Judges

Annerie Hughes is Head of Marketing at Virgin Trains, where she is responsible for delivering the overall proposition of ensuring that Virgin Trains is perceived as the best transport option for consumers on the West Coast.

In this role Annerie leads a team of 12 marketers  in delivering strategy and fully integrated marketing campaigns at both a national and regional level, ensuring that potential markets are directly considered and addressed.

While at Virgin Trains, Annerie has been responsible for continuing the legacy of award winning advertising campaigns and tactical responses both above- and below-the-line.  She is also responsible for ensuring that the Virgin Trains’ brand is well understood and executed in all areas of the business.

She is a firm believer in the role of research and insight in delivering corporate objectives, having previously held the role of Head of Research and Insight in the company. 

Annerie started her career in research at TRBi, moving clientside soon after, specialising in marketing communications research.  She later worked as a freelance consultant in both the public and private sector, including time at the Cabinet Office and Central Office of Information.
 

Consultant
Brain Child Marketing Ltd

January 2001 – Present (11 years 8 months) Manchester

When I retired from the mighty McCann after 25 fantastic years,I had no concept of what to do with all that time that occurs between 8 to 8 everyday,I discovered that work was in fact my hobby and due to a final salary pension(eat your hearts out!) I embarked on a new adventure.I decided that I would like to work with entrepeneurs,people who had taken risks to get their companies growing.So Brain Child Marketing was born ( ok not an original name but better than Child's Play!) Over those 10 years I worked with some amazing people,some of whom have earned honours! Elmwood Design,Yes Agency,ROI,Mission Group,Delenio,The Market,Oak Base,G&H,KMP etc. This year I have new friends at Scarlet Arch and The Foundry. I hope to give sound advice on profitability,sale or aqusistion,merger and hopefully some inspiration.Call it mentoring ,training,non-exec whatever !
Chief Executive
McCann Manchester

August 1976 – January 2001 (24 years 6 months)

Wow,what a great 25 years,I know I am lucky to have been in the right place at the right time.Started as an account director then board director and then when company was sold to McCanns bacame MD and subsequently CEO.What a roll,with the efforts of a brilliant team the agency grew to be biggest outside London t/o £100m with 350 people at beautiful Bonis Hall.Added the role of Group Chairman with offices in Belfast,Bristol,Birmingham,Edinburgh and Windsor.My final job was building the Momentum network in Europe,an experential group,eventually this grew to having offices in 23 countries in Europe and Africa.Learnt a lot of the does and don'ts of aqusistions but this is where my love for entrepeneurs stems from.
 

Brian Rees’s career started in the Manchester Advertising scene and then Brand Management in the Drinks Industry, before establishing PDP.
Brian led PDP  in the 80’s and 90’s as it grew to become one of the largest SP networks in the UK, working on domestic and international campaigns with leading FMCG, Retail and Financial names.
After being acquired by McCann Erickson in 99, PDP became the hub Agency of the Momentum group, with Brian as CEO.  Momentum successfully integrated Events, Sponsorship, In-store and SP disciplines into one of the first “experiential” super groups, working with Nestle, Amex and Unilever throughout Europe.
In 2003 Brian decided it was time to take a break from Agency life and held a number of Non-Exec roles.
In 2006 he was coaxed back into the Agency world by Christian James, when they started the IF Agency. The IF Agency has grown by attracting some high profile clients from the Financial, Leisure and Retail sectors.
Brian is a keen advocate of the Northwest, having served for 5 years on a regional URC and is a supporter of greater collaboration and skill sharing between Agencies. He has been a mentor to a number of Agency principles and is a Non-Exec of Property group Livingcity. He has been an MIN judge for 3 years.
 

Jason Spencer is Business Development Director at ITV, where he leads a team across 8 regional offices responsible for driving all commercial revenue outside London. Under ITV's Transformation Plan, Jason has evolved the strategy and structure of the Business Development team in order to meet the needs of agencies and advertisers across the UK. This has contributed to growth across airtime, sponsorship and multiplatform, as the regions continue to play a strong, growing role within ITV.

Prior to joining ITV in October 2011, Jason spent most of his career at media agencies. He worked at Carat and PHD in London in planning and account management roles on BT, BBC, Cadbury Trebor Bassett and AG Barr, before returning to Manchester to run PHD North as Managing Director. In 6 years at PHD North, Jason helped to grow the agency significantly, as well as leading them to numerous awards including a Cannes Gold Media Lion for IRN-BRU in 2011. Jason has now swapped sides from writing awards to judging them for the time being (although he hopes that the work ITV does with agencies and advertisers will be award-winning before too much longer!).
 

More information to follow soon....

Peter has spent over thirty years in the marketing and advertising industries much of it at CEO/MD level

He began his career in Brand Management with L’Oreal and CPC (now part of Unilever)

He moved into advertising as a Board Director with Leo Burnett and then joined DDB London. As CEO he oversaw one of the biggest mergers in the U.K. at the time, building an agency with over £65m billing and 220 staff

As CEO of Mallett McCormick, he successfully merged the business with FCB to create Publicis’s second agency in the U.K.

He then joined WMGO as Group MD, one of the largest independent agency groups. He managed six companies and prepared the business for a successful flotation

Joining Rapier as MD he transformed a traditional DM agency into a response driven integrated company, culminating in the £25m win of Cable and Wireless (now Virgin media) the largest new business win of that year

For the last twelve years he has worked as a non exec director/mentor with a wide range of marketing communications businesses in London, the Midlands and the North West helping them to grow and develop. He is also on the MiNetwork roster of mentors.

 

More information to follow....

Steve's career in marketing began working for Scotland's first integrated agency in 1995. After leading many of the agency's key accounts Steve opened a new office in Manchester for the agencies plc owners, Citigate in 2003. With Steve as Managing Director, a period of rapid growth followed, working for FTSE 100 companies including United Utilities, Shell and Ladbrokes. Steve later became a member of the company's UK board before taking on a group wide business development role.

In 2007 Steve left to start a new venture, The Recommended Agency Register (RAR) a new concept in sourcing for marketing services. As Managing Director, Steve has successfully built the RAR brand, launching the online research and data source on agencies www.recommendedagencies.com. Steve also leads the RAR strategic consultancy service on all aspects of agency sourcing and selection. Steve has recently consulted for brands including Talk Talk (Business), Highland Spring, Parker pens, STIHL, Specsavers and Bauer Media.