The awards are judged by an esteemed panel of industry leaders and experts, the judging is a rigorous two-stage process including pre-scoring to determine shortlists and a judging meeting where entries are discussed and evaluated in detail to decide the winning entries.
From a transparency perspective, we may video aspects of the judging session to show on the evening and give entrants an insight into why a winning entry was chosen.
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Judges
Gabriele Bertucci | Founder | What's In The Glass?
Gabriele is an award-winning contemporary communicator and a drink industry professional. He has worked in various multicultural environments, with ten years of experience in the FMCG and hospitality industries. He is an Accredited Sommelier by The Beer & Cider Academy, a member of the British Guild of Beer Writers. In 2020 he became the founder of What's In The Glass? a drinks-led marketing & communication agency. He is currently a Brand Activator at BrewDog, the world-leading craft brewery.
David Chadderton | Marketing Director | Homes for Students Ltd
Following a highly successful first career as an RAF Air Combat Instructor flying Tornado fighters around the world, Dave forged a second career in digital consultancy, working freelance and later for digital and lead generation agencies before finding his home 'in-house'. His data-driven approach to ROI-based digital marketing has helped Homes for Students become one of the biggest student accommodation companies in the UK, growing by over 98% in the last 2 years and generating over £200M revenue pa. His fully integrated approach to all digital channels has been applauded by industry leaders such as SEMRush and Ahrefs, and he's constantly pushing the 'norm', preferring to lead in the sector rather than follow. Away from work, Dave enjoys beach walks on the Wirral with his partner and two Jack Russells, Bella and Bobby (aka @sideeyebob). He does other stuff too, but the beach walks are the best.
Damilola Chambon | Business & Diversity Consultant | Bethel Sarova
Damilola Chambon is an experienced, multilingual senior executive, board advisor and business leader with over 20 years experience in sales and marketing, driving growth in some of the fastest growing companies in the world. Having spent a number of years in the agency world, Dami is a strong believer in creativity and performance safe in the knowledge that in order to do this, understanding, valuing and encouraging the right culture is key. As well as being a coach and mentor within organisations focused on encouraging young people in technology, Dami is active spokesperson consultant on diversity within the U.K.
Sara de Velasco | Head of UK Marketing | FREENOW
Sara is a senior marketer with experience both in B2C and B2B. She's spent time both in-house and agency side and is as comfortable creating a strategy as talking tactics. Her continuous commitment to find value for customers takes her to constantly ask questions to unearth valuable consumer behaviours.
Ellie England | Sales Director | Microsoft
Passionate about digital, women in technology and making a lasting impact, Ellie began her career in sales working in an inner city secondary school 'selling' the importance of modern languages to disaffected teenagers. She got in to the world of digital advertising working for Google for 6 years, before eventually relocating to Manchester and joining Microsoft. As a Sales Director for Microsoft Advertising, for the past 5 years. Ellie has been spearheading the continued investment in the North of the UK and beyond, leading a growing team of Account Managers and Directors and juggling life as a proud mother of two pre-schoolers.
David Gerrard | Associate Director | Wayfair
With over 10 years in SEO and a background of delivering big for renowned clients, David has a breadth of experience having worked in-house, agency side and even for an e-commerce platform. A specialist in refining strategic approach and scaling execution, he is currently based in Berlin and leading the SEO efforts of Wayfair in Europe.
Dr Michelle Gledhill | Senior Lecturer | Manchester Met University
Dr Michelle Gledhill is a specialist in in advertising, branding and media. Her position as Programme Leader for MSc Creative Advertising Strategy at Manchester Metropolitan University combines her expertise in strategic thinking when working in consultation on live briefs with brands such as Manchester City, the Happy Linen Company and Manchester Gin, with her passion for developing and nurturing student talent in the Manchester and across the UK. Her fascination for branding led her to complete a unique doctoral thesis on how brands are processed whilst playing videogames. She is a highly experienced marketer, Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM), CIM Senior Examiner and HE Examiner.
Gareth Goddard | SEO Lead | GetAgent
Gareth discovered a passion for SEO while building his own websites, learning through experience. He has gone on to work agency and client side as well as running his own SEO business. He has a passion for seeing great businesses do better online and loves the challenge and variety that comes with SEO. Currently leading SEO at GetAgent developing their technical and content strategies.
Hana Graham | Head of Marketing | Storfund
An Oxford graduate with an MBA, Hana has led B2B and B2C marketing teams in both start-ups and blue chip financial institutions including the global insurance broker, Arthur J. Gallagher. She is currently Head of Marketing at Storfund, a global fintech which is pioneering cashflow services for sellers on Amazon and other marketplaces.
Dr Sophie Iredale | Digital Marketing Lecturer | Manchester Metropolitan University
Sophie has been a Digital Marketer since 2009, becoming a Head of Organic Search for a south Manchester Agency in 2012. In 2015, Sophie then became a Lecturer in Digital Marketing, securing her PhD in 2020. She is now Programme Leader for the Manchester Metropolitan Universities MSc Digital Marketing Communications and an active researcher in the field. 
Reyhaneh Jafari | SEO Expert | 365 Digital Consulting
She is a SEO expert with 3+ years at experience with different companies who is hungry to learn and provides creative solutions to unique problems. She started her job with content strategy and continued her path to SEO. She is Skilled at technical optimization, on-page and off-page SEO, keyword research, project management, and content marketing funnel analysis. She has experiences in Google Ads and other digital marketing channels but her specialty is SEO. She tries to lead her life towards my interests and faces every challenge in this way while enjoying the whole path.
Elliot Kemp | Global head of Performance Marketing | Navico
Elliot works client side as the head of digital marketing for the world’s largest recreational marine technology company, Navico, whilst also being a member of a number of SME boards, He first found his passion for digital marketing out of university, while working as a project manager for a hair and beauty wholesaler. During that time he transformed their website - originally created as a temporary measure 10 years beforehand - into a multi-million pound revenue business. Since then he's won the global Google marketing award for his innovative work in mobile advertising, and found further success in digital marketing through agency and consulting work specialising in innovative ways to transform clients’ digital strategies to new levels. His passion for digital transformation continues to influence his work in marketing.
Andy Kinsey | Founder | SEOAndy
Andy has over 15 years experience in SEO, working across almost every industry from Finance to Retail and from Publishing to Adult, as well as working across projects of all scales from Startups to Global Corporations. Andy is known for his highly data-led approach to SEO, an approach which ensures maximum results for clients and a great experience for users. You can follow Andy on twitter @andykinsey or get in touch via https://www.seoandy.com
Penny Langton | Head of Marketing - Residential | Vita Group
Penny is the Head of Residential Marketing at Vita Group. Vita Group creates platforms for communities to thrive and is leading the way in reimagining build-to-rent city living. Penny has a breadth of experience spanning 20 years of delivering integrated marketing strategies for a number of brands in-house. She discovered her passion for creating positive experiences customers in the healthcare sector and now channels that passion in building new communities for people to live and flourish.
Jude Liemburg | Marketing Director | GOARC
Bringing over 15 years of experience as a marketing professional in the high-tech industry, working with companies to create and strengthen their market position internationally. Extensive global marketing experience in the B2B industry, development, establishment and on-going marketing activities of both start-up companies and large corporations. Highly experienced at marketing strategies and initiatives that are aimed to facilitate the company's business goals, while contributing to the company product's distribution, sales, revenue and the perception of its brand.
Trond Lyngbø | Senior SEO Consultant & Founder | Search Planet
Trond Lyngbø is the founder of Search Planet and a senior SEO Consultant. He has over two decades of experience in SEO, e-commerce, content strategy and digital analysis. His clients include multinational Fortune 500 corporations and major Norwegian companies. Trond has helped grow businesses through more effective search marketing and SEO strategies. He is most passionate about working with e-commerce companies and web shops to develop and expand their omni-channel marketing initiatives.
John Lyons | Global Senior Loyalty Proposition Manager | LEGO Group
John Lyons is an award-winning marketer of over 20 years experience. During this time he has founded and exited two agencies, worked as a consultant and held the role of Sales & Marketing Director at the NDL Group of companies. A frequent speaker at industry events and occasional podcast guest, John has also taught on the Marketing, Distribution, Sales and Exhibition MA at the NFTS and sat on the industry advisory board for Arts and the Creative Industries at LSBU where he has also lectured on marketing, digital marketing and loyalty. He is currently in his first client-side role as the Global Senior Loyalty Proposition Manager at The LEGO Group
Laura McDonald | Digital Marketing Consultant | LMC Digital Marketing
Laura is well versed in paid media and performance marketing, having worked in the industry since 2010. With experience in both in-house and agency roles, Laura set up her own consultancy business in 2017 and has worked on over 100 advertising accounts across various industries; travel & leisure, retail, education, finance and automotive.
Jonathan Moran | Senior Global Social Media Manager | Skyscanner
“If anyone knows about The Social Medias, it’s Johnny” – Johnny’s Mum “He’s my second favourite Social Media Manager, the rest of them are a tie” – Johnny’s Ex “Who?” – Steven Bartlett Great praise, I think we can all agree. I did take on John Lewis with “It’s a Lidl bit funny”, mugged off Aldi for trying to appropriate the square sausage and have been the main social media creative for Skyscanner during a time when travel was off the cards.
Dan Petrovic | Managing Director | DEJAN
Dan Petrovic, the managing director of DEJAN, is Australia’s best-known name in the field of search engine optimisation. Dan is a web author, innovator and a highly regarded search industry event speaker.
Plamen Popov | Head of Global SEO | Acronis Global
Plamen Popov is an experienced digital marketer & SEO Expert with history of working for internationally renowned brands. He currently is working as Senior SEO Lead in Acronis, world leader in cyber protection & data security company. Plamen joined last year from the marketing team of Management Financial Group, where he lead global marketing strategies for various fin-tech brands inside the holding. Plamen has a genuine interest in marketing and technology and that drives his experience through out consulting start up companies and leading teams in enterprise brands exploring various aspects of marketing activities including PPC, Social Media, Display, Programmatic, App Marketing and SEO. His passion for Search Marketing & SEO always drives him to learn and explore new possibilities of creating better user experiences and results.
Razwana Quadir | Head of Communications and Marketing | UCL
Razwana Quadir is a marketing and communications leader with over 8 years’ experience across Higher Education and publishing. She is currently the Director of faculty marketing at The Bartlett, UCL’s Faculty of the Built Environment, but will be shortly moving over to the IOE, UCL’s Faculty of Education and Society, as their Head of Communications and Marketing. Razwana started off her career at global business publisher, Kogan Page, before moving to the University of Southampton as their digital lead for undergraduate recruitment and corporate campaigns, as well as being responsible for the development of digital strategies across social media, advertising, brand, email and video. She has a background in social sciences and is passionate about digital innovation, people and psychology, and co-authored a book on the latter subject in 2019.
Ric Rodriguez | SEO Consultant
Ric Rodriguez is an experienced search marketing consultant with a history of working with internationally renowned brands. He currently works at Yext, a NYSE listed technology company, joining last year from iProspect, where he led a team driving organic search forward for clients that partnered with their sister media agency Carat. Prior to this, Ric held roles at well-known independent digital agencies, most notably within Croud and at Hearst's iCrossing. Ric has a genuine and infectious passion for marketing and technology and is a frequent author and speaker across well-known industry events and publications.
Zina Telford | Senior CRM Manager | Marks & Spencer
An award-winning marketer with over 16 years marketing experience, Zina has worked with some of the UKs biggest retail brands. Working in omnichannel retail has given Zina the opportunity to build fantastic knowledge across a plethora of channels and campaigns. She is currently working for the luxury clothing brand Jaeger at M&S.