win in this category. From setting up the Kagool Manchester office in 2016 from the ground to now accounting for a third of the whole agency headcount, is a great achievement. His hard work, experience and expertise has contributed to employing 22 people in the Manchester area, a figure which continues to rise. Not only has Craig pioneered digital marketing services for Kagool, but he’s the first to turn his sights on bridging the digital skills gap in the sector alongside his passion for developing upcoming talent.
Twitter: @craigjohnsonuk
Daniel is a passionate Technology Director who loves to drive results for clients.
Over the last year he has helped boost awareness and increase sales for clients due to his mantra of ‘right, that worked – what now?’.
Daniel uses his thirst for knowledge to learn how technology can be used to improve the social media marketing efforts of clients, with c-commerce being his current focus. By keeping his finger on the pulse of what’s going on in the marketing world, he generates successful campaigns that hit objectives and offer a whole new realm of possibilities.
Daniel is keen to help the next generation of digital marketers and is actively involved in shaping various university courses based in the creative industries.
Twitter: @iamdanielrae
Insta: danielrae
Daniel is a behavioural specialist, marketer and creative technologist. He delivers innovative digital experiences for global technology brands. Using his experience across digital product design, marketing and content production he leads teams in creating experiences that align to our most human traits.
Believing that the most successful experiences arrive from a foundation of behavioural science; he uses social, psychological and economic theories to guide production teams in creating high-performance, award-winning work.
His most recent digital innovation centres around personality based marketing. He is currently developing technology that harnesses the ethical use of psychographic data to generate individual digital experiences.
Daniel’s mantra of ‘Lead, never follow’ continually drives clients and colleagues to take the boldest steps into the future of digital.
Dani has transformed Digitas into a fully integrated, non-siloed creative business seamlessly connecting creative, tech, consulting, data science, media and strategy. She oversaw the launch of a new Experience Consulting arm to enable the agency’s clients to transform their organisations, remove internal silos and fully connect their brand experience, and she led her team to win a raft of new clients, including GSK, E.ON, and Mondelez.
Dani has also created a new inclusive, open workplace culture with a flat structure. She set up a new diversity counsel charged with narrowing agency’s gender pay gap, ushered in a new team of female leaders and made the agency’s approach to recruitment more inclusive to champion diversity and bring in the next generation.
Twitter: @Digitas_UK
Insta: @digitas_uk
As co-founder and CTO, Daniel is the tech visionary at the heart of ethical ad platform Good-Loop, imagining a world where AdTech is deployed for social good, as well as effectiveness, at a time when trust and transparency continue to be AdTech’s watchwords.
Twitter: @Winterstein
We are not all the same; but web experiences are designed for the neurotypical. With at least 10% of the population being neurodiverse, 18% being elderly, and 850k having dementia, large groups are being poorly served or worse – excluded from digital services. Dave is leading the charge on making a more inclusive web. His work conducting research into these challenges, designing solutions, and working with Government and businesses to build a better future is an invaluable contribution to his field and for making services available to everyone.
Twitter: @ENGINE_UK
David possesses a powerful combination of traits: ambition, hunger to learn, adaptability and a head for design thinking. Whilst juggling university studies and his responsibilities at ELSE, his design capabilities are already creating positive impact around him.
His contributions have supported work which has gone onto win awards for ELSE. Meanwhile his personal projects, that use design for social good, have been highly commended in the RSA Student Design awards and won a prototyping award at Facebook’s Design Jam.
David also has a voice in the industry, sharing his experience transitioning from industrial design to digital, to help other creatives starting their career. David exactly the type of person that this industry needs to celebrate.
Insta: @deyvifriedmann
Ed Riseman is the Co-Founder, Majority Shareholder of Big Group which celebrates its 29th year in 2020. Originally founding a £1 share capital business to take advantage of the opportunities that arose through video replacing film as a portable, simpler and more effective method of communication, the now £20m business adapted and embraced the change that swept the marcoms industry and Ed has successfully rode the waves and the business now employs 160 people across 5 sites in the UK and The Netherlands.
More importantly Ed is taking his team with him on the journey. Investing, supporting and guiding new talent into the creative and digital industry through Certificates of Sponsorship, apprenticeships, work experience, funding certifications in specific platforms and skill sets, flexible working to enable staff to complete university degrees; and allowing his team to prosper and grow through his trust in their talent, capabilities and passion.
Twitter: @biggrouplondon
Eleanor not only has an accelerated career to date, taking the lead on AI projects creating genuine public good with clients, she also uses the platform this affords her to directly change the industry, supporting many young people and women to get into tech careers through co-ordinating work experience, working with outside schemes and telling her own story. Despite being still early in her career, through her own ability she has been able to generate the influence needed internally at Atos to get these programmes embedded in the way we do things. Her career can only continue to accelerate from this point, truly a rising star!
Twitter: @ellie_mosley
Insta:
@elliemos
She shows a maturity beyond her years in terms of skills and professionalism. She will go very far.
Elliot is an example to everyone in the digital industry who feels passionate about change. The work they have done demonstrates commitment to a cause as well as personal bravery in being willing to stick their head above the parapet. Nobody asked Elliot to do any of this but they committed time and effort to the cause whilst also performing a key role in the Kin + Carta team. Elliot realises that this will always be a work in progress but their passion to make the world a better place is an inspiration to colleagues and clients alike. In short, Elliot is a true champion.
Twitter: @heyelliotinskip
Emma’s achievements have been built on her honest communication and her understanding of digital. Emma brings positivity and creative problem-solving to each project and works hard to ensure Studio 24 delivers excellent work to its clients. With experience of being a volunteer in the charity sector, Emma wanted her work – both personal and professional – to be impactful and to contribute to a better web and a better world.
Twitter: @emmatlane
Emma has succeeded in the face of multiple obstacles. Bringing together diverse organisations made up of disparate teams and nuanced company cultures. She had little previous experience of several of her new areas, including CRM-Marketing, advanced analytics, employee engagement and software development. She also had to bring together a new management team with diverging visions about where the company should go as well as build all new support functions; the scale of the challenge she faced is clear.
At the end of 2019, we have come together as a single organisation with a new lease on life and with more ambitious and exciting goals than ever.
Twitter: @EmmaTg46
Insta: emmatg46
Fleurie is part of exciting generation of young entrepreneurs prioritising the purpose of the work they do over all else. There is no doubt the world will be a more equitable place when Fleurie and her peers are running the show.
Twitter: @FleurieFM
Insta: @crueltyfreefleurie
Gaby excels in this category. Project Management rigour and adaptability, coupled with the business and commercial focus that would put any Business Director to shame. It is truly a combination to be reckoned with! She’s selfless, always puts her team first, and delivers to the highest quality. But if there’s one quality that puts her above everyone else, it’s her modesty. She really doesn’t realise how good she is and how much she is valued by everyone she works with.
Instagram: gabytownsend
Gavin’s personal values are his business values, and this resonates with everything he does. Gavin is the MD of Mashbo, award-winning digital design and development services which help businesses to grow and engage customers. Mashbo build things that people love to use. Values are at the heart of everything Mashbo do, It is evident as Gavin’s values shine through in every interaction you have with him or one of the products or solutions he is working on. He is always out to make a positive difference, pushing the boundaries, saying it how it is and being a go-giver, promoting education, collaboration and knowledge sharing over self promotion.
Twitter: @iamChaz_
Instagram: gavinsherratt
George is a passionate UX Designer who believes in results-driven design. A D&AD Yellow Pencil winner and ChipShop Awards 2015 finalist, George’s impressive portfolio of design and photography work, combined with raw talent, shone through from day one and he has quickly adapted to take on large-scale, complex design projects for some of our biggest clients.
He has spent 4 years delivering user-centred designs for clients such as Viva Tickets, Honolulu Museum of Art and, most notably, EDF Energy. A UX specialist, George delights in making the complex simple and has now progressed in his role, becoming a CX strategist, working on projects with Gazprom and University of Buckingham.
Twitter: @GeorgeHill
Insta: Georgehill93
Gregg’s marketing team, led by Hannah, has dominated public discourse in 2019 with some exceptional campaigns. Whether it’s the launch of their Vegan Sausage Roll, their witty social media responses or the Valentine’s PR campaign, it is evident that Hannah has created a marketing powerhouse that is winning over fans.
Twitter: @hannahsquirrell
Harpreet is one of the best in the industry. Her ability to not only set-out a strategy to build relationships with alliance partners but reshape the business she is in to be able to maximise those partnerships is rare. Her leadership from sales funnel to ensuring a client’s needs are met during the sales process to support client teams to leverage the best from alliance partnerships is outstanding. As well as her day job, the work she does to support women in tech, particularly at a crucial age in their school career makes her a worthy winner.
Twitter: @harpreetBushell
Herb is a super connector. He is a researcher of technologists, innovators, creatives and thought leaders. His event curation for TEDxManchester, has contributed to producing one of the biggest TEDx events in Europe. Herb is the visiting professor for Innovation and Enterprise at Newcastle University Business School and founder of Thinking Digital, exploring new ideas in technology, media and content since 2007.
Twitter: @herbkim
Insta: herb.kim
As a queer young black woman of mixed heritage living with a life long illness, Honesty’s passion for driving change is non-optional. Born and raised under the poverty threshold of East London to teen parents, she was never afforded the option of ignorance in a world in which her success will always stand out as rebellion. The legacies left to her were survival and the fight for equity and equality – a fight that has since led to her becoming a Stonewall young campaigner for LGBTQIAA + people of colour, as well as working to support young people from diverse backgrounds within many cultural organisations including Lauderdale House, The London Transport Museum, TfL and The Wellcome Collection.
Foolproof was already one of the best known and well respected UX agencies when James arrived, but our centre of gravity was research insight and design advice. Under James, our studio has evolved to be one of the most exciting within the UK, embracing the latest practices, and securing high-profile design projects against the most established design-led businesses in the world.
Twitter: @jamesreeve
Insta: @jamesreeve
Jan is an integral part of the digital community in the South of the UK. Curating and producing events in digital, creative health and wellbeing sectors she has been awarded the license to run TEDxWinchester 2020, connecting the community and curating a programme of diverse speakers who all have an idea worth sharing. Jan is passionate about events as shared experiences and also founded a programme to encourage a greater diversity of keynote speakers in the tech and digital industries, Shared Platform.
Twitter: @jancarlyle
Insta: @autumn_live_
Javier thinks creatively and strategically in wide conceptual strokes but also grasps the details necessary to polish and finesse cutting edge experiences, brands, products and services – leading him to work with global brands such as Apple, Argent, Barclaycard, Bureau Veritas, Greystar, Orange, Lloyd’s Register, S&P Global Platts.
His team at Miura has worked within organisations to define unique experiences that are fundamental to their success. Beyond strategy, Javier has amazing brand and UX/UI design sensitivity and a compulsion to ensure the final product tells a story and is the very best it could possibly be. Javier leads happy and healthy creative teams by anchoring a common purpose – delivering an exceptional end product focused on the very latest technology.
As Lead UX Designer at MullenLowe Profero, Jessi has worked tirelessly to challenge traditional creative agency norms and create new ways of working that promote an innovative approach to creativity. Most recently she has developed exceptional digital experiences for clients including the NHS, Wagamama and Diageo.
Jessi is fiercely committed to finding new ways of working which last year, led her to create an initiative called ‘Ideation Station’; a collaborative and non-hierarchical user centric design approach to create ideas that bring in a diverse range of skill sets and achieve solutions with great imagination, innovation and speed.
A champion for diversity and inclusion, the hardest working person you’ll ever meet and without doubt a future leader of our industry.
One of Screenmedia’s founders and its present Technical Director, Jon has been fundamental to the growth of the practice over the past 15 years. His deep understanding of both technology and the possibilities it offers has driven the business’ focus on R&D. Jon has navigated Screenmedia through a rapidly changing technology landscape, driving the early adoption of technologies within the practice which have gone on to become industry standards.
Jon’s flair for problem solving has lead the practice to embrace innovation challenges, delivering some incredible firsts in its industry for forward-looking partners and clients. He continues to lead and inspire, demanding high standard and process-driven projects which delight Screenmedia’s roster of bluechip clients who continue to value his expertise.
Twitter: @billywizz
Insta: @webmonger
A strong leader, dedicated patron of digital transformation with a strategic approach. Jon is passionate about innovation and brings his natural transformative approach to the Pharma and Healthcare industry. Jon isn’t afraid to challenge the thinking of both his colleagues and his clients, guiding them to see the value of more innovative and user-centric thinking. Jon possesses the unique ability to advise clients from both a digital strategy and industry-specific position, navigating regulation and providing incredible value for clients.
Twitter: @humedini
Insta:
@humedini
His curiosity, adaptability and passion for designing for behaviour change are all traits that make Joe such a valuable member of the ELSE team. He hit the ground running, making immediate contributions to his work on key client projects.
We see many interns skilled in production, but Joe contributes and guides a lot of research based on his own personal experience – a great value-add for us.
His ideas have received industry accolade – he features in the Evening Standard’s ‘Progress 1000’ for his project aimed at helping Londoners reduce food waste. His game tackling the dangers of social media now enters Imperial College’s Venture Capitalist Challenge. And through the Interaction Foundry Research Group, he develops design interventions and toolkits to help other designers.
Insta: @by_josephshepherd
Kim is a total tech trailblazer and inspirational agent of change in her field. Not only because she daily challenges the status quo by being a woman in what is still a hugely male dominated role, but also because she has an unwavering desire and determination to democratise tech.
Each challenge is a journey of discovery for Kim, and she can be relied upon to add value to every project she’s part of. She inspires others with her curiosity – giving talks, strategic innovation coaching and client workshops – and comes at problems with a unique perspective. Both professionally and personally Kim is also hugely generous, nurturing talent through mentoring or helping to improve the world with ‘tech for good’ size hustles.
Kirsty is a force of nature. Her passion and enthusiasm for the work of her team, delivered for their clients knows no bounds. She is a natural people person, an excellent leader who continually works towards improving her skills and elevating those around her. She is a passionate mentor, and has the ability to motivate and energise her entire team, to bring great success.
Insta: @Kitty_bums82
Jonny is the Group CEO of independent digital agency LAB. The last year has seen Jonny take the LAB business to the next level, with the formation of a new group structure and the acquisition of digital marketing agency Reflect Digital.
Jonny has also boosted LAB’s R&D efforts, overseeing an application for an Innovate UK grant to continue the development of technology to help tackle the issue of businesses selling inappropriate products to vulnerable customers.
2019 also saw LAB successfully establish a four-day working week for all staff, boosting creativity, productivity and happiness.
Beyond his day job, Jonny has continued to use his digital powers for good, giving a talk on agency life to 250 students at George Abbot School.
Twitter: @JonnyTooze
Kate is a champion for Tech For Good and her work showcases a number of impactful tech projects she’s managed for the likes of RNLI, WWF and International Animal Rescue. Kate has focussed tirelessly on achieving the widest-reaching impact. She’s pushed suppliers and their platforms to ensure the app provides the greatest benefits for the budget, whilst also being flexible and future-proof. The project highlighted a lack of digital skills and confidence amongst patients, carers and nurses so Kate set-up a programme of digital skills workshops and resources and recruited 14 new Digital Champion volunteers for the hospice, to ensure the digital inclusion support services can be sustained far beyond the funded project.
Lauren has been driving the digital industry in disguise of a Partnerships or New Business manager for over a decade. Her passion and expertise in digital, innovation and emerging technology knows no boundaries. She is always looking for the solution to a clients problem or question in a unique way. Bringing together the right teams to execute some of our industry world firsts. If it doesn’t exist Lauren strives to make the magic a reality.
Twitter: @misslaurendyer
Insta: @misslaurendyer
Liah is indeed a rising star- both in her company, the design world and also as a champion for women in the industry. She elevates and encourages others to achieve success and recognition, as well as striving for this herself.
Twitter: @LiahMoss
Insta: @liah91
Lene is undoubtedly one of the rising stars of our industry. In 3 years since she joined Microsoft as a graduate, she consistently out performs many of her more senior colleagues. She is an exceptional partner manager, with a deep passion and understanding for digital agencies and how to build a successful partner channel for them into Microsoft. She is not only one of Microsoft’s top performers but her passion and commitment to support others success in their careers through the huge commitment she takes on to run Microsoft’s career advisory boards makes her absolutely worthy of this award.
Twitter: @lvdborght
Insta:
_lenevdb
Letty is young, smart, savvy and genuinely hard working. A natural team player, Letty works seamlessly across her design, technology and product counterparts. She is committed to caring about the people her work directly benefits, as well as the people she is working alongside to drive the work through to success.
Letty connects the dots where others might miss out on critical insights. She naturally works at the intersection of people, technology, data and process, and capably does so by applying lean and collaborative techniques that rapidly unpack the problem space to focus the energies of teams and the process of design to craft simple and innovative solutions.
Twitter: LettyKey
Lisa’s work always features themes of diversity and inclusion, the value that the social sciences can bring to the technology industry (what many are now terming ‘the rise of the digital humanities’) and the impact that technology has on people and planet (what many call ‘tech ethics’). The new methods, frameworks and processes she has introduced to colleagues, clients and her students has changed hearts and minds and transformed working practices across private, public and education sectors.
Twitter: @LisaTalia
Insta:
@LisaTalia
We believe that change cannot be achieved simply by top down initiatives. Often led by people who don’t understand how young people’s approach to work has changed; Mahadi provides a safe spring-board into what can be the scary world of entering an industry.
As Livity’s first ever community manager Mahadi is passionate about increasing diversity in the digital industries and creating inclusive pathways into employment for young people.
At Livity, she has led events connecting the world of work to big macro issues affecting society; sustainability, mental health, black history, gender, masculinity, violence affecting young people and voting rights. Outside of Livity she is a part of the SocialFixt team, working to diversify the creative industry through events, podcasts and job board.
Mahadi is an amazing ambassador for creative industries and deserves to be acknowledged for all her hard work.
Twitter: @Mahadi___
Insta: @Mahadi___
Matt started FX Digital as a website development company from his dining room in 2011, with his business partner Tom. As the business steadily grew, the easy option would have been to stick with what they knew – web design and build. However, this would not have been true to Matt’s personal philosophy, which was – and continues to be – a steadfast belief that investment in new technology is crucial; not only for his own business, but for society as a whole.
Matt has pioneered voice technology and innovative OTT TV solutions in the UK digital scene. His achievements with FX Digital demonstrate both entrepreneurial spirit and drive for change and advancement in the emerging tech space.
Twitter: @matthewduhig
I’ve not met a single person who has worked with Matt that hasn’t come away from the experience enlightened and uplifted. His attitude to everything is positive and this is quite incredible in the often stressful world of juggling deadlines and client demands. His way of working with clients is sympathetic and authoritative. He quickly gains trust and this is always well placed, as the directions he steers clients in always prove to be the ones they are glad to have taken. Matt’s ability to understand the work of everyone in our agency also makes him a pleasure to work with for his colleagues. We, and our clients, are incredibly fortunate to work with him.
Twitter: @m_emmins
Insta: @m_emmins
Innovative is often overused in digital, but Matt has a track record of delivering genuinely innovative technology that has an impact on his clients and their customers that goes far beyond hype and buzzwords.
This year as CTO he has helped Cohaesus continue to grow, bringing in new clients such as National Grid, British Business Bank and Yoti.
With existing clients he’s continued to drive real transformation through digital. One of his biggest achievements of the year was pitching and delivering an AI driven reimagining of the rehoming process at Battersea Cats and Dogs home.
Outside of his role as CTO at Cohaesus, Matt has co-founded the charity donation platform, Mr Bluebird.
Twitter: @mmeckes
Insta: @mmeckes
Matt champions the human side of technology. He educates tech veterans about the people who use their solutions, and focusses on giving those end-users the best possible experience.
Matt is dedicated to making UX accessible and sustainable for all. He has installed a usability testing lab and defined a new service at CTI, to produce bespoke, research-led digital strategies.
Offering strategic consultancy, Matt enables charities to spend where it matters. For universities, he sharpens the institutional focus to help students access the education they need.
Having transformed an entire agency’s outlook already, Matt will no doubt go on to change the way everyone sees technology. Tech is not a means to an end, but a powerful tool for change.
Miguel is not only a Costa Rican brand ambassador, but also an ambassador for technology and how brands can use it to overcome business challenges. While the industry continues to talk about the exciting opportunities that AI opens up for business, Miguel has been instrumental in making sure AnalogFolk does less talking and more building for A-list brands.
Under Miguel’s leadership, AnalogFolk’s R&D team adopted a new strategy of embedding specialists in client teams in 2019. Thanks to this new strategy, £2.6m in revenue can now be attributed to R&D and the projection for 2020 is a further doubling of R&D attributed revenues.
Multi-founder Mike Grindy seems to have an amazing ability to identify gaps in the market and create truly unique services to fill them. From Passion Digital’s Google Ad Grants management background and his eco-friendly waste management business Junkwize to his latest venture Dropless, Mike has used his digital agency as a seedbed for a number of groundbreaking initiatives.
Over the last 18 months, Mike has developed Dropless: a tech-enabled, on-demand, waterless car washing service that helps businesses and customers significantly reduce water consumption and emissions. The innovative brand is helping to revolutionise a dated industry with ethical, eco-friendly solutions and now has 5,000 regular customers, 60 business contracts, integrations into major car manufacturers and plans for UK expansion.
Twitter: m_grindy
Mike and his team produce work that is inspiring and recognised by colleagues, clients and followers from around the world. This work builds the reputation of Uniform and sets the agency apart. His inventions range from Solo, a facial recognition radio to Track – an AR and AI-driven app. They work to address problems with interesting solutions that surprise and delight. For Mike, there’s always a new project in the works, and a new technology to hack. His team is so intrinsic to the Uniform offer – it makes the company unique in our positioning. Mike has ensured that his team is as curious, passionate and excited as he is.
With almost four-years’ industry experience already under her belt at the age of 24, Nancy is a driving force within Nomensa’s in-house marketing team, transforming in-person experiences for the strategic UX agency that carefully aligns with its digital customer experience.
Working alongside b2b, b2c and third sector organisations including TomTom, Alzheimer’s Society, Phillips, and more, Nancy helps to successfully shape unique in-person experiences that align with Nomensa’s innovative ethos of ‘humanising technology’ with accessibility at the forefront.
Liaising with delegates and speakers pre, during and post-event to nurture relationships, grow the community, bolster revenue and continue the collaboration, she’s firmly secured her place at one of Europe’s most respected UX agencies, helping to support its £8million fee income.
Twitter: @nancyline
Together with Rachel Bronstein, within the first year of their first full-time jobs, they had identified the need for, planned, and launched Beyond Her – a network for junior women within their company. In a society where women have too often been conditioned to take a back seat and ask for permission, they decided to stop waiting and drive the change forward themselves.
Their mission is twofold:
1. Empower junior women to feel less like imposters and more like instigators in the workplace.
2. Create space for all colleagues to take part in the conversation.
Through workshops, socials and events, they have addressed topics such as unconscious bias, imposter syndrome and personal brand-building and continue to champion the talents of junior women.
Every agency needs a Nate in their team. Someone to drive technical innovation forward, educate others, and demystify complex concepts. No matter the scale or challenge of the project, Nate is there to expertly guide his team and clients to ensure we choose the best technology and deliver solutions of the highest calibre. A natural teacher, Nate’s ability to share and demonstrate breaks down traditional barriers that can exist within technology, ensuring people of all levels are able to understand and use the latest technical innovations to their full potential.
Twitter: @nimrodnate
Quite simply, Nick has quickly established himself within the business and, by proactively spotting problems and fixing them, he has delivered value. He has established himself as someone trusted by the team and is central to our culture. His performance to date is impressive for someone so young and he has navigated a growing agency to position himself for multiple opportunities. Agencies need people like Nick to function and so he deserves this nomination.
Twitter: @madewithReason
Nina has contributed significantly to the growth of Ogilvy’s digital offering – constantly pushing us to deliver more and promoting our best in class digital capabilities. The breadth and depth of Ogilvy means she needs all the energy (that she is so famous for ) – and in 2019 we reaped the rewards of this by winning some truly amazing new clients including Instagram, The Post Office and Coke.
Twitter: @ninajas
Insta: @ninajasinski
Owen is a student at Abbots Lea School in Liverpool. Owen has been part of BIMA’s Digital Day for 2 years running. He was part of the winning team in 2018, winning the Vodafone Challenge. He is passionate, engaging, confident, creative and would make a a big difference to anyone employing him in the digital and tech space.
Econsultancy was founded 20 years ago on a simple but powerful idea – to nurture and connect a community of like-minded, digital pioneers. Bringing together fresh thinking, best practice and learnings from a wide range of digital thinkers and activators. Paul has stayed true to this original insight but reinvented it for his clients for the 2020s. Modern Marketers are drowning. Cognitive overload means that learning essential new skills is pushed to the end of an ever increasing to do list. Paul has introduced and deployed a new learning concept that helps teams be inspired and equipped whenever and wherever they want. Giving them access to curated, relevant resources that are easy to find, easy to consume and easy to apply. Delivering this success to large, complex, global organisations with multiple stakeholders has required Paul to deliver project management and client service of the very highest caliber. The highest proof being that 100% of clients have renewed the ‘learning as a service’ in year 2.
To deliver this success, Paul has led, coached, nurtured, cajoled and learned from a highly motivated and talented team of project managers, consultants, researchers, analysts and account managers across two global hubs in New York and London.
Twitter:
Paul has driven positive change in both our consumer insight and measurement and effectiveness offerings. He’s a key player in scaling our R&I offering globally and has been instrumental in developing our agency thought leadership. He’s taken client satisfaction scores to 90+% globally. He is a trusted mentor for junior members of the R&I team around the world, and a respected colleague by his peers.
Twitter: @PaullieG
Insta:
paullieg83
Pete has worked on a number of pioneering projects that fuse future technology with storytelling and creative design, including working on projects in augmented and mixed reality. Pete is also involved in a number of activities aimed at developing the Immersive Experience sector, particularly in the North West UK. This includes organisation events, conferences, workshops and training for the sector as well as developing new industry relevant curriculum with Universities, that includes the world’s first Masters level course in Immersive Arts.
Twitter: @petewoodbridge
Together with Natasha Da Rosa Lau, within the first year of their first full-time jobs, they had identified the need for, planned, and launched Beyond Her – a network for junior women within their company. In a society where women have too often been conditioned to take a back seat and ask for permission, they decided to stop waiting and drive the change forward themselves.
Their mission is twofold:
1. Empower junior women to feel less like imposters and more like instigators in the workplace.
2. Create space for all colleagues to take part in the conversation.
Through workshops, socials and events, they have addressed topics such as unconscious bias, imposter syndrome and personal brand-building and continue to champion the talents of junior women.
Rebecca is a force of nature with a can-do attitude with bags of passion and enthusiasm to always do the best possible job getting the results in record time. She is a true industry veteran who has a wealth of knowledge and experience having worked with some of the UK’s best known brands at some of the best agencies. Rebecca is passionate about nurturing talent and promoting social mobility to enable equal opportunities are at the heart of agency hiring and development plans.
Outside of work Rebecca is passionate about contributing to wider society and has been instrumental in delivering a range of heritage projects bringing buildings back into use putting them at the heart of communities.
Twitter: @rebecca_crook
Insta:
@becksinbrighton
Rebecca is a worthy nominee due to her relentless drive to put users at the heart of Citizens Advice services, which help the most vulnerable people in society. Rebecca and her team use their industry-leading expertise in user-centered design and agile to address complex problems like housing, welfare benefits, employment and debt. They’ve shown they can respond quickly to major events like Brexit and the rollout of Universal Credit. Rebecca is committed to equality, diversity and inclusion and this runs through her team and their work. Rebecca is a trustee of Democracy Club and National Ugly Mugs, a member of City Hall’s Smart London Board, and trains digital and design leaders in how to create change in their organisations.
Twitter: @rebeccakemp
A rising star on Cedar Communications largest account, Renée Lo plays a pivotal role as the Account Manager responsible for managing the planning, process and production of the widest read consumer magazine in the UK. Renée uses her strengths as a level headed and collaborative problem-solver to effectively co-ordinate Cedar’s Tesco Magazine team and external stakeholders. She has dedicated everything and then some to get the job done brilliantly, and her knowledge and passion around her role is evident in every day to day interaction she has on the account. Renée has embraced two of Cedar’s most important values ‘Do what scares you’ and ‘Be real’, seeing her flourish at Cedar and in the eyes of the client.
Insta: Cedar Communications
Richard is one of the most genuine and inspiring people I have ever met. On a personal level he is kind and compassionate. On a professional level he is the best there is, his passion for his job is beyond infectious.
I’ve seen him speak at an event and have an audience entirely enthralled, whilst sharing a wealth of knowledge that can only be gained from a hugely successful career, and that others would try and charge a fortune for.
He continues to inspire me and I’m sure many other people. We can all learn a lot of from him.
Twitter:@wearebrightful
Richard has been absolutely integral to the creation and development of Potato’s creative technology venture Fictioneers, which will mark a new departure in mixed reality, immersive storytelling.
Over the past 12 months, Richard has been responsible for: developing the approach; creating the methodology; determining the technical and design choices; recruiting the team; facilitating the culture and ensuring the effective operation of our three joint venture partners to deliver our first project, together with our creative partner Aardman.
Richard has been brilliant at creating excitement and interest among multiple external parties, as well as the Fictioneers team, where he has built a productive, design-led culture.
He has demonstrated innovative leadership every step of the way and has been critical to the ambitious development of the project, as well as developing future commercial opportunities and a viable, investable business.
Bob was the first interviewee to not show me a single piece of graphic design but demonstrated his enthusiasm and ability to think and is one of the best hires i’ve ever made. It’s this boldness that’s required to make an indelible sharpie mark on the global whiteboard. I’ve been pushing for 5 years to find an idea that he can’t produce and haven’t come across one yet.
Insta: @yes.robertlloyd
Not only is Robert a visionary in the application of storytelling to real-world problems, he is also a great leader – seldom taking credit for his company’s achievements and preferring instead to praise and nurture his dedicated team.
Twitter: @robpratten
Insta:
@robdapanda
In her two years at AKQA, Rosie has been hugely impactful across the agency and beyond. She brings spark to the briefs she works on, mentors others, and has made a name for herself in the agency. Where she really uses her platform, though, is in her passion for diversifying our industry. Not only has she begun to shift our agency culture to celebrate more openness and diversity, through mentoring projects and charity support, but she consults and supports social impact projects in her spare time. She has used her mentoring, strategy and branding skills to aid founders of two businesses which support young people from disadvantaged backgrounds through their education, and into the industry.
Twitter: @rosiecrosss
Insta:
@rosiecrocs
As above really! He’s empowering change in the recruitment industry and in turn is empowering change in multiple other industries as Hidden grows. He doesn’t just pay lip service to the latest buzz words he lives by what he does.
Twitter: @Ross_Hidden
Insta:@H_ddenHQ
Rowan sets the standard for what it means to be a modern strategist.
Through driving innovation internally to adopting new ideation practices with brands and industry leaders, she has inspired others and taken teams on transformational journeys that lead to better outcomes.
Twitter: @Rowan_Kby
Sam lives and breathes Just After Midnight. He’s a visionary CEO, but also knows how to reach the vision. He has a clear plan of where the business needs to be year on year and what needs to be done holistically to achieve these goals.
Sam recognises that the business is only as good as its individuals. In the last 18 months he developed a strong, diverse, global team, with the right mix of skill-sets and personalities required to achieve great things. His open communication and flat company culture ensures the team are fully incorporated into the company’s vision and the results can be seen in the quality of the projects delivered, excellent customer services and team of happy employees.
Sam’s roles in digital health combined with his clinical experience make him a tech trailblazer in the public sector. His unique perspective has enabled him to deliver digital change both vertically and horizontally across the NHS.
Aware of the need to design digital services with a citizen-centric approach to improve utility, value and the patient experience, Sam champions a new approach to digital transformation with a focus on users, their needs and improved outcomes.
Sam’s wealth of experience in digital transformation, data-driven healthcare and post-digital technologies led to his latest appointment as Global Clinical & Digital Adviser for the Department for International Trade (DIT). Sam now advises healthcare organisations and governments on digital transformation on a global scale.
Twitter: @healthyopinion
Sarah is a unique talent who can combine strategy with execution, economics with creative and data with gut feel. Sarah has a long-standing record for delivering business growth across all stages of business – start-ups to hypergrowth brands, established businesses to turnaround companies. She also has invaluable experience across most major sectors – sport, beauty, tech and finance to property and food.
There aren’t many true generalists who can tackle strategy across the board and combine with execution that care as much about her client’s business results as Sarah does. Sarah also influences the way those around her work, always challenging the status quo and building capability in those around her.
Twitter: @sarah_batters
Insta: @sarahbatters
In just 14 months, Sarah has taken Artefact from a new player in the digital marketing and data consulting space to a fully-fledged challenger agency.
After winning more than £2m in new business billings in her first full year, Sarah has established Artefact as a genuine alternative for brands looking for a data-driven digital agency outside of the big six.
With more than 100 people in the UK – and more than 1,000 around the world – Sarah is winning hearts and minds in the UK by convincing brands that Artefact is big enough to matter but small enough to care.
The future looks bright for Artefact and even brighter for Sarah De Martin.
Simon has dedicated himself to making real change. Every initiative he undertakes has real meaning and although he seeks no personal recognition for his achievements, he would be wholly deserving of a position in BIMA’s Top 100 for influencing the future of our industry and opening it out to so many.
Twitter: @simondevereux
Insta:
@simondev
I know of nobody who combines her passion for social justice and with solving core tech problems to such effect. Digital is faced with its unique ‘last mile challenge’ where young people from disadvantaged backgrounds with drive, determination and smarts can’t crack into the industry for lack of coding skills. These skills are often delivered in expensive bootcamps that further close off this career choice. Siobhan has spearheaded programmes that solve this problem at scale and we’re already seeing the impact in London.
Over the last year, Snezh has been pushing the boundaries of service design applications at Cancer Research UK by bringing her expertise and skillset into complex technical projects. She has opened new ways of looking at problems and influenced stakeholders across the charity. Through her thoughtful application of human-centred design approaches to technology-driven questions, Snezh is helping us create a framework for re-thinking what we offer our users and how we could make it better, and therefore, she’s paving the way to transform our organisation – all the while working in the open through blog posts and events, mentoring more junior team members, and being an inspiring role model!
Twitter: @snezh_halacheva
Twitter: @themssophie
Insta:
@letsdostuffs
Stefan has helped to drive the creative side of our business forward and been a huge part of our growth over the past year or so.
We’ve reached a new level of creative output and this only feels like the start. Stefan is a key component of bringing our company vision to life through our clients and their work, defending happiness across the globe.
There is a buzz about the agency and exciting times ahead.
Twitter: @stefdarogue
Insta @stef_da_rogue
Steve has spent over 19 years in the creative industries, with the last decade predominantly in senior digital positions. During this time, he has worked with many leading brands and organisations including RBS, the Fringe Festival, T in the Park, Ford, Audi and Ferrari.
At After Digital, Steve is our Head of Consulting and focuses on Digital Evolution projects with our clients; assisting them in driving transformational change in their businesses. His Digital Transformation workshops take him all over the globe, most recently, from Canada to Dubai. In the past 12 months, Steve has delivered digital transformation roadmaps to large organisations, including; Gazprom, University of Buckingham and EDF Energy Group.
Twitter: @steveplummer8
It’s been a busy year for Tariq, which ended on a high with him being featured in the Financial Times ‘Top 100 Most Influential BAME Technology Leaders’ as well as being awarded ‘Best Technical Innovation’ at Drum DADIs.
As lead for a tribe of multiple product squads at Coty, Tariq has been at the forefront of digital innovation delivering business results with progressive technologies such as AR, AI and headless architectures.
He’s also a regular speaker and judge at industry events and has had thoughts published in a number of national publications including eConsultancy, City AM, Campaign, The Drum, MediaPost US, Marketing Week, HuffPost, WARC and Management Today
Twitter: @MisterTKhan
Tazz has built her entire career educating the ecosystem on the importance of humanity in tech, and any new opportunity she has to spread that message further, you bet she does. She is the Founder of InvestWell; a community dedicated to re-educating investors on the importance of mental health when it comes to startups, a Venture Scout at Backed VC, and has also recently joined the humanity-led digital product agency, Digital Detox.
Twitter: @tazzgault
Insta: @tazzgault
Tom used a distressing personal experience as an opportunity to not only better himself and aid someone close, but to reach and assist thousands with communication difficulties across the world, giving them a voice.
Leaning on his years of experience in product management, he has followed best practice in the development of a product from its inception to maturity, and has delivered an app relied upon by hundreds of people on a daily basis.
Having worked tirelessly to identify and meet the needs of My Voice users, the outstanding user experience he has single-handedly created has earned his platform the support of the Motor Neurone Disease Association (MNDA), who list My Voice as an officially recommended communication aid.
Twitter: @tomfelixford
Insta: @tomfelixford
Victoria has proven to be a successful and driven entrepreneur, developing two award-winning businesses that continue to grow throughout the UK. oneHR was born out of a desire to digitalise HR through innovation, using client feedback and years of HR expertise to create a platform that will continue to adapt, change and grow with new technological advances and the ever-changing business climate. Victoria is driven to innovate by the desire to aid businesses in managing and supporting their greatest asset, their people.
Twitter: @vbrownhpc
Insta: onehr_
Since being given her Chief Happiness Officer role, Vicky has worked tirelessly to bring a wider sense of purpose to each of Loom’s employees. By speaking to everyone individually and proactively looking after their social, personal and professional needs, Vicky has made sure that employees can fulfil their professional and personal goals. In turn, this makes their jobs more fulfilling, meaningful and enjoyable.
Vicky’s personal dedication to doing good in and out of the office (she volunteers every Saturday at a dog rescue centre amongst other good deeds) is what made her the ideal candidate for the role. Undoubtedly, her work within this role is challenging and changing the idea of how digital agency life should be – for the better.
Insta: @victorialouisehockley
Viv has almost 10 years of experience in advertising and talent management and has managed top influencers at Gleam futures in London including household names such as Zoella, Tanya Burr, Pixiwoo and the Saccone Jolys. She has managed multi faceted branded sponsorships with famous brands such as Estée Lauder, L’Oréal, Nike, Waitrose, Amazon, Natwest and Real Techniques. As well as publishing awards winning books such as ‘faces’ by pixiwoo, the third best selling makeup book of all time. She has bought all of this experience back to the north west and is pioneering the benefits of this type of marketing across a much wider range of industries and companies. She is building a company that is out to prove that influencer marketing can be used in so many ways across so many different types of industries and across all sizes.
Twitter: @beeinfluenceuk
Insta:
@beeinfluenceuk
Founding partner and CEO of Anything is Possible, Sam has held board roles at VCCP Media and iCrossing before founding aip to change agency life and the media industry for better.
A former winner of Media Week’s Rising star award and BIMA 100 inductee, Sam has worked across many clients leading performance marketing and media strategies for the likes of Apple,
EDF, The Economist, News UK, LEGO and L’Oreal.
Rebecca is a force of nature with a can-do attitude with bags of passion and enthusiasm to always do the best possible job getting the results in record time. She is a true industry veteran who has a wealth of knowledge and experience having worked with some of the UK’s best known brands at some of the best agencies. Rebecca is passionate about nurturing talent and promoting social mobility to enable equal opportunities are at the heart of agency hiring and development plans.
Outside of work Rebecca is passionate about contributing to wider society and has been instrumental in delivering a range of heritage projects bringing buildings back into use putting them at the heart of communities.
Twitter: @rebecca_crook
Insta:
@becksinbrighton
Ingrid Olmesdahl is UK Strategic Agency Partner lead at Microsoft, responsible for their global partnership with two of the world’s largest agency networks. This brings together marketing and creativity with innovative technology to help transform global brands. Prior to Microsoft, she spent over 10-years in new business, partnerships and client service in agencies, both in South Africa and UK, helping agencies build growth strategies and achieve their business growth goals.
Jonny Tooze is a successful entrepreneur and public speaker, actively helping to shape and influence the digital industry in the UK.
Jonny founded his first digital business and was pitching to VCs when he was eighteen. In 2003, Jonny founded LAB, which has grown to be one of the UK’s leading independent digital agency groups, working with a range of household brands on their digital transformation and execution. LAB Group has offices in London, Kent, and Cape Town.
Jonny has been hooked on digital from the start of his career and has regularly won awards for his industry involvement, including BIMA 100 six years running and The Drum Digerati.
He is passionate about creativity, leadership, psychology and emerging technology.
He also runs an advisory service for agencies outside of LAB Group and is an active mentor in the digital community.
Get in touch with Jonny on Linked In: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonnytooze/.
2019 also saw LAB successfully establish a four-day working week for all staff, boosting creativity, productivity and happiness.
Beyond his day job, Jonny has continued to use his digital powers for good, giving a talk on agency life to 250 students at George Abbot School.
Twitter: @JonnyTooze
A worthy winner because…
Elizabeth’s passion for creating change is very evident. When she approached me to tell me about her vision behind 1000 Black Voices and becoming a mentor her passion for it made me sign up in an instant. Many people talk about wanting a more equitable and inclusive world but few put the hard graft in to do it and she is one of the few.
She’s managed to pull together some of the best and brightest minds in digital including companies like Microsoft and Cyber-Duck to offer their knowledge and their skills to under-represented Black entrepreneurs in Europe & Africa who would previously not have those opportunities available to them. The opportunities and doors she’s opening and the inclusion-barriers she is breaking down are making a huge difference to everyone involved in the scheme.
The work Elizabeth is doing has a positive impact on a diverse community. She gains commitment to support her work with individuals extending their support to increase diversity in industry. More importantly, she is making a difference for every community she seeks to serve. I cannot be more proud of being able to support the work she does and nominate her for this award.
Get to know Elizabeth:
Twitter: www.twitter.com/1000BlackVoices
Insta: www.instagram.com/1000BlackVoices
Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/company/1000-black-voices/
A worthy winner because…
Anyone working in this industry, at this level, is working hard – that’s to be expected. What James looks to do is combine that with working kind, taking an active servant leadership role that puts ego aside and looks for the best path for all, client and agency, at all times.
Get to know James:
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/james-leigh-094ab0145/
A worthy winner because…
I’ve known Dan professionally for 7 years now and have always been impressed at his flair for creative execution of marketing campaigns that actually deliver tangible ROI. It’s a combination that’s rarer than many people think. Being responsible for an agency’s own marketing is one of the toughest gigs that exist in b2b: you’re often caught in the eye of the perfect storm of internal work always being pushed out for client delivery and everyone in your team also having an expert opinion! Dan navigates this difficult environment with astute commercial awareness and emotional intelligence to ensure he gets results without alienating his colleagues.
Although I’ve only witnessed Dan’s work from afar the impact he makes with the resources he has is head and shoulders above his peers. I remember being both impressed and flabbergasted when we were swapping 2020 stories before Christmas that he was so casual about what he had achieved this year. I would never be that cool! Because he’s so humble I know he’ll never nominate himself for one of these awards so I have decided to do it for him. Hopefully you agree that he would make a very worthy winner.
Get to know Dan:
Twitter: @archer_dan
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/archerdan/
A worthy winner because…
Social still has a troubled reputation within marketing circles, and Callum has been on a mission over the last few years to help change that. His flagship piece of thinking, Brand Building on Social Media, showed how great brands can be built on social media, and has led to genuine change in the industry since its release last year.
The impact of the work went far beyond Born Social’s clients and reached marketers in organisations across the world, who adopted the thinking and started to establish social as a credible, mature, brand building channel for their business. Not only was it hugely impactful externally, it also transformed the way Born Social work internally – increasing the effectiveness of output, and helping to win-over senior marketers in some of the worlds biggest brands. He recently expanded on the white paper with a sequel, ‘The Social-First Brand’. Callum’s thinking has illustrated social media’s huge – and relatively untapped – potential as a place to build brilliant brands.
Callum is a progressive digital mind. He strongly believes that too much of our industry narrative falls into false dichotomies – traditional vs digital. TV vs social. Old vs new. In reality, there needs to be more conversation about how we combine the two – taking timeless truths and applying them in exciting, innovative environments. As well as leading Strategy at Born Social, he is committed to pushing that conversation forwards on an industry level, and his recommendations are rapidly being adopted as best practice.
Get to know Callum:
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/callummccahon/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/callummccahon
A worthy winner because…
He genuinely wants to make an impact in the world that will fundamentally change the way we teach our children and get them excited about the possibilities of what creativity can do in our fast-paced tech driven world.
Get to know Jerry:
Twitter: @jdaykin
Insta: @jdaykin
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jdaykin/
A worthy winner because…
As one of the very few female creative industry leaders – and one of even fewer female Creative Technology leads – Kim always goes above and beyond for those she works with, her clients and the projects she takes on. But she is also a worthy winner in this category for her other, more personal achievements.
She was accepted (and has since completed) the exclusive Google Rare Leadership Accelerator – a scheme for underrepresented future creative leaders who wish to fundamentally change the creative industries for the better that equips attendees with the connections, insight, skills, and tools to succeed in a post-COVID world, fast-tracking underrepresented talent to the top. She judged the 2020 DMA Awards, ran a BIMA Masterclass in rapid tech response to the COVID crisis, and worked with Brixton Finishing School to build Engine’s Black History Month campaign. She also spoke publicly about her experiences as an autistic person in the creative industry then, as part of that, worked with several young people on the spectrum in the creative industry to mentor and help them.
She was named one of the Top 100 Creative Industry Influencers of 2020 and shortlisted for the Oystercatchers Spotlight 2020 Award. As everyone who’s ever worked with Kim will agree, it is a pleasure to work with her. Which is why we can’t wait to work with her some more – and see what she achieves next – in 2021.
Get to know Kim:
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kim-lawrie-7a843721
A worthy winner because…
With 20 years’ experience of brand management, Lisa has changed the way our internal team, clients, competitors and the market see Stickyeyes to help turn us into an outstanding digital marketing success story. In a ridiculously crowded market Lisa knows how to speak our customers language, and show them what they’re wanting to hear, explore or discover. Indeed, our thought-leadership and supporting tactical plans have driven conversations with some of the most well-known brands on any agencies wish-list. Over the last 2 years alone, 1/3 of our new clients can be directly attributed to marketing activity.
She has helped lead Stickyeyes to Performance Agency of the Year 2020, Best Large Integrated Search Agency 2019 as well as our ranking as #1 agency in Prolific North’s Top 50 Digital Agencies for the past 5 years and recognition as a 2** Best Company by the Sunday Times. As with many brand-side marketeers though, she is used to pushing everyone else forward in the team, or indeed the agency itself, rather than shining a light on her amazing drive, passion and achievements. There is no doubt that our brand awareness and market status was a driving factor in our acquisition by IPG and the way we market ourselves continues to be an example of industry best practice. Lisa is an amazing demonstration of the company values we all relate to – passion, innovation and results…together.
Nominated by: Glen Conybeare, Stickyeyes, a Reprise Network Agency
Get to know Lisa:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/lisawisniowski
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lisawisniowski/
A worthy winner because…
Jayne’s Dad caught covid in hospital and spent most of last year in hospital. Dad came home but is a long covid sufferer and is currently, unable to walk. Her Mum caught covid while at home, possibly from all the healthcare workers helping with her Dad. Although her Mum recovered well after a fortnight in hospital, Mum’s mobility is poor and needs help. Despite a really difficult and trying time in her personal life, not to mention being a Mummy and home schooling her little boy, Thom and being a full time carer for her parents; Jayne has still managed to devote her time to the business, do a marketing course at Manchester Met and research new technology, finding new ways of developing her tracking vehicle and pushing the boundaries of technology that has not been used for this type of vehicle. A big company who I will not mentioned copied her vehicle and even tried to copy the name. However, on her own she showed real strength of character and resilience and continues to build on her achievements so far.
Get to know Jayne:
Linkedin: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/jayne-marie-leponis-b3869b1a
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/flykaelectrictrackingdolly
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/FlykaTv
A worthy winner because…
The last year has been challenging for many agencies and businesses that have seen some struggle. Leila and her team have not slowed down at all, keeping their pace and offering solutions to help others without falter. Since joining Digitas, Leila’s demonstrated leadership skills and business nous in troves, impressive in so many ways. She’s transforming a disparate (but very talented!) group of data experts into an effective, respected team who’ve won new business from E.ON and Slimming World to name a few.
These insights are helping others manage this period of change. Gathering data and presenting solutions that are supportive and simple to implement goes a long way to making sure that organisations can manage during the pandemic and still acknowledge the cutting-edge theories and principles vital for progressive work. In Leila, we have an example of someone who is passionate about essential themes that clients, organisations, and businesses need to address, from diversity to the implementation of AI for good. With this urgent and complex task that will resonate for years to come – we can’t think of a better advocate than Leila to help guide them into the future.
Awarding Leila in this category is not just an acknowledgement of her work and thinking, but also an opportunity to highlight this to a much wider audience which would benefit from her insight and passion for exploration done right.
Get to know Leila:
Linkedin: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/leilaseithhassan
Insta: Leilashassan
A worthy winner because…
Ask anyone in the agency and they will say the same thing: Dani is one of industry’s most – if not, the ultimate – inspirational leader. By breaking down silos across the agency to give clients a fully connected service, she has introduced an outward-looking, collaborative and inclusive workplace culture. By redefining the culture and proposition around what’s needed from a modern agency for both clients and employees – including making recruitment more inclusive and boosting agency investment in training – she has made the agency and all who work in it future-fit. By promoting diversity, championing meritocracy, driving collaboration and curiosity, Digitas is now a supportive, open workplace where everyone is encouraged to express their views, boost their skills, collaborate, contribute and grow professionally. The expanded client portfolio and organic business growth have delivered profitable growth by remodelling the business from top to toe. Thanks to Dani, Digitas UK also weathered the COVID-19 storm. The agency was there to help its clients ensure their digital experience lived up to their brand promise. Clients have been incredibly appreciative of the agency’s ability to pivot, under Dani’s leadership, and the business grew in Q3 and Q4 2020 as a result. Client satisfaction is the highest it’s ever been and there have been significant business wins in recent months, too, including the Samsung CRM win. Thanks to Dani, Digitas UK is a great place to do great work.
Get to know Dani:
Twitter: @dannibass
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dani-bassil-24b18a1b/?originalSubdomain=uk
A worthy winner because…
She is worthy of winning this award because she has used her Product Innovation expertise to make transformative change to one of societies biggest challenges. At a very early stage in her career (6 years), she has driven Accenture’s black talent agenda from the front, led a number of large teams to create tangible products that will make a real difference in society and transformed how people within Accenture and beyond discuss the topic of race.
Get to know Ayomide:
Linkedin: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/ayomideakin
A worthy winner because…
Having led one of the UK’s largest data strategy teams at Wunderman Thompson – where he was loved by clients like BT, Samsung and Shell – he’s now a fundamental part of why MSQ is one of the world’s fastest-growing tech-enabled marketing groups.
Get to know Rob:
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robertgoodwin1/?originalSubdomain=uk
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/GoodwinTime
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/MSQpartners
A worthy winner because…
James is quite literally creating the future of immersive experiences.
He has architected and built software that leverages the best of existing technology in a novel and innovative application to deliver immersive experiences using emerging technologies.
He has designed a generic, content-agnostic framework where new narrative experiences can be authored, simulated, and delivered across the globe, which will unlock new freedoms and opportunities for creatives to explore and profit.
He has applied design thinking and lean approaches to refine and iterate on the concept of timed narrative delivery optimised for engagement and immersion.
Our bespoke technology and unique methodology are the cornerstones of this project, and James has managed to bring these to life in an unimaginable way. With an additional focus on efficiency and value, he has created a user-friendly platform that allows in-app simulation, saving project time and costs.What James has created is breaking down key boundaries in the world of immersive entertainment. We’ve put mobile at the heart of this experience, which allows us to give anybody with a smartphone access to the experience without the need for expensive tech and secondly, allows us to deliver an incredible immersive experience at scale.
Despite previous advances allowing this technology to be part of our everyday life, the use of it so far as a way to tell wonderful stories has been missing.
Get to know James:
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/james-spencer-5877159a/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jamesspencer/
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/jamesspencer
A worthy winner because…
Alessandra is super smart and meticulous and will see things across the line. She knows what it takes to succeed in her job and goes beyond it, pushing innovation in social listening and performance tracking on social media. She’s also a great great teacher, always pushing her team to the best that they can be. She takes the time to explain, so they know exactly what they need to do, but she also gives them the space to figure out things on their own – the embodiment of empowerment. Inspirational and caring.
Get to know Sofia:
Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/alessandracervi/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cer851
Twitter: www.twitter.com/cer851
A worthy winner because…
Natalie’s talent and skills have been evident since the day she joined ENGINE on the Graduate Scheme. Her focus, dedication and skills exemplify the values of our business and marks her out as a rising star. In project delivery, Natalie has excelled, helping transform a service dealing with the most complex and sensitive issues for families. Some of the aspects that stand out are the visual assets and artefacts Natalie creates to communicate the outcomes of the research she has carried out. They have been held up as a gold standard both within the client and our business. Natalie has also led the charge for continually pushing forward our User Research skills internally. She has led internal workshops to build skills in Inclusive Design and visual thinking and continued to expand her own expertise.
Get to know Natalie:
Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/natalie-harney-436187103
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/natalieharney_/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/natalieharney
A worthy winner because…
Alessandra is one of the very best students I have ever taught in 11 years in HE. It’s not just her ability, it’s her overall ethos and passion for learning. She is incredibly humble while having capabilities it’s impossible to put a limit on. For example, she has self-taught new statistical modelling software (SmartPLS) in order to truly enhance her work in voice activated devices for online shopping. She is sure to be an industry change-maker and visionary in this space. For her to win this award would truly showcase just how prestigious this is.
A worthy winner because…
Visha has been championing diversity in our industry for the last seven years and has driven demonstrable change in inspiring our female future leaders. She is a role model to all, and is now representing Pinterest’s diversity agenda through her role in chairing their women@emea group. There’s nothing Visha is afraid of tackling and she is absolutely deserving of this recognition.
Get to know Visha:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/VishaNaul
Insta: https://www.instagram.com/visha.naul/
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/visha-naul-16400830/
A worthy winner because…
Having developed an industry leading methodology for inclusive design, incorporating the core principles of inclusion, alongside deep technical expertise in accessibility, and an understanding of socio linguistics and innovation theory, the methodologies developed and led by Kevin at Kin + Carta Connect stand at the cutting edge of what is being achieved in the Inclusive Design space.
Get to know Kevin:
Twitter: @Kevmarmol_CT
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevin-mar-molinero/
A worthy winner because…
Project Management is an integral part of a profitable agency and within most businesses, we are severely overlooked and under-appreciated. I strive to bring out my team’s value each and every day within the business by highlighting its complexities, rewarding the talent, and emphasizing the value that it brings to everyone. This win will not only be for me but my team as well. I want to show them that we can all be leaders and innovators within our industry.
Get to know Joanne:
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joanne-reid-6220744b/
A worthy winner because…
As an ops person Joanne knows that people matter first, she ensures their engagement, drive and purpose are the focus, and the results and profit will follow.
As a working mother with a toddler, she has tried to lead from the front, balancing home and work life in a 100% remote world. Joanne is Neuro-diverse, and had to be taken out of mainstream education due to her complex needs. She openly admits the fact that she sees the world in a different way is her super power. She doesn’t know the word no, nor does she accept the status quo and questions everything, always looking for ways to do something differently.
Get to know Joanne:
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joanne-ralfe-0a9a9221/
A worthy winner because…
Olivia has worked in social for just under seven years, but in that time has made quite the impact – heading up her own social and influencer team and being elected co-chair of the DMA’s Social Media Council by the age of 27. Now 28, she is setting her sights on scaling her team and the social offering for TMW Unlimited beyond just the London office and into the wider marketing division, taking on new colleagues, clients and challenges. As well as being incredibly passionate and curious about the social and influencer industry and how it’s rapidly shapeshifting, she’s a people person through and through, keen to establish culture and respect within the workplace and beyond. Whether that’s helping Simple Skincare define their brand purpose by establishing a community management model to crackdown on online bullying and spread positivity, organising company wide mental health initiatives and applying pressure to leadership to fulfil them, or helping shape the regulation of the wild west of social media, she believes that we can responsibly use social media in a way that still ensures emotional wellbeing. Her next ambition? Working with the DMA, she wants to crackdown on proper regulation of social media platforms to protect young people. With new apps surfacing every day, she thinks it’s the responsibility of advertisers to apply pressure on platforms to have universal rules and regulations around age gating, content themes and moderation. Watch the space.
Get to know Olivia:
Linkedin: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/olivia-wedderburn-45021967
Instagram: www.instagram.com/oliviawedderburn
Twitter: www.twitter.com/oliviawedd
Get to know Mala:
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/malamawkin/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/malamawkin/
Twitter: twitter.com/malamawkin
Worthy winners because…
At a time of great uncertainty and anger, particularly among students, this initiative went completely against the grain. It gave children in the local area inspiration and excitement and a sense of pride at seeing their designs made into animations at a very bleak time in history. By bringing their drawings to life through social media it instilled faith in the future. The project was all run alongside study and often Jo and Izzy were putting in many hours to get the animations up for the children to see. The pair are hugely ambitious and intend to roll this out across more boroughs. They have also managed to flex and adapt in the different lockdowns. I am excited to see what they do next.
Get to know Izzi & Josephine:
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/josephine-miller-a15351134/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/izdez___
https://www.instagram.com/josephinemiller
https://www.instagram.com/colouringin__
A worthy winner because…
Dylan is new to Accenture, as Droga5 only cuts over this month, but within his field, he has been named the number one strategist in the industry on three separate occasions – in 2002, 2008 and 2019. More times than any other individual and across a wider time frame than any other nominee. At the time of writing Dylan is again shortlisted for UK Strategist of the year by Campaign magazine. As a child from a broken home on a tough council estate, he feels that winning this type of accolade proves positive that social mobility hasn’t entirely collapsed in the UK and in so doing his story might help inspire the next generation to never give up on their dreams of making it in a world that at times might seem walled off from them.
Get to know Dylan:
Linkedin: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/dylan-williams-428b421
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dylanwil
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/dylanwil
A worthy winner because…
Morgan has led a significant business impact over the past 12 months including developing a one off project with Facebook into a retained piece of business and opening up an entirely new revenue stream within the social department at Dr. Martens. She’s done this alongside her hugely important role for Working Girls Network where she has constantly innovated the teams social channels to keep connections with the WGN thriving throughout the Covid pandemic – actively supporting women day in and day out. Further to this, Morgan has used her leadership skills and dedicated her personal time to support up and coming creatives via mentorship programmes. Not only does she support people, but she is also dedicated to using her skills for good, and through the pandemic actively supported charities with their social output. Morgan is a shining example of a real all rounder in our industry, she not only excels in her own agency role but she uses her knowledge and expertise to support others outside of this, In recognition of this, Morgan has just been promoted to Account Director.
Get to know Morgan:
Twitter: @morganclarkMC
Insta: morganclarkmc
Linkedin:https://uk.linkedin.com/in/morgan-clark-59b87499
A worthy winner because…
It is not about how long you’ve been in the tech industry or how many years’ experience you may have. Being a tech trailblazer is about breaking the mould of what came before, and never just being content – constantly innovating and challenging what exists already. In less than a year in the wearable tech industry, Connor has pioneered the way we think about the next generation of wearables and connected clothing. In addition to being named as the sole inventor on a high proportion of Prevayl’s patent applications. Connor lives and breathes technology more than most of us and deserves recognition for his talent and commitment.
Get to know Connor:
Linkedin: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/connor-driscoll-747740103
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cptquantum
A worthy winner because…
If this award is for people who made a difference in their organisation, somebody who created a distinctive space in the market and transformed their business… Katy has done this. Thanks to her efforts Reload finished 2020 with record-levels of monthly income, and actually achieved it’s highest ever revenue total for a calendar year. Considering Covid took a huge bite out of our year, this is a brilliant achievement and meant that we were able to go through 2020 without making any redundancies or even furloughing the team. And heading into 2021 we’re now hiring for 7 roles thanks to the huge increase in new client opportunities pouring in. Katy made the above possible through her willingness to build relationships with others in the industry, take learnings and apply these to Reload. She confidently took Reload into the unknown, a confidence built upon a huge amount of research, forecasting & planning, and successfully turned her vision into reality across the business, to the point that every Reloader felt involved and excited by the new direction. Since the rollout, we have created our very own eCommerce Growth Framework, rolled out an 8 week employee eCommerce Training Course and launched an internal Shopify Swag Store, all built upon Katy’s impact in 2020. This is why I believe she’s a worthy winner of this award.
Get to know Katy:
Insta: @reloaddigital
Linkedin: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/katy-ray-245a3057
A worthy winner because…
Across the engagements that Aman has delivered in the 9 months she has worked at This Place, Aman has brought a blend of robust insight and analytical rigour, problem solving and creative flair to shape solutions to business challenges that will not only solve the problems of today but endure in the years to come. Aman has been pushing boundaries both within our organisation and with our clients, challenging teams to enact change at pace to survive the pandemic. Aman led the definition and delivery of a net new proposition for This Place in light of COVID-19, enabling us to pivot how and what we sell and to test new methodologies and approaches for supporting our clients. Aman’s ability to use her experience working in digital strategy to enable other practice areas such as our creative, innovation and product teams has meant that her impact has been truly cross-organisational.
Over and above her professional achievements, Aman has also managed to find the time to set up a virtual at-home cooking class business during the pandemic, demonstrating her business and entrepreneurial spirit both within and outside of her day-to-day work. Aman has even run a cooking class for the very lucky This Place team!
Get to know Aman:
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aman-paul-76340687
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wearetnk/
A worthy winner because…
Zoe didn’t just do wellbeing for wellbeing sake. It wasn’t a one hit wonder to show that the company is invested in wellbeing. Zoe grabbed it by the horns and ran with it in many different ways and thoroughly enjoyed doing so. From colleague engagement in the office all the way through to checking in with remote members of staff, Zoe always has a lending ear. At any point staff morale is down, she becomes committed to lifting colleagues spirits. Zoe is definitely a valued member of staff. Zoe is currently carrying out a Psychology Degree – 2nd year.
Get to know Zoe:
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zoe-darracott-a441a21b8/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/zoedarracott_x
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/zoedarracott
A worthy winner because…
Jasmine has managed to go viral recently —she made two videos, both of which have achieved over one million views, which has helped to further increase her online reach and bring in a much larger audience to show her work to!
As a result, she has also been able to monetize the interactions from the social media platform to provide additional source of income.
Get to know Jasmine Bailey:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/celestefleurs/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/celestefleurs
A worthy winner because…
Jilly’s grown her one-woman web-build company into a fully-fledged responsible digital solutions organisation with a diverse and talented team of over 25 talented team members. She’s leading the way on how to treat people in the gig economy which she feels is the future of work, and her commitment to her morals has forced her to turn down opportunities with large organisations when their morals don’t align with hers. She seeks new clients and projects that do good work, including mental health platform Togetherall, fundraising platform Collection Pot, human rights organisation EachOther, The Ectopic Pregnancy Trust, and children’s charity Little Village.
Everyone that works on a Team Bravand project knows exactly how things stand money-wise, gets paid well for the value that they bring and gets paid on time (early). Her commitment to do this has not just been because it’s a decent way to treat people, it makes for good work – because no talented person is going to do a good job if they’re worried about overdue invoices.
And she’s also always fought to ensure that Bravand does it’s best to give back where it can.
Get to know Jilly:
Twitter: @bravandtweeting
Insta: @bravandbeautiful
Linkedin: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/jillycross
A worthy winner because…
Chris Sheldon is a determined individual who used his well-rounded knowledge of Somo and the wider digital landscape to creatively push through the challenges posed by the ongoing global pandemic. This ingenuity led to some of Somo’s biggest new business wins over the last 12 to 18 months
- Winning the last 6 pitches out of 6 during a global pandemic
- Contributing to winning over £3million of cold new business over the last 12 months
- Leading Somo’s new business outbound campaigns working closely with the marketing team to raise awareness of Somo with brands the agency would like to work with. These campaigns receive an average open rate of 28.5%
- Internally developing a smart way of working to make the process of submitting bids easier and more streamlined across the agency
- Mentoring and nurturing young emerging talent across Somo to gain new business and client relationship skills and experience.
In summary, Chris is an outstanding performer who not only has a very strong track record in hunting and winning new business, over the last 12 months he has taken a more management role to support others and implement better ways of working for pitches and proposals across Somo.
Chris is one to watch and we are happy to have him on the Somo team.
Get to know Chris:
Twitter: @sheldon444
Insta: @sheldon444
Linkeidn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-sheldon-0b78b927/
A worthy winner because
Mark is committed to nurturing the junior design talent across Scotland, is a dedicated design leader with a captivating belief in designing for good. His ambition has always been to deliver design that will genuinely make a difference to the lives of others. This passion is evidenced through the work he is leading with our clients, the generosity of the time he gives to mentoring, coaching and training others and the impact that he has when engaging communities to articulate why design matters. He is actively making a difference in our craft and does so without asking for any recognition or thanks. Securing a place on the BIMA100 will be the best and most appropriate way for us, as a community, to say ‘thanks’. Thanks for all of the effort he has put in over this past year and throughout his career, and thanks for sharing his passion with others. It will provide him with even greater confidence to keep on making a difference, for standing up for good design, for being the voice of under represented citizens and for putting humans at the heart of every single design decision.
Get to know Mark:
Linkedin: https:www.linkedin.com/in/markmcgrotty
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/thedigitalnobad
A worthy winner because…
Because of Niamh’s talent and desire to succeed and do great work, it feels as if she has been in her Marketing Manager role for years. In actual fact, she has been in the position for less than a year. Always positive, supportive of her colleagues and with a desire to learn from people around her, she has already developed into one of the most valuable members of the Quickfire Digital team. In her role, she is expected to have conversations at a senior level, particularly with strategic partners, and this does not phase her one bit. Sometimes it is easy to forget that she is an apprentice. She is comfortable and enjoys having those types of discussions with people who have years of experience and this also helps her develop within her role. Niamh has developed into a high-performing Marketing Manager within a very short space of time. After her degree, she will be a CMI chartered manager. She will be completing her dissertation in 2022 which will research into differing levels of emotional intelligence in male and female managers and how this impacts management styles. Niamh studies one day a week alongside working as Marketing Manager four days a week, and completing the apprenticeship standards. She will also soon be a certified mental health first-aider after a course completion.
Get to know Niamh:
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/niamh-gallagher-941a98151/
A worthy winner because…
Get to know Tara:
Insta: @f5_films
Linkedin: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/tara-trangmar
A worthy winner because…
A self confessed data geek, she has a passion for all things performance at work, and enjoys bringing that angle to the full service remit that Ogilvy now embodies. Clare is a true ambassador for Ogilvy and brings a positivity and determination to everything she does. Having been promoted twice during maternity leave, and recently taking on her new role of CEO of Experience, EMEA after a year working in lockdown, Clare’s ability to lead is clear, as is her determination and energy. Whether working with clients or within the agency, Clare leaves no stone unturned in delivering the very best for everyone she works with, even dressing as an elf for our virtual Christmas party to give a business update to the agency! Costumes aside, Clare is a life force at Ogilvy, makes those around her better and brings a tremendous amount of value to the agency and to our clients.
Get to know Clare:
Twitter: clarelawson01
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/clarelawson/
A worthy winner because…
Tom innovates at the cross over between technology and content, creating new forms and also practice. In his role he has taken on one of world’s most highly regarded storytelling organisations, and prestigious content producers. He has forged a path for a whole new genre of content for the organisation, producing not just an award winning portfolio but relationships with technology giants, a fresh attitude and process to innovation and an outward facing approach and attitude to working with others in the immersive and interactive industry.
Importantly though behind the scenes he has been focused on laying foundations, always running a marathon not a sprint. In an open spirit of collaboration and in his passion for his work he has been a torchbearer in the BBC translating skills, joining up opportunities, building consensus and a sustainable approach. Outside he has taken the same approach to working with the industry, giving his time and expertise.
Whether it’s in the ground breaking projects that he has managed to bring into the business over the past 12 months. The organisational change he has driven by establishing and bringing teams together or in the continued work he does as a champion and advocate for innovation across the business he deserves to be recognised as someone who has challenged one of our oldest and more revered institutions to not just think differently but act differently.
Get to know Tom:
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tomjburton/
A worthy winner because…
Jonny Tooze is a true visionary and someone that is absolutely dedicated to the digital industry in the UK. He is well connected and influential. He uses that influence to raise the bar professionally, and ethically, to do good in the world and to encourage others to do the same.
Get to know Jonny:
Twitter: @JonnyTooze
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonnytooze/
A worthy winner because…
Jeremy is the worthy winner of this award because:
- He identified an opportunity to drive positive change for the charity.
- It was outside of his day-to-day role but that didn’t stop his curiosity and desire to help
- He didn’t take no for answer and brought UX, SEO and Producers together to find the best possible solution for the supporter
- He proved that we could increase our organic traffic and reduce our spend on paid traffic drivers
- Now more than ever recognising excellent work and admirable qualities is crucially important.
Get to know Jeremy:
Linkedin: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/congjeremy
A worthy winner because…
Every business needs a Tom. His unabated enthusiasm, upbeat attitude and steadfast faith and belief in what his business is creating motivates the FX Digital team and clients to deliver award-winning work while leveraging and challenging new technologies to provide unbeatable digital experiences.
It may sound cliche or unbelievable, but money and success don’t ever seem to be Tom’s personal drivers. Tom gets out of bed in the morning to make groundbreaking work and has fun while doing it. However, it is only fun for Tom if everyone is included in the journey and he works hard to ensure his team and the client are satisfied with their contribution to the project. Ultimately, Tom wants to create work that pushes the boundaries of the digital and creative industries.
Get to know Tom:
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tomsmithfx/
A worthy winner because…
At Valtech, we believe in the practice of user centred design. This practice demands both an empathy and scrutiny of the people you are designing for. Innovation through a deep understanding of the unmet user need. Innovation that will change people’s lives. Nissa embodies this.
When we think of many people across our country whose lives have been changed by this service, who’s every day has been enabled where before they were blocked, Nissa’s work offers a profound contribution to people across the United Kingdom.
Get to know Nissa:
Twitter: nissa_neves
Insta: salvadorabrazilian
Linkedin: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/nissa-black-005a2340
A worthy winner because…
Ben’s passion to support young people and those underrepresented communities is without limits. Evidence of this passion can be found in the work he has carried out in the last 18 months outside of his day-to-day role, including:
Being invited to join Liverpool City Region’s Skills Commission board in order to influence and shape skills/education policy for the digital, creative and tech industry at a regional level.
Initiated and organised ‘Pride Connect’ an event to promote LGBTQ+ diversity in the digital industry by bringing together over 200 people for a celebratory event as part of Liverpool Pride month.
Gaining place on Ideas for Liverpool, the emerging leadership programme by Arup, which set out to radically disrupt and change local societal issues, by bringing together emerging leaders from across sectors, to challenge inequality in the local community.
Ben is the perfect role model for aspiring young creatives, especially those who may be battling adversity to join the industry. Ben didn’t have any formal higher education or existing industry connections when he started out and his success demonstrates to others that hard work, passion and creative talent is what matters the most.
Already Ben has achieved so much but this is just the start. It’s encouraging to see a rising star with such strong values coming through.
Get to know Ben:
Twitter:@benjamindalton
Insta: @benjamindalton
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benjamindalton1991/
A worthy winner because…
Our UX Lead, Sam Hooper, said:
“Meera’s professional and considered approach, and staying true to UX processes and principles, makes her a formidable UX Designer. One I am proud to have witnessed develop into an incredible Senior UX Designer, something she rightfully earned in just a couple of years after a career change to UX.
Since then, she has stepped up and taken on multiple projects and led less experienced designers on projects to enable them to do their best work.
She is very well organised and dedicated and, not only is she now highly adept at carrying out the end-to-end UX process, Meera has a killer combination of professionalism, great soft skills when dealing with clients, solid design thinking, and the ability to create/spot potential opportunities for our business.
A positive work ethic, career change from working in finance to design, (super)mum of two… nothing holds her back!
She is passionate about accessibility and it’s not all talk; Meera has regularly championed it on some major projects, making sure clients understand and follow through on making their websites inclusive and accessible to all.
Meera is a great representative and example for UXers everywhere!”
Get to know Meera:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/rao_mee
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/meera-rao/
A worthy winner because…
During the past tough year, it would have been simple to focus on survival and growth above anything else. However, over this time Jennifer has managed to keep her eyes on the bigger picture and worked to shape a digital agency that makes the world a better place through its actions rather than just words.
She has shown unwavering commitment to bringing purpose, responsibility, systems thinking and circularity into all client work and relationship-building. This has required a great deal of personal time on her behalf to research the issues, develop qualified expertise and work through how the latest thinking can be adapted to a digital world.
Her actions won’t just impact on her team, but her entire agency and, subsequently, an industry where she hopes Kin + Carta can inspire others to think about both what they do and how they do it.
Amidst all this, Jennifer has also found time to be a highly effective team leader, investing the effort into improving herself and her ability to improve others. The success of the Kin + Carta Business Development team in the last year is in large part down to Jennifer’s hard work and sheer talent. She is an example of how a job role is just the starting point for those with the will to achieve a bigger vision. As a BIMA 100 winner, Jennifer would be an inspiration to your members.
Get to know Jennifer:
Twitter: @crowleyj
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennifercrowley1/
A worthy winner because…
Annie joined Apadmi during the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic. We were in a full UK-wide lockdown and onboarding was a completely remote process. In a difficult time for change, Annie leveled-up and changed the game, improving internal and external relationships and driving innovation in the Co-op’s time of need. In such a short space of time, Annie strategically managed the end-to-end product relaunch by quickly getting to grips with our relationship with the UK retailer and collaboratively working together to prepare for the relaunch.
What has been particularly valuable for our development teams is seeing Annie working as part of the team as opposed to trying to manage the team, listening to feedback from all levels of the development team, picking up as much technical knowledge as she can along the way and facilitating the team to be as productive as possible. Annie has shown true grit and determination for our clients by generating such an impressive digital impact in a considerably challenging time. Her perseverance and easy-going nature are the perfect qualities for a member of Team Apadmi and we’re so proud of her success so far with one of our uk-leading digital transformation clients.
Nominated by: Joel Godfrey from the Co-op
Get to know Annie:
Insta: anniekearns7
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/annie-kearns-627b4386/?originalSubdomain=uk
A worthy winner because…
Emma’s empathetic approach to work has made her a pivotal character within the agency and externally amongst peers. What links all of Emma’s accolades is this, she has a people first approach to life – not just work. She is happiest and most fulfilled seeing her efforts benefit those around her, be that encouraging staff she mentors, finding the golden ticket for a client in a vat of endless Google Analytics data or working with various agencies to deliver something exceptional. She has her eyes on the end goal, she knows why she comes to work each day and doesn’t ever skimp on effort. This is why she is loved by clients, colleagues and peers alike.
Emma does not settle and will always push harder and further for all involved and it is her belief that good work and good people will always encourage client trust and investment in a way that clouds of mysterious data and meaningless terminology never will – an honest conversation will get you further any day of the week. Despite lockdowns, pregnancy, teams on furlough, family far away and all the other stresses 2020 and 2021 have thrown, she continues to strive for more, achieve promotion and contribute to both the internal and external conversations that are happening in our industry, and still takes care of the day job!
Get to know Emma:
Twitter: @SpaceTimeMedia
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emma-williams-bb535b78/
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emma-williams-bb535b78/
A worthy winner because…
Amanda Glasgow, Experience Lead at Appnovation: “Amy demonstrates an undeniable motivational drive to excel in everything she does. I would describe her as having an unquenchable thirst for knowledge, learning new skills at an astounding rate. Since joining Appnovation, Amy has dived head on into every opportunity presented to her. Given a brief, feedback or direction she runs with it and will guarantee to surpass all expectations.”
Get to know Amy:
Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/amyboys
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/amycreated
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/amybooys
A worthy winner because…
Vee creates strategies that harness the power of digital to drive positive societal change in the world.
Thanks to Vee’s hard work from the start, in the past year since its launch, BigUp.AI has received a Future Impact D&AD pencil, become a trending topic online, had coverage from key national and global press, and received praise from top industry leaders .
Vee is a strategic powerhouse who continuously goes above and beyond to create, lead and execute strategies for some of the world’s biggest brands. She delivers effective business results, wins accolades and most importantly helps drive positive societal change in the world.
Get to know Vee:
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vee-lockey-86124961/
A worthy winner because…
Luke’s ambition for growth, demand for excellence, and passion for a people-led business have enabled Croud to thrive in what has been a tough and volatile year for the industry. In November 2019, Croud secured a £30 million minority investment from mid-market private equity house, LDC, which, bolstered by Luke’s entrepreneurial prowess, has been instrumental in cementing Croud’s position as a leading global independent marketing agency.
Luke recognises that there is no such thing as a great agency, only great people in agencies, and has sought to bolster the UK senior management team, recruiting ex-Group CEO of Sofa.com Richard Holmes as Chief Financial Officer, ex-iProspect CSO Emil Bielski as the UK’s first Managing Director, and appointing Sarah Neblett-Lindo into the role of Global HR Director.
Aligned with his pursuit to always improve Croud’s collaborative culture, Luke has been a key advocate of Croud’s diversity and inclusion initiatives this year. In the last 12 months, Croud has implemented a D&I steering committee and launched a charter which highlights Croud’s commitment to nurturing a diverse and inclusive workforce. In addition, the business has launched its inaugural diversity report, which highlights in more detail Croud’s D&I data, as well as current and upcoming initiatives.
Get to know Luke:
Twitter: @CroudMarketing
Insta: @CroudMarketing
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lukesmithcroud/
A worthy winner because…
Nothing Becky does is passive. She is always an active advocate for innovation, creativity and user-centric experiences that make a meaningful difference. She doesn’t just epitomise our values of Hungry, Down to earth and Lion-hearted, but has helped to shape the agency and the standard of the creative work we deliver. She is everything an exceptional creative should be – moving between big visionary thinking and dedicated attention to detail at lightning speed, helping to push our clients to be brave and ambitious in what they can achieve. She is fearless in approach, thoughtful in execution and always brings a level of dedication that brings out the best in her team and her clients. She has progressed naturally into her role of Creative Director by being the person that can find excitement in every project and encourage her team to open up their creative vision and find new opportunities. She’s not afraid to challenge the client and her colleagues to shift mindsets, test out new process and look for ways to make things more efficient and collaborative. We’re proud to have Becky as a creative leader because she leads by example.
Get to know Becky:
Twitter: beckycoyle
Insta: beckyc
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/beckycoyle/
A worthy winner because…
Mike has helped drive digital innovation at Samsung UK to such an extent that it’s now identified as a North Star of excellence globally. He’s been a champion of instilling change by collaboration, openness and resilience through a continued need to improve measurement, brake down organisational siloes, and deepen relationships with publishers, agencies, and vendors – treating them as true partners. While delivering a new, single-minded focus on the customer to help Samsung UK to realise success within its digital marketing success and e-commerce growth – future-proofing the organisation.
Get to know Mike:
Twitter: Samsung Electronics UK
Insta: michael.durey
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-durey/?originalSubdomain=uk
A worthy winner because…
If you require dynamism and versatility to win this category, then Nirup has that in spades. The projects he has covered could simply not have been delivered without an adaptive, learning mindset and commitment to ingenuity, not to mention the know-how to be able to take a digital product from strategy through to delivery.
Aside from that, Nirup’s overall commitment to quality is also unwavering and inspires a lot of our junior team. He holds himself and his team to the highest standard and will not sleep until that is achieved. He has been involved in every step of shaping the strategy team, using his smarts on new approaches that convert into tangible impact for our clients and their people. He lives and breathes Strategy, and brings depth of insight, decisiveness, humour and wit to each project he is on and the team.
Clients love him because of his considered style and the relationship he builds. He continuously demonstrates an ability to bridge the deeply analytical with the creative to solve genuine problems, whether that be educational disadvantage or business sustainability. His work stands testament to the way in which digital, and its ability to democratise access to information and guide users, can improve the lives and decision-making of people – whether that’s a marketer in a bank, a person on the shop floor or a headteacher in a school.
Get to know Nirup:
Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/nirup-chawhan-56bb1447
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/NirupChawhan
A worthy winner because…
As a founding member of Block.one and Chief Communications Officer for the business that has expanded rapidly to a 260-person business from the core team in 2015, Abby plays a crucial role in defining how blockchain technology communicates with all those who would benefit from the technology behind it. She wants to show – in simple, plain language – the advantages of transparency and decentralisation that blockchain brings for businesses and individuals.
Get to know Abby
insta: abby_blumer
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/abby-blumer-6a34a6148/
A worthy winner because…
Chris has looked to build, inspire, and lead the creative team at Whitespace, not to just create the best creative work of their lives and win multiple industry awards, but to also give back, mentor and guide the next generation of talent coming through.
Get to know Chris:
Twitter: @ctdavey
Linkedin: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/chris-davey-440a0611
A worthy winner because…
Gina lives and breathes digital transformation – but more importantly, she has an amazing ability to bring people with her. Her role was to change the way we did things within the business and she has. On paper her arrival should have ruffled a few feathers, but it is testament to her approach that she brought everyone with her on the journey.
She listened and she optimised, she taught and shared her expertise to give people the tools to elevate their work. In a year where clients budgets were under pressure due to the pandemic, she helped increase our content output on Tesco, oversaw and supported the digital transformation of the BA High Life brand, and is building our content design & video capabilities and growing a social media hub.
Outside of work (and working hours), she’s delivered digital transformation for the small charity, Home-Start Richmond, Kingston and Hounslow, running workshops & brainstorms for them, educating on digital marketing and fundraising – to help guide them at this challenging time. She led on their first ever major digital fundraising campaign during her holiday weeks off, raising double their fundraising target.
She is an agency leader, an industry leader, but more importantly she is a friend, a wonderful mother to her twin boys, and a pillar of her community. I honestly don’t know where she finds the time or energy, but she always throws herself in, her energy is infectious and we’re very lucky to have her at Cedar.
Get to know Gina:
Insta: @ginaroughan
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gina-roughan-444aa13/
A worthy winner because…
As mentioned in response to the first question, less than two years ago, Hannah was working in a completely different industry with absolutely no involvement with I.T. and digital services. In just a few months, she became a recognised member of the company and even won our internal “Valtech Newcomer of the Year 2019 Award”.Hannah also integrated the company social life and helped organise or organised social events, which are so crucial in these difficult times due to the current crisis. She also became an acknowledged java developer who maintained and supported a live Government digital service and proposed ideas to make the service even better. Her contribution is helping to make the life of millions of people better. I have more than 25 years of experience in the industry, and I have rarely seen someone with so much energy and drive. In a short period of time, she has already made significant contributions to Valtech and a Government digital service.
Get to know Hannah:
Linkedin: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/hannah-mayhew-629481130
A worthy winner because
Following the challenging year that was 2020, Matt’s hard work and unwavering dedication have been essential in DRPG’s success. Virtual events were DRPG’s main source of income last year and with Matt’s contribution DRPG were able to secure 40 new clients and retain 100% of existing clients.
Matt has sculpted the role himself and continues to work hard to ensure the advancement of DRPG. The statistics speak for themselves; Matt is an invaluable member of the team and deserves to be recognised for his achievements
Get to know Matthew:
Twitter: @drpgroup
Insta: @drpgteam
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lisawisniowski/
A worthy winner because…
Clemence already had an atypical background in engineering and interaction design, as well as a performer and choreographer. The addition of Computational Arts from her studies at Goldsmiths, gives a truly unique perspective when working with dance and technology, giving her the ability to choreograph dancers, technology and interactions at the same time to create hybrid and innovative experiences. Where most of the performing industry had to stay on standby until the re-opening of theatres, Clemence has put her new technological skills to use in order to make new work beside distances and restrictions. She has found ways to keep engaging with remote audiences while collaborating and inspiring other artists. She takes inspiration from film, immersive theatre, escape rooms and games mechanics to imagine new forms of performances, where dancers and audiences can meet again and interact.
Get to know Clemence:
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/clémence-debaig-27715536/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/clemencedebaig_art/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/clemencedebaig
A worthy winner because:
Liam’s knowledge and expertise in the sustainability field have secured him a member seat on BIMA’s Sustainability Council and his work in this space has led to our company being selected to be part of the BIMA Sustainability Council’s Carbon Negative Kickstart Programme.
He tries to do his best when it comes to raising awareness of the carbon footprint of digital and making recommendations to manage and reduce over time. He’s given several talks that serve this purpose at large scale events such as Amplify, but also community-led events organised by BIMA, The Future Economy Network, Agency Hackers, GreenTech South West and so on.
Liam is worthy of winning this category because he’s challenged the way we run our business and work with our clients. He thought of new ways of using technology as a vehicle to better the planet and make an impact.
And whilst he’s put so much effort into bringing sustainability to Digital Detox, his priority was to make sure that projects are delivered on time, our clients are happy, and our team is being looked after. His work around sustainability would be ten times more impactful if he was doing it on a full-time basis.
He deserves to be recognised for driving our business to define new standards and ways of working in the digital industry, for influencing significant change in launching and developing new tools and projects that help the fight against climate change, and for generally making a difference.
Get to know Liam:
Twitter: @SnellingLiam
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/liamsnelling/
A worthy winner because…
Charli is an incredibly inspiring individual. She solely manages a team of over 150 freelancers on a daily basis, more efficiently than many managers handle a small in-house team! In an service as classic as copywriting, Charli has found ways to not only stay on trend, but ahead of it! She is using AI in a more advanced way than many tech companies! With huge client names such as M&CSaatchi, Foyles, Boots and Npower, there’s no doubt that Proof Content provide quality work. I believe that Charli is using technology in a way that not only helps provide a better-quality service for clients but is also saving thousands of jobs. With the prospect of AI potentially being able to fully write website content, produce blogs/articles etc. in the future, this technology should see thousands of writers without work. However, instead of panicking, Charli is staying ahead of the game and embracing this technology, learning more about it and developing new ways in which Proof Content can utilise it to improve their work, but while maintaining the need for them the add that human touch to the content.
Get to know Charlie:
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/charli-hunt/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/charlihunt_
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/charli_proof
A worthy winner because…
Zoe’s passion for every project she works on is awe-inspiring. Whether it’s growing Agent Academy’s offer and creating opportunities, securing funding for and leading new product launches such as LEAP, or running pro-bono lobbying campaigns like Tyred, she puts 110% of her energy into everything she does.
Zoe is an inspiration and role model to all of the learners who go through Agent Academy’s programmes as well as her team, and is incredibly focused on providing young people with the skills they need to enter the world of work and kickstart successful careers, as well as providing the industry with a diverse talent pipeline, that is fit for purpose.
Get to know Zoe:
Twitter: @zoewallace
Insta: https://www.instagram.com/zoe_wallace84/
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zoe-wallace-ba685493/
A worthy winner because…
Geoff is an astute agency player with high future ambitions. The youngest member of the Group SMT Board, he is tasked with growing the Delete / Kagool’s new business proposition as we acquire more businesses within the group. He has driven up the agency win rate from 30 -70%. His approach is one of collaboration and making sure our best people have a platform to showcase their areas of expertise. He’s helped the agency try new ways of consulting, pitching and running workshops to add value throughout the sales process, which from client feedback has been the difference in appointing us over our competitors. As Chief Growth Officer, Geoff has recently restructured the new business and marketing teams from the two recently merged agencies under one department, which has helped foster closer relationships between the teams to help drive the right kind of leads to the agency. Geoff has been named in the BD100 for the past two years and was shortlisted last year for its Business Developer of the Year category.
Get to know Geoff:
Insta @geofflentin
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/geofflentin/
A worthy winning team because…
Our entry, we hope, describes the hugely pressurised, confusing circumstances in which this team mobilised and began to have an immediate and significant impact on the UK’s ability to launch and run a testing programme. We’re nominating the entire team because it is beyond question that this initiative could only have succeeded because A Team took the task on. Even though of course we have team leaders and principal functionaries within the initiative, none of them can claim to have been individually more relevant because none of them had ever done anything like this before. No one brought prior experience to the table. This team epitomises the adage of teamwork and we would like to think they can be recognised as such as one of the 100 most noteworthy presences in our industry right now.
Get to know The Covid-19 Testing Programme:
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/deloitte-digital-uk
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/deloittedigitaluk
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/DeloitteDIGI_UK
A worthy winner because…
If the BIMA 100 is about recognising individuals who are shaping the future of digital, then Christian’s leadership in game marketing and championing of fan-power makes him a worthy candidate.
In the last year Christian has built a diverse team of specialists focused on fan-understanding and brand partnership. This has helped Waste add to their roster of the world’s biggest gaming brands, increase revenue by 12% and win the 2020 Agency of the Year twice – at The Drum Content and DADI awards.
He’s spoken extensively about the fan-first principle, appearing on The Drum podcast, at General Assembly and writing for Little Black Book and New Digital Age.
He also finds time to lead not only a two-time Ivor Novello nominated band, but also an award-winning craft brewery in West London (which happens to produce the Waste Pale Ale). So, if there are points for maniacal effort, he deserves a couple!
Get to know Christian:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/@the_boy_hardy
Twitter: twitter.com/@theboyhardy
A worthy winner because…
Sofia deserves to win this category because she is a brilliant strategist who elevates the creative output for our clients while always striving to find solutions that will impact transformational change for people. Impactful strategies and groundbreaking creative work need people who lead with empathy and a close understanding of what moves behaviours, Sofia keeps demonstrating her ability to do just that. As part of our D&I council, she contributed to defining the AnalogFolk North Star—the agency’s ambition and roadmap for change—taking an active role in shaping the future of the agency.
She is currently working on how the agency will begin annual ethnicity and gender pay gap reporting, again demonstrating her ability to lead and drive impact for our network. Sofia has been instrumental in growing and developing sustainable partnerships with key clients through her ability to think differently, trigger sharp, powerful creative ideas, and find solutions with purpose. Sofia is already on her way to becoming a strategic leader in the eyes of her peers and senior clients. We’re proud to recommend her for this award and would love to see her profile celebrated in the wider industry, giving her the recognition she deserves.
Get to know Sofia:
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sofia-ewuraesi-bodger-72257994/?originalSubdomain=uk
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_unsigned__/ and https://www.instagram.com/wearepocc
Twitter: https://twitter.com/sofia_bodger
A worthy winner because…
Nick should win this category because his Quaranzine response to the creative isolation of lockdown stunningly spiralled. He manages the design, printing, shipping and crowdfunding of the zine all himself, with no prior experience of things like marketing or operations.
Now, he has a core community of 50 artists in 4 continents. The first zine brief was anything in response to the lockdown in March-June 2020; the second, a round-up of 2020 in January 2021. His first crowdfund raised 87% of his funding target; the second, 150%. He’s grown as a combined designer, project manager and marketer. Now, he’s sold 140 zines in total, shipped to 11 countries, including Brazil, India and Australia. He’s raised £160 for the Bail Project, WHO COVID-19 Relief Fund and Cool Earth.
This Quaranzine project was achieved alongside his responsibilities at Cyber-Duck, including challenging briefs from TfL and Counter Terrorism Policing.
Get to know Nick:
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/njgarratt
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/project.fade/
Twitter: www.twitter.com/garrytheratt
Recognising you need to help people & make things happen enables Richard to deliver Xeim Econsultancy’s strategies for growth & the opportunities to foster awesome new talent in our industry.
Richard is passionate about supporting talent in our industry and here are just 2 examples of how he has used his skills to mentor BIMA members:
AK Connor, Senior Brand Manager. Audible: I was lucky to be matched with Richard as part of the BIMA mentoring program, and after our first meet I can confirm the internet, on this occasion, had it spot on – Richard is the real deal, a champion of women, diversity & progress. Not just in words, but in everyday action. There is no BS, no empty words, just clear, wonderful, action. As his mentee, I benefitted greatly from his advice, network & ongoing & steadfast support, which I’m very glad to say continues, unabatedly, to this day two years later. He is worthy of this category because he leads every day in his own company and still finds time to lead many others in other companies.
Sasha Suzdaleva. Marketing Manager, 93digital (and current BIMA mentee): It’s been a real pleasure being mentored by Richard, which has left me feeling motivated, inspired, a little wiser, and ready to achieve more. Richard has been generous with his time and countless gems of wisdom. He recommended me for the Marketing Week Mini MBA and got me a discount! It was a great experience & one I feel has already added huge value towards my personal growth, plus he helped me set up for a great appraisal that delivered everything I hoped for.
Get to know Richard:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/LondonRobinson
Insta: https://www.instagram.com/richardlondonrobinson/
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rprobinson/
A worthy winner because…
James is driven by a desire to improve outcomes and efficiency through innovation, working in his chosen field of healthcare, this has an enormous impact on both NHS patients and wider society.
Large and complex organisations that are historically renowned for their difficulty in innovating and changing fast (like a tanker changing direction) benefit greatly from people who can think differently and challenge the norm. The NHS, being an organisation in the top 10 of the largest number of employees benefits greatly from people who can push change through with the optimum efficiency and greatest output. James is a key part of a vision for innovation and digital transformation.
With the world combating the Covid-19 pandemic we need more people like James who will and are making a real difference to our ability to go back to a “normal” life after a year of living, what feels like, an alternate reality.
Get to know James:
Twitter: Jndavis6
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/james-davis-7197b569/
A worthy winner because…
In the last 18 months and despite being 25 years old, Max has a proven track record of success to date using insight/innovation to address important societal and commercial problems in digital spaces. It is what he thrives off: solving problems by challenging the status quo and forming new concepts.
Max is driving change by experimenting with new methods, forming strong interdisciplinary relationships (e.g. in academia), and focusing on ideas for the emerging challenges of tomorrow. He is continually thinking about tomorrow’s trends and how the group can be headed in the right, most tactical direction. Recently, he has also begun to investigate the area of Semiotics for delivering insights for brands on how they can communicate most effectively in today’s culture, but also to learn about what trends can be expected in the future. This is one example of how he is applying principles from other academic disciplines to evoke new processes at LAB and drive best results for clients.
He is a worthy nominee for Rising Star because his influence of ideas have, and will continue to have, a strong positive impact at LAB Group and in the wider world.
Get to know Max:
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/max-wiggins-481837116/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/maxwiggins96/
A worthy winner because…
Simon goes above and beyond his role as CEO and managerial responsibilities; he is a team player and strong strategic thinker who has led ambitious projects and continuously turns ideas into reality. He has been instrumental in driving forward not just games, VR and AR technology and its application but also diversity and inclusivity within the workplace
Not only is he able to excel at work by providing outstanding leadership, he has also been a main part of the company’s support system. Simon completed a Mental Health First Aid course in order to be able to better support his team and always has their wellbeing in mind.
His commitment and recognition of the importance of diversity and inclusion has also extended to the company. Cooperative Innovations runs Get Into Gaming, a careers event that supports people from a variety of backgrounds to get into the game development and immersive industries. Furthermore, he has always been dedicated to sharing his experiences and offering advice. As well as other private mentoring he is also taking part in Creative England’s Immersive Entertainment mentoring as part of their Advance programme to help provide support and guidance to mentees interested in learning more about immersive technologies.Get to know Simon:
Twitter: barog
Insta: http://instagram.com/barog1
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sbarratt
A worthy winner because…
The importance of strong and steady leadership has been stark during the last year. It’s been a rollercoaster of a year for our UK team and Jim has led openly and transparently through both the highs and lows. The results of this are clear – significant growth, big client wins, more than 60 new hires. He’s well liked and respected by people from all levels and all departments, and has built an agency where voices are heard and respected. He’s also an integral part of our global leadership team. He’s helped steer our global business through a tough 2020, and back into recovery. His support and clear, calm guidance has been invaluable to our leadership across the world. All this would be a good accomplishment in a regular year, but during the pandemic it makes it even more impressive. He thoroughly deserves this recognition from BIMA.
Get to know Jim:
Twitter: @MrJimColeman
Insta: https://www.instagram.com/mrjimcoleman/
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jicoleman/
A worthy winner because…
Elliot is worthy of winning this particular category not only for the exceptional work highlighted in this nomination, but for his continued dedication to developing concepts far beyond visual aesthetics and recognising how his work can have the greatest impact , engaging, informing and aiding people in contributing to Sightsavers’ global mission of protecting sight and fighting for disability rights.
Get to know Elliot:
Insta: elliotftgeorge
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elliot-george-640864a2/
A worthy winner because…
It would be easy for software engineers to come to work every day and just get on with building websites, but Jon has encouraged every member of the team to use their technical knowledge to bring new ideas to the table that will benefit Giant Digital’s third sector customers. The technical team at Giant judge themselves on the ‘net positive’ effect of their work, both with each other and wider society. This drive towards technical innovation is helping empower charities to not only survive but thrive in the present time, and this is something we feel is worthy of recognition.
Get to know Giant Digital Technical Team:
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jon-atkinson/
A worthy winner because:
Matt has relentless energy and passion for helping companies all over the world and at all scales to navigate the modern web world. Everything from IoT to eComm and he has the practical experience (just have to see his desk full of gadgets he has built). He is never afraid to tackle something new and doesn’t stick to one sphere of influence – he still lectures at Reading University on IoT and AR, as well as teaches kids to code in his spare time. He can be found teaching the technology or even teaching people how to run the workshops. He can also be found leading teams delivering projects – even the recent MACH Alliance HACKATHON – where his team took the grand prize for the event despite being the underdog.
A worthy winner because…
Dean is a genuine leader in his field, creating innovative digital products at the convergence of data, technology and CX. He’s driven by a desire to improve digital experiences for our clients’ customers and deliver real business impact for their brands. As Head of Data at MullenLowe Profero, he’s consistently pushed the limits of what’s possible by connecting a rich blend of 1st, 2nd and 3rd party data and advanced martech solutions in ways never previously thought possible. If that’s not enough, he also happens to be an amazing person to work with.
Get to know Dean:
Twitter: @deanlanzman
Insta: Dlanz76
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dean-lanzman-04724a15/
A worthy winner because…
Being the youngest ever employee within Santander UK to work within Quantitative Risk, an area usually reserved for employees with a post-graduate degree.
The business impact of the projects I have worked on with such a small amount of time, usually working on complex projects by myself and allowing me to use Machine Learning to significantly reduce costs for the bank.
Stakeholder engagement, I have presented up to C-Suite at only 19 years old, shows an immense amount of courage, presenting projects that I have developed and justifying how the bank could benefit from it.
Encouraging others to consider alternative route – I try and encourage others to consider apprenticeships, through producing an alumni video with my former sixth form and being a Content Leader at Multiverse.
Get to know Shaan:
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shaan-aucharagram/
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/@shaan_au
A worthy winner because…
Alice, just aged 23, has become known in the field of technology and innovation in both the North West, and other parts of the UK. She was recently promoted to Head of Marketing at just 23 for a complex and multi-disciplinary organisation. Alice’s work goes beyond profit and return, her goals and aims within the industry are all about making impact on the country, and eventually the world. As Alice always says, “I will be a Managing Director of a Tech company by 30.” We have no doubts that she won’t accomplish this with her track record so far.
Get to know Alice:
Linkedin: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/nissa-black-005a2340
A worthy winner because…
Steph is the quintessential champion of change, her passion and commitment to drive societal change are undeniable. The last 12 months have been an emotive time for a Person of Colour working in the I&D space and despite personal challenges, Steph was one of the creative and determined individuals behind the Adland Commits-Actions not Words Initiative – directly challenging the institutional racism within our industry.
Get to know Steph:
Twitter: @_steph_matthews
Insta: @_steph_matthews
Linkedin: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/stephanielmatthews#:~:text=About,business%20practises%20and%20brand%20DNA.
A worthy winner because…
Amzed blends the best of technology with experience design to find solutions for global clients such as RICS and Preventx.
He does this while also acting as the bridge between Zensar & Foolproof for project implementation, pre-sales and resourcing.
For RICS, Amzed led a collaborative team from discovery through to the design and delivery for Modus + Journals (a digital repository of articles and information relating to surveying).
This project comprised countless hours of user experience research, experience strategy, the implementation of a content strategy and an intimate technical understanding of the platforms and APIs required to deliver a robust digital service.
This typifies the breadth of Amzed’s skillset, and showcases his ability and willingness to turn his hand to any part of the experience design process.
He’s also a massive culture champion who recognises the importance of creating the right project conditions to empower and lead those around him to ensure everyone is prepared to succeed in their own lane, and when working together.
Get to know Amzed:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amzed/
A worthy winner because…
Prentice is a very creative and innovative student who has applied the skills he gained on the MA in Virtual & Augmented Reality at Goldsmiths, UoL, to drive the creation of an Augmented Reality game, that will remove the barriers of play to make sure that anyone can enjoy the experience. The London-based MA course not only equipped him with all the essential technical skills to express his creativity in the digital format, but also it provided him with a solid understanding of both the XR industry and state-of-the-art research. Prentice has made a truly impressive journey from being a dancer and choreographer, to reimagine the use of technology, making a difference to people’s lives.
Get to know Prentice:
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/prentice-whitlow-68ab6879/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/KeishaPrentisha
A worthy winner because…
Charlotte is an outstanding example of someone using her personal experience and knowledge to make a change for the better. She took the brave step of launching SevenSix, but since then has continued to push brands and industry bodies to improve when it comes to diversity and inclusion. Not content with simply running her own agency, Charlotte takes every opportunity she can to maximise her impact, with countless panel appearances, as well as running her own event and industry-first report. A crucial and valued industry voice, Charlotte has high standards for herself and her peers and isn’t afraid to continue to use her platform to push brands to be better. SevenSix Agency itself has been a roaring success, with a steep growth trajectory that promises to continue over the coming years. Charlotte is an absolute force for good – a much-needed role model and fresh perspective.
Get to know Charlotte:
Twitter: @thestylum
Insta: https://www.instagram.com/charlottesevensix/
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/charlotte-sevensix/
A worthy winner because…
Amina helped make and save jobs, and even transformed the business globally from a diversity stand-point. Astonishingly, staff satisfaction scores reached their highest ever (8.9/10) during a global pandemic; a factor that no doubt contributed to OLIVER being named one of the world’s fastest growing businesses of 2020.
Get to know Amina:
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aminafolarin/
A worthy winner because…
Kristof works tirelessly to deliver diversity and inclusion in every environment he touches. He continually gives up his spare time to drive forward important initiatives that deliver profound impact on the people that use the services he designs, as well as the teams he cares for that deliver them.
He makes the design industry an accessible, fun, safe and inclusive industry for designers to flourish, through his leadership style and the initiatives he delivers.
He is incredibly generous with his time, always in pursuit of the greater good.
Get to know Kristof:
Twitter: @KristofHamilton
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristofhamilton/
A worthy winner because…
Jon has gone above and beyond to make the most of his apprenticeship, by committing to multiple community opportunities within the Multiverse landscape. He has advocated for apprenticeships by sharing his personal story, where young students can relate to him whilst finding out more about apprenticeships.
On a daily basis, Jon engages in projects and with people outside his team. He is fully accountable for his own development, successes and continuously drives his performance by asking the right questions and asking for feedback. From an apprenticeship perspective, he has been an absolute pleasure to work with.
The quality of his work is impeccable and it has been a thrill to watch him grow in confidence and step into a leadership role in such a short space of time. Jon is an apprentice to watch out for; a future leader making an impact!
Get to know Jonathan:
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathan-dookie-he-him-b4073a1b1
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jondookie
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/jonathanishmeal
A worthy winner because…
As customers shift to buying online and clients rush to keep up with demand it has never been a more important time for VCCP clients to commercialise their brands more effectively through digital. Jasper’s role in strengthening VCCP CX’s expertise in eCommerce has made him a valued asset to the agency, enabling us to win pitches, identify new opportunities, upskill the team and think more creatively about how to improve conversion and in tandem help client brands challenge in their categories.
Critically, Jasper’s input and passion has enabled us to develop client relationships such as Kia and RB in completely new, more strategic and commercial directions, deliver harder working and more competitive solutions and ultimately, better customer experiences and relationships.
Get to know Jasper:
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasperbell
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jasperius
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/jasperbelluk
A worthy winner because…
Natalie is a person who consistently pushes herself to deliver work of the highest standard. Her commitment to delivering work of the highest quality, regardless of her schedule and work load.
Her positive attitude and willingness to go above and beyond make her a true asset to Ogilvy, and a leader for the future. In her work for Ogilvy Roots’ programme for Black History Month, she was instrumental in Ogilvy’s efforts in ensuring the Black community felt seen and heard. Through her implementation of workshops and learning sessions throughout the business, and delivering beautifully crafted digital work, Natalie ensured that the BLM was a catalyst for progress, and not a symbolic gesture. A shining light at Ogilvy, a star in the making and an all-round great person to work with, Natalie is highly deserving of a spot in the BIMA 100.
Get to know Natalie:
Twitter: @ Nataliiee_N
Insta: @ new.comma
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/natalie-narh-992274154/
A worthy winner because…
In 2020, Kaysa has took on one of the most difficult jobs in our business – leading our client management team. This team is responsible for over $40m of revenue and has clients geographically spread from San Diego to Sydney. In difficult circumstances, Kaysa and his team have overseen growth in our business in 2020 and he has done it all in his own style and with resounding backing from his team.
In addition to this, Kaysa is leading the charge on new go-to-market strategies including, new service leads, new offerings and new approaches to our industry, many of which have never been tested before in Wunderman Thompson. We are in good hands and the future is very bright under Kaysa.
Leigh Gammons – CEO Wunderman Thompson Technology Experience
Get to know Kaysa:
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kaysa-kumar-3214392/
A worthy winner because…
Caroline is a selfless and compassionate leader, deeply focused not just on her team’s performance and effectiveness across the business but also on their personal development and responsibilities. As a line manager, she is an exceptional mentor, but this is just a glimpse into what she offers to those who need support. This year she has become a BIMA mentor to offer industry knowledge and advice on personal growth techniques with young professionals. She has also taken a place on the Manchester Metropolitan University board of Marketing and Communications experts and regularly takes part in guest lectures and live briefs to influence the up and coming generation of marketeers.
Internally at Apadmi, Caroline has had a heavy involvement in their recruit and retain proposition and has built partnerships with growth partners such as Code Nation, Northcoders and The Juice Academy to drive long-term recruitment strategies and partnerships to help reach Apadmi’s impressive growth targets.
Caroline will go on to lead global marketing teams in the future and her wide-angle lens of marketing evolution and process will ensure everything she does is a success. As one of Apadmi’s most valuable stakeholders across the marketing and business development teams, it’s about time Caroline gained the recognition she deserves.
Get to know Caroline:
Twitter: @cdcanty
Insta: https://www.instagram.com/ccanty90/
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carolinecanty/
A worthy winner because…
Anthony has been one of agency’s stars this past year, and is one of the best digital project managers I have ever worked with. He has touched every major digital transformation project we have delivered for our clients, while maintaining a calm professionalism – much-needed during this past year of uncertainty. Despite the multiple stakeholders and players involved in every project, he has managed with efficiency and effectiveness. He has kept our small digital team motivated; he has helped reassure our clients; he has kept our wider teams of account management, creatives and strategists not only informed, but feel like they’re part of the process. On every long Teams call, and in every email, he has demonstrated his talent for finding solutions and thinking ahead, always going above and beyond what’s required of him. He is a much-loved member of Cedar, and also our resident DJ. He’s hit the decks at many a Cedar party (pre-Covid) and managed the crowds as he does his projects – with huge positivity and a smile. The respect that his colleagues have for him means that his voice is sought out and respected on other issues; for example, he has shared his own experiences as a Black man in tech to drive understanding and allyship as part of our agency’s journey around DEI. I cannot think of anyone more deserving of this award, we’re so lucky to have him in our business.
Get to know Anthony:
Linkedin: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/anthony-benedict-85231047
A worthy winner because…
To many of Danyon’s clients he is more than just their Demand Exchange account director, he is a trusted and respected source of industry advice. Danyon has a diverse client-base spanning the MARTECH landscape, each with their own unique set of goals and challenges.
Danyon know’s everyone off by heart and keeps his finger on the pulse with latest innovations and trends meaning he can offer suggestions and guidance from a place of authority. Danyon has exceeded his targets over what has been a difficult and turbulent year – helping Demand Exchange to grow and continue to hit the overall company objectives He also provides his team with unparalleled support and is always ready to offer a hand or offer suggestions by tapping into his vast wealth of experience.
Get to know Danyon:
Twitter: @Danyon1984
Insta: @danyonbillings
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danyonbillings/
