Ethical, transparent and respected, the awards are judged by esteemed industry experts who follow a robust two-step judging process that includes pre-scoring to establish a shortlist and judge discussion to determine winners and, in some cases, silver awards.
None of our award judges can take part in the competition, and any conflicts of interest must be declared.
The European Agency Awards have been accredited ‘Outstanding’ by the Independent Awards Standards Council – Awards Trust Mark.
To apply to become a judge, fill out the form at the bottom of this page.
Alan Pilkington | Agency Partnerships Manager | Athos Commerce
Alan Pilkington is an accomplished digital strategist and eCommerce specialist with extensive experience helping businesses unlock their online potential. As the CEO of The Digital Facilitators, he bridges the gap between brands and the technology, agencies, and solutions they need to succeed in today’s competitive landscape. In addition to leading digital transformation initiatives, Alan’s passion for new business development and process optimization has enabled him to support a wide range of global eCommerce ventures. His keen insight into emerging trends, combined with a commitment to delivering tangible results, makes him a valued judge for digital awards that celebrate innovation and excellence in the online space.
Steve Sowden | Founder | The NEDs
Over a 25 year career in brand, advertising and media, Steve hasn’t just worked in agencies — he’s built them. He co-led the 2011 management buyout of the multi-award winning IMA and as Joint CEO scaled it into a global, 500-strong agency generating over £5m in profit…leading acquisitions and growth strategy before successfully exiting to international buyers in 2017. Today he has several board and advisory roles, investing in ambitious businesses and co-founding The NEDs — advising creative agency founders on growth, value creation and how to engineer the right exit, not just hope for one.
Andy Clear | Web Experience & SEO Intelligence | Comparethemarket
Andy, an ambitious and seasoned Marketing leader, boasts over 12 years of international SEO experience across diverse industries, including Finance, Automotive, FMCG, eCommerce, and Travel. His expertise spans both agency and in-house roles, providing a holistic view of the digital landscape. With a track record of success, Andy has led marketing teams for over 8 years, nurturing talent from emerging marketers to seasoned professionals. His coaching and mentoring have empowered individuals to thrive in their careers. Notably, Andy has crafted and executed strategic SEO initiatives within complex organisations, resulting in tangible commercial gains. His ability to navigate operational changes while driving SEO excellence sets him apart. Recognised for his contributions, Andy has earned accolades at both the UK and Global search awards, cementing his position as a trailblazer in the field.
Trenton Moss | Founder | Team Sterka
Trenton Moss built one of the UK’s first UX agencies from scratch, scaled it to £3m, sold it and lived to tell the tale. Then he wrote a bestselling book and started helping agency teams be brilliant with clients. Now at Team Sterka, he helps agency teams lead with more impact - strengthening client relationships, handling tough conversations and growing revenue up to 35%. In 2023, he took his kids backpacking across Asia and Africa for six months. He survived hunting in Tanzania, paint fights in India and leech attacks in Borneo.Trenton Moss built one of the UK’s first UX agencies from scratch, scaled it to £3m, sold it and lived to tell the tale. Then he wrote a bestselling book and started helping agency teams be brilliant with clients. Now at Team Sterka, he helps agency teams lead with more impact - strengthening client relationships, handling tough conversations and growing revenue up to 35%. In 2023, he took his kids backpacking across Asia and Africa for six months. He survived hunting in Tanzania, paint fights in India and leech attacks in Borneo.
Andor Palau | International SEO Consultant |
Andor Palau is an International SEO & AI Search Consultant and Ambassador for Majestic & Oncrawl based in Berlin, Germany. He started his online career in 2009. Having worked both in-house and on the agency side, he now advises SaaS companies, online shops, classifiers, marketplaces, and other businesses on international organic growth strategies for Google and AI-driven systems, as well as on technical SEO challenges, as an independent consultant. He is the former Head of SEO at Peak Ace, where he was responsible for SEO strategy and led a team of more than 20 SEO consultants and editors. Before moving to the agency side, Andor worked as an in-house SEO for a top-three comparison portal in highly competitive verticals such as insurance, energy, and telecommunications. His core expertise is strategic and technical SEO, including crawlability, indexing management, site migrations, and site structure optimization.
Dan Conboy | Founder | Chapter North
Dan is the founder of Chapter North, an innovation business which focuses on building and advising digital and eCommerce ventures. He has spent 25 years starting, scaling and exiting his own businesses - a 7 figure eCommerce business (sold to a UK PLC) and, more recently, one of Europe's first Shopify Plus agencies (Statement) which was acquired by IDHL (a private equity backed agency group). He is now building his next digital & eCommerce ventures. Alongside this he also works with other founders & leaders as a Strategic Advisor, helping them to make better decisions that drive long term growth.
Janna Pugh | SEO Specialist | Five9
Janna Pugh is a SEO Specialist with a history of agency and in-house work. She has recently been nationally recognized as the Industry Rising Star in Conductor's 2022 C2 Summit and regularly speaks with college classes about the essentials of organic marketing. With her passion for SEO, she knows firsthand how to make the smallest and largest websites succeed organically. Her areas of focus specialize in enterprise SEO, with scalability and automation for both small and large SEO teams. Her varied approach to SEO combines on-site content with off-site brand management. In her free time, she loves trying out new recipes and reading mystery novels.
Janine Jacobs | Co-Founder | HappyHQ
Janine Jacobs is the co-founder of HappyHQ, where she helps companies turn good culture intentions into confident teams and clear ways of working. With over 15 years leading high-performing teams, she’s held director-level communications roles in international agencies, partnering with global brands including LinkedIn, Hilton, and PepsiCo. Through that experience, she saw first-hand how culture isn’t built through values on a wall, but through everyday leadership behaviour, communication, and accountability. She now specialises in culture strategy, values in practice, and leadership communication, helping companies grow sustainably from the inside out. Janine is known for her fun, creative, down-to-earth style, with an ability to create the kind of environment where honest conversations happen. Forget corporate jargon, her work is practical, reflective, and grounded in the realities leaders face. She regularly speaks on resilience, performance, and the future of work, and her work has been featured in Courier Media, Stylist, Glamour, and Start-Ups Magazine.
Karol Soja | SEO consultant |
Karol Soja is an experienced SEO consultant and freelancer with over 12 years of experience. Throughout his career, he has gained a comprehensive understanding of SEO from various perspectives, having worked in startup, SEO agency, in-house teams, and as a Head of SEO in an agency working with the largest Polish brands. After a decade, he made the decision to venture out as an independent consultant and freelancer. His areas of specialization include e-commerce, where he excels in traffic scaling and international expansion. Additionally, Karol also works with publishers, acquiring traffic from Google News and Google Discover. Privately, Karol is an advocate for remote work, allowing him to combine his interests with travels to different parts of the world. He is also an active athlete, regularly participating in long-distance running and triathlons. As a judge for the European Search Awards, Karol brings a wealth of knowledge, a passion for SEO, and a commitment to recognizing excellence within the industry.
Stephen Kenwright | Consultant, non-executive director and new business trainer | Stephen Kenwright Ltd
Stephen is a consultant, non-executive director and new business trainer, helping marketing agency founders and teams to grow by becoming more commercial and more strategic.He founded SEARCH-FIRST creative agency Rise at Seven in 2019, growing annual revenues to more than £7m; hiring 110 staff; opening offices in Sheffield, Manchester, London and New York; and winning more than 70 industry awards - about one every two weeks - before exiting after three years.Stephen held board positions at digital marketing agency Branded3, which he helped to merge into consultancy Kin + Carta PLC after its initial acquisition; and content agency Ride Shotgun. He was also Head of Digital at £4.7bn turnover automotive retailer Pendragon PLC and worked as a consultant to Missguided.
Dan Saunders | Head of Performance Marketing | Evergreen Finance London
Unleashing the Power of Data: My 18-Year Journey in Digital For nearly two decades, I've thrived in the dynamic world of digital marketing, fuelled by an unwavering passion for data-driven strategies. My expertise lies in leveraging data insights to unlock new business opportunities and propel success. Data as the Cornerstone: My approach is anchored in a deep understanding of different markets and competitors. This data-centric foundation allows me to identify trends, anticipate challenges, and establish a competitive edge. I actively collaborate with directors and heads of service, translating business goals into actionable plans informed by data-driven insights. Beyond the Numbers: Strategic Execution My passion extends beyond data analysis. I'm a catalyst for change. I meticulously plan and execute UK market E-commerce and digital marketing campaigns, managing substantial budgets across various groups. My data-driven strategies have consistently driven sales growth, expanded online channels, and fostered a loyal customer base. Leading with Data-Fueled Inspiration: As an international keynote speaker, I ignite the minds of teams, inspiring them to embrace data-driven approaches. I lead large teams of specialists, fostering collaboration and innovation to deliver exceptional digital products and services. My commitment to knowledge transfer extends to mentoring executives and C-suite leaders, ensuring all levels are empowered by data insights. A Holistic View: Customer Journey & Beyond My data obsession doesn't stop at market analysis. I utilize analytics and insight tools to meticulously evaluate the end-to-end customer experience across all touchpoints. Leveraging this data, I work seamlessly with trade marketing teams to optimize product categories and recommend strategic product mixes. Furthermore, I actively contribute to SEO, PPC, UX, and CRO strategies, ensuring our digital presence is data-optimized for maximum impact. Building Teams & Sharing Knowledge: Beyond strategy, I'm passionate about building and leading high-performing, diverse teams. Through data analysis, I identify the required digital capabilities – the right people, processes, and technology – to fuel digital transformation. As a visible leader, I bridge the knowledge gap by holding regular lectures and Q&A sessions for all levels, from aspiring executives to C-suite teams. Data is the lifeblood of my digital journey. By translating insights into actionable strategies, I empower businesses to achieve remarkable results.
Davina Lines | Managing Director | Ecommerce Club
Davina Lines is Managing Director of Mixing Digital and the Ecommerce Club. She brings a wealth of knowledge and a big black book of digital contacts to ensure Mixing Digital’s event management services are of the highest standard. Davina co-founded Netimperative in 1999 and became Managing Director in 2002, stewarding the brand into new product launches and creating one of the most successful events programmes in the digital marketing industry. In the mid 90s Davina cut her digital teeth on New Media Age (now Econsultancy), forming part of the founding team and was responsible for the commercial development of the magazine and its early events from launch in May 1995 to 1999. In recent years Davina launched an ecommerce peer-to-peer community, the Ecommerce Club, which runs regular events in London and Manchester on topics relevant to the retail community.
Stephen Waddington | Director | Wadds Inc
Stephen Waddington is the founder and managing partner of Wadds Inc, a professional advisory firm for agencies and communications teams, and a co-founder of Socially Mobile Community Interest Company. He is pursuing a PhD at Leeds Business School, underscoring his commitment to advancing the industry's understanding of public relations through academic research. Waddington originally trained as an engineer. His interest in technology and its communicative aspects led him to a career in public relations. He has worked for The Economist, HM Government, Intel, Microsoft, The Press Association, NHS, Tesco and Virgin Media Business clients. He has written and edited ten books, including Brand Anarchy, Exploring Public Relations and Management Communication and Share This, and served as President of the CIPR.
Michael Emiliani | VP of Marketing | Freight Right Global Logistics
Mike is a seasoned digital marketing expert with a decade of experience in PPC and digital media. His passion lies in developing and growing businesses through comprehensive, integrated digital media campaigns. His ability to draw on knowledge and experiences from a wide range of challenges from his time in-house, agency-side and as a consultant has given him a unique depth and breadth to solving complex problems in PPC and broadly digital marketing. Mike has shared insights as a contributing writer and speaker at events. His extensive knowledge has also earned her the distinction of being a featured subject matter expert at Endicott College in Massachusetts, a contributor to industry blogs and recipient of the 2018 Interactive Marketing Award.
Jamie Allan | Exiting Agency Owner, NED, Advisor & Investor & Founder | The NEDs
A business growth specialist turned advisor and investor, with expertise in building and scaling profitable, diverse businesses across international markets. Experienced in M&A transactions ranging from SMEs to multinational organisations, on both the buying and selling side. Passionate about creating environments where work is challenging, creative, and most importantly, fun.
Coris Leachman | Agency Growth Consultant |
Coris is a senior growth leader with over 20 years’ experience across creative, social, digital and customer-experience work. He has worked with global brands and public sector organisations, supporting multidisciplinary teams to deliver effective, audience-led marketing and digital programmes, balancing creative ambition with commercial and operational realities. Alongside his agency work, he maintains a strong interest in emerging culture and audience behaviour and has helped set up Attention Culture, exploring how brands can engage younger audiences in more authentic, responsible and culturally relevant ways.
Jonathan Smith | Managing Partner | Draft Partners
Jonathan has worked, owned and advised agencies for 25 years. He founded the agency Catch in 2007 as an early pioneer in digital product strategy, design and development. The agency worked with global clients including Yotel, Sharp, WWF & Worldpay, with a focus on CX and technology. Jonathan led the growth of the agency across international offices for 15 years before a successful private equity backed exit in 2022 to Sideshow Group (now GAIN), fulfilling a key personal and professional goal. In 2023 he founded Draft Partners, a new breed of M&A advisory focussed on helping agency Founders achieve a successful exit, with an expert team across exit strategy, legal, accountancy and dealmaking.
Mat Bennett | Agency Advisor, Mentor and Non-exec |
Mat Bennett is an advisor to founder-led agency businesses across the UK and Europe. He works closely with agency owners on the harder, less visible parts of leadership: decision-making, focus, commercial discipline, and building organisations that are sustainable as well as successful. Mat previously ran and led his own agency business for over 25 years before selling. His advisory work is shaped as much by that experience as by the lessons learned along the way; — good and bad — from building, growing, and eventually stepping away. Today, his focus is on helping agency founders make better decisions earlier, with a more balanced and intentional relationship to their business. - www.matbennett.com --
Neil Hardy | Chief Commercial Officer | Digitaltravel.io | Linked In
Neil has been involved in the digital industry since 1994 when he launched his first website for travel brand Page & Moy. He has worked for several blue-chip companies including TUI, The Co-op, Icelolly, Midcounties Co-op and more recently Shearing’s Holidays. With a strong commercial background, digital results and ROI are key focus points in any award judging. Follow Neil on Twitter @hardyneil
Veronika Höller | Head of Demand Generation | Tresorit | Linked In
Veronika is a Global Senior SEO-Manager and has worked in SEO and PPC marketing for over 14 years. She started as a copywriter and PPC Manager in a little Ads Agency. She has continuously developed herself further into the direction of SEO. Over the years, she has worked as a digital marketing manager in agencies and international companies, including CompuGroup where she is now. International SEO and PPC Strategies are Top of her priority list. She views SEO as a whole puzzle and not just individual sub-areas, hence why she trained herself in all areas – content, technology, PPC, SMM and UX. Today she spreads her knowledge as a speaker on the stages of international digital marketing conferences such as BrightonSEO, SMX advanced, International Search Summit etc. For her all digital marketing channels have to be united to get the best of your website.
Lukas Adamec | Performance Marketing Manager | DACH at Zendesk
Lukas Adamec has been working within Paid Digital for 11+ years, during which he transitioned from an employee to a freelancer & CEO of Abadam Marketing. In the last 5 years Lukas has focused on Consultancy - working with established agencies to deliver client growth. His focus is particularly on international paid opportunities, from Google to Yandex, from Naver to Baidu, from Yahoo JP to Seznam. Lukas is a firm believer in knowledge sharing and enjoys discussing experiences with established online marketers as well as providing training to new colleagues. During his time off, Lukas recharges his energy by being disconnected from online influences and instead spends his time on wildlife photography.
Richard Gregory | Founder | Agency NXD
Richard is co-founder of AgencyNXD as well as an advisor and NXD to multiple tech firms and agencies, including Adzooma, Fluid Digitial and Ruler Analytics. Heralding from “Silicon Ramsbottom” he is an ardent supporter of the digital and tech industry in the North of England. Previously, Richard was the managing director of digital agency Latitude, director of Tech North and co-founder of SAScon.
With an unusual path, my career in digital marketing began in 2018, 2 years after completing my Degree in Philosophy. After a course in digital marketing with an internship, I ended up working at the agency where I interned. With 5 years of experience and dozens of clients, I worked as a PPC manager and content manager. 3 years on I decided to focus exclusively on paid campaigns. Throughout this time I developed experience in lead gen in the B2B market and later in brand development, traffic increase, and purchase generation in the B2C market. I am currently responsible for the PPC department at MintySquare, where I develop marketing strategies for several fashion brands and campaigns that aim to increase brand awareness and generate purchases.
Steve Kuncewicz | Partner and Head Of Creative, Digital & Marketing | Glaisyers ETL
Steve is a Partner and Head of Creative, Digital and Marketing at Glaisyers ETL in Manchester. He specialises in intellectual property, media social media and privacy law and is listed as a "recommended lawyer" in the Legal 500, and was a co-founder pf the Bulletproof Agency Network. He is a regular media spokesperson, and has given interviews to the local and national press through BBC Breakfast, Sky News, ITV, BBC Radio 2, BBC Radio 4, BBC Radio 5 Live and LBC London. Steve is also the Manchester Publicity Association’s Honorary Solicitor.
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"I’ve always said that a happy designer is a creative designer, and this place has been a continuous source of inspiration and happiness for me. Knowing that we’ve been selected as a Finalist? It’s just the cherry on top!"Niall Donnelly, Graphic Designer Creative Media
"To be nominated for such a prestigious award at an international level is a major milestone for us. It means so much to the team to be recognised for their work and creative thinking. I’m extremely proud to work with such brilliant people and to have the opportunity to demonstrate their expertise with amazing clients like PLG." Hewitt Matthews
"As the Operations Director of Reboot Online, I am immensely proud of the strides we’ve made in redefining traditional work structures and I am thrilled to hear that we’ve been nominated for the Best Flexible Working Policy at the European Agency Awards! It’s a testament to the collective effort of our HR and Senior leadership teams who work to create an environment where every Reboot-ian can thrive and contribute their best. I also want to highlight the unwavering dedication of our CEOs Shai & Naomi Aharony as they continue to foster a workplace that places Reboot employees well-being and growth at the forefront of everything we do."Zoe Blogg, Operations Director Reboot
"We are so proud to have won the European Agency Awards for ‘Best Small Agency of the Year’! It is a great privilege to be recognised amongst so many diverse and creative agencies from across Europe." Principal. Global Events
"Submitting an entry is more than an attempt to win an award – it’s a moment of reflection. You look back, see how far you’ve come, and realise: a lot has happened. That alone is already a win. This international recognition shows that we’re on the right path – one that creates real impact, both inside our company and out in the market. Great e-commerce solutions need strong teams, clear direction, and true collaboration." MSTAGE
"Entering the European Agency Awards was an inspiring experience. The process encouraged us to reflect on what truly made “Never Alone!” special. Not just the results, but the responsibility it carried."Lauris Spillers Alpha
