Finalists 2025

Thank you to everyone who submitted a nomination for the 2025 North East Marketing Awards. We received a record breaking number of entries and it is great to see so many talented individuals, teams and organisations who have excelled over the last year.

See the categories below to discover the successful nominees who made it through to the final stage of the nomination process:

Rising Star of the Year

Finalists:
Dominic Black, Westray Recruitment Group
Susie McCartney, TrendBible
Adam Ormston, Northumberland National Park
Emily Bloor, McBryde & Co
Freya Askew, Kynren
Pippa Gilroy, Bonded
Sophie Gravill, Nexus
Amy Hart, Be Found Be Chosen

Judging Panel:
Alex Hirst, Group Sales & Marketing Director, Pneuma
Jack Ford, Head of Marketing, Hive HR
Jason Yip, Head of Marketing Web, CRM and Analytics, Newcastle University

Marketing Leader of the Year

Finalists:
Claire Hankey, Darlington College
Chris McShane, Printed.com
David Pritchard, Sintons LLP
Caroline O’Doherty, Northumberland National Park
Anthony Harrison, Inflo
David McNiven, Hays Travel

Judging Panel:
Chris Fletcher, CEO, Visualsoft
Chris Kent, Managing Consultant, Senior and Director Commercial Appointments, Nigel Wright
Michele Gettins, Chief Marketing Officer, IAM Property

Marketer of the Year

Judging Panel:
Ben Cook, Deputy Director of External Affairs, Sunderland University
James Watson, Head of Marketing, Nuby
Matt Forster, Associate Director, Gardiner Richardson

Campaign of the Year (In-House)

Finalists:
Printed.com – “Let’s Make it Real”
Fentimans – “Botanically Brewed. Fentiman Approved”
Nuby UK – ” The Milk Race”
Womble Bond Dickinson – “Hidden Talents: Our Talent, Your Team”
Thorn Lighting – “THORNeco Spring Promo – Scratch & Win”
Hays Travel – ” Holiday Outside the Box”
The Great Run Company – ” We Are the Great North Run”
Sunderland AFC – “Til The End”
Go North East – ” Inner Qualities”

Judging Panel: 

Chris Coulson, Marketing Director, Fairstone
Chris Burn, Global Marketing Director, Enerpac
Kieron Goldsborough, CEO, Different Narrative

Brand Creation of the Year

Finalists:
Curate – A3M
Mondays.Design – Jo Milne
Curate – Motcombs
The Inn Collection Group – The Inn Collection Group
Gardiner Richardson – The Grainger Market, Newcastle
Curate – Pink Lane Coffee Collective
Gardiner Richardson – North East Museums

Judging Panel: 
Amanda Baxter, Marketing Manager, Advantex
Chris McShane, Marketing Director, Printed.com
Dan Appleby, Managing Director, Drummond Central

Agency of the Year (Under 20 employees)

Finalists:
The Petite Agency
Blue Moon Marketing
Curate
MIRA Media Group
The Unknown Creative
Be Found Be Chosen
McBryde & Co

Judging Panel:
Sarah McCourt, Head of Communications and Customer Information, Nexus
Tracy Welford, Head of Marketing, Mandata
Adrian Ord, Sales & Key Accounts Manager, Northern Print Solutions

Agency of the Year (Over 20 employees)

Finalists:
Ramarketing
O Agency
Bonded Agency

Judging Panel: 
Paul Lucherini, CCO, Everflow
Adam Carmichael, Product & Marketing Sales, Erwin Hymer
Dan Pinchard, Commercial Director, Penguin

 

In-House Marketing Team of the Year (1-6 Members)

Finalists:
Square One Law
Cairn Hotel Group
Sintons
The Rudd Group
Go North East
TT2
Gentoo
West Nautical

Judging Panel:
Neil Whittaker, Sales & Marketing Director, Mediaworks
Rebecca Wilson, VP Communications, Venator
Steve Underwood, MD, Bonded

In-House Marketing Team of the Year (7+ Members)

Finalists:
Newcastle NE1
Printed.com
Womble Bond Dickinson
IAM Property
University of Sunderland
Danesmoor Group
Inflo
The Great Run Company

Judging Panel:
Cat Bramwell, Senior Consultant, Nigel Wright Group
Jayne Andrews, Fractional CMO
Sasha O’Neill, Head of Marketing, Edwin Group

Best Use of Social Media

Finalists:
Gardiner Richardson
The Social Co
University of Sunderland
Newcastle NE1
Northumbria University
The Great Run Company
Printed.com
Go North East

Judging Panel:
Louise Harris, Head of Marketing, The Inn Collection Group
Nicola Irving, Head of Stratefic Marketing and Communication, Openworks Engineering
Paul Cairney, Head of Performance Marketing, Sage

Campaign of the Year (Agency) - Budget under £50K

Finalists:
The Unknown Creative – Saks Hair & Beauty 50th Anniversary Campaign
Gardiner Richardson – You’ve got this, We’ve got you
OH SIX Agency – END. x Lacoste – Arcade (END 20)
Curate – TGI Fridays Kids Relaunch
Bonded Agency x O Agency x NE1 – Connecting the Community Through Creative Campaigns

Judging Panel: 

Bryony Vaughan, Sales and Marketing Director, Tharsus
Jess Sinton, Principal Consultant – Marketing, Nigel Wright Group
Laura Sharp, Head of Marketing – Go North East

Campaign of the Year (Agency) - Budget over £50K

Finalists:

O Agency – ” We Did That” – Darlington Building Society
Be Found Be Chosen – “Paid Media driving Prominence & Performance”
Bonded x Barker and Stonehouse – “Reinventing Retail Marketing Through Smarter Strategy”
Bonded x The Arch Company – ” From Arches to Algorithms: A Digital Blueprint for Success”

Judging Panel:
Zoe Watson, Marketing Director, Tritility
David McNiven, Head of Marketing, Hays Travel
Helena Barras, Group Marketing Manager, Pearson Engineering

Not for Profit Campaign of the Year

Finalists:
McBryde & Co x North East and North Cumbria Integrated Care Board (NENC ICB) – “Trusted Voices”
Destination North East England x Sony Pictures Entertainment x Visit Britain – “#VisitIfYouDare – A collaborative tourism campaign centred around 28 Years Later”
Kynren (11Arches) – ” Kynren – An Epic Tale of England 2025″
University of Sunderland – ” We Make it Happen”
Northumbria University – “Unlock Your Potential”
Sunderland City Council – “An unforgettable summer of rugby in Sunderland”
Northumberland County Council – “Super Spuds: Tackling Anti-social Behaviour in our Communities”
Durham Cathedral – ” Magna Carta and the North”

Judging Panel: 

Ben Whitfield, Marketing Director, Newcastle NE1
Lisa Graveling, Director of Marketing & Comms, Gentoo
Emma Clark, Brand Leader, Ex-Opencast

Product Launch of the Year

Finalists:
Shoptimised – “Shoptimised 3.0”
PWS – “Mornington Oak”

Judging Panel: 
Adam Carmichael, Product & Marketing Sales Director, Erwin Hymer
Joanne Mailen, EMEA Product Lead, Wilsonart
Dan Pinchard, Commercial Director, Penguin