Judges

Gary Sharpen

Started at Ogilvy & Mather, Integrated Creative Director at Saatchi & Saatchi for ten years, founded Leonardo with Leo Burnett and Sharpen Troughton Owens for WPP. 2008 saw him become the first Executive Creative Director of WDMP. He has worked on pretty much every kind of account and won most of the advertising industry’s major creative awards. He also works extensively to promote young talent within the industry. This has included working closely with colleges, writing for the press and five years as a mentor in the NABS Fast Forward programme. Gary founded The Shelf in 2001.

Colin Nimick

Went to fourteen schools in various parts of Ireland and Germany and the UK. He studied English at London University then advertising Copywriting at Hounslow College. In 1987 he started his first job at Ogilvy and Mather where he remained for five years working on many accounts. In 1992 he moved to Singapore where he worked at BBDO before returning to London to work at OgilvyOne worldwide. Over the past eleven years at the agency he has been Creative Director, and has won awards on American Express, Cancer Research UK and IBM. He is now Executive Creative Director of OgilvyOne London.

David Brady

Has worked in London for over 15 years. He started at Saatchi & Saatchi, and was responsible for setting up the design studio for the integrated department. He left in 2000 to work with Gary Sharpen at Leonardo as Head of Design.He was part of the team that helped Leonardo become recognised as the Fastest Growing Small Direct Agency of 2002 and short-listed for Agency of the Year 2003. David has also worked at Joshua, Sharpen Troughton Owens Response and is currently Head of Design at TEQUILA/ London. His work for the above, has won him most of the advertising industry’s major creative awards, including D&AD, Campaign Poster, Creative Circle, DMA and Cannes.

Steve Stretton

27 years total in the business. 3 in the studio. 3 in Sales Promotion. 3 above the line. 6 in direct marketing. 10 years doing the whole lot in an agency with Messrs. Archibald and Ingall. 12 years working with Matthew Morley-Brown. 2 years working in the States and New Zealand. (I know that doesn’t all add up).
He’s won hundreds of awards. Some for advertising, some for football. He has 2 children, a 34” waist. 453,000 grey hairs. Size 9 feet. And still, 1 big heap of enthusiasm for this business.

Ian Haworth

At school I played rugby and did art and very little else. I'm sure I got hired because of my rugby skills. Then I learnt a bit about advertising. Various agencies and a few awards along the way. Nice. Think we're very lucky to be paid to do such a great job! Think up stuff all day. Marvellous. Still love "it" after doing "it" for far too long to remember.

John Townshend

After 3 years ‘reading’ History and Politics at London’s Royal Holloway College, Townshend became a trainee account executive at DMB&B (now merged into Leo Burnett). He moved to Ogilvy Advertising where he took their Copy Test, did a D&AD student course and eventually got a job as a copywriter. He is Creative Partner at Rapier Campaign’s Agency of the Year for 2 years running, and runner up this year. One of the leading proponents of integration, Townshend has had work recognised in all media from online to TV and all stops in-between. He was responsible for the Virgin Media work with Uma Thurman, and the new Samuel Jackson campaign. He lives in Hampstead. And likes drumming.

Diana Janicki

‘Have folio, will travel’, has been Diana’s motto. As a result, she’s enjoyed a career that’s spanned Australia, North America, Scandinavia and now London, where she’s been a digital specialist since 1998. She’s driven by a passion to collaborate with new talent, on great ideas, fuelled by a need to question just about everything. This formula has won her numerous awards and has served her well at pureplay and integrated agencies alike, including BBDO, Modem Media, LBI, Joshua, DLKW and Agency.com. Just some of her clients include Dulux, Orange, The Guardian, GE, Philips, BAA Heathrow, D&A, BA and IKEA.

Seb Royce

Started his advertising career at Ogilvy as a copywriter where he worked across a range of accounts such as Ford, Lucozade, the Samaritans and the Observer newspaper. In 1999, shocked by a news report featuring a class of seven year olds showing Prince Charles their homemade websites, he jumped at the chance to learn more about the internet, and joined a then very small digital advertising agency called glue. Six challenging years and a whole host of awards later Seb has achieved just that, with a tally including 15 Cannes Lions, six One Show Pencils, nine Eurobest and numerous Campaign Digital Awards in his time as creative director.

Jeremy Baron

After attending 3 art colleges, he started his career as a runner in a recruitment agency back in 1989. Through this introduction to agency life he went on to become a junior art director at a small SP agency - Noble Bourne & Lyme, followed by stints at LGM and Tequila before landing the role of creative director at Brewer Blackler. After 5 years he moved to The Marketing Store Worldwide. He was then invited to join BD Network in 2000, helping them develop into a world-class, award winning independent agency. He is now a Board Director.

Martin Steel

Martin has worked as a designer and art director for over 22 years, and is just as passionate about ideas and good creativity now as he was back in 1987. After proving himself across a wide range of disciplines, Martin progressed through a number of top UK integrated agencies, picking up the occasional award along the way, before he moved to Haygarth. In 2005 Martin was named Creative Director and made a Board Director. Today he would be the first to admit that he is only as good as the people who work with him, and over the years he has built Haygarth's continued success around a hand-picked integrated creative department. This shows in the agency's numerous award wins for various campaigns, including inspirational work for Nokia and Gillette.

Cordell Burke

Cordell‘s creative consultancy, CORDSCOM works directly with clients and agencies to help them explore and manage their business challenges and opportunities. Former Executive Creative Director of TEQUILA\ London, Cordell also previously worked at OgilvyOne for 12 and a half years where he became a Management Partner, Executive Creative Director and Group Creative Partner, Ogilvy Group UK. As Creative Director/Art Director, he’s won many awards at Cannes, DMA, Campaign, Creative Circle and DMA Echos and has been a regular judge at these events including being the Chairman of the Campaign Direct Awards in 2006.

Emma Perkins

Born and bred in West London, she once took the wrong train and ended up in the West Country where she studied Graphic Design at Falmouth School of Art. At 19 she was offered her first job at EHS while on work placement. She has been terrorising the West End ever since at agencies including Tequila, Bates141 and CDP. Emma has been working at Saatchi & Saatchi X for the last four years. After a year she became a Creative Director for Pampers Western Europe and six months later of the whole creative department.

Mark Begley

Mark has worked as a creative recruiter for over 12 years, specialising in digital creative recruitment since 1999. Over the years Mark has developed excellent relationships with many of London's leading agencies - digital, design, branding, integrated and ATL. He has an in-depth understanding of the digital communications and the creative industry as a whole which places him in the perfect position to understand and consult both candidates and clients.