The UK App Awards have been judged by industry leaders and experts.
Current Judges
Previous Judges include:
Head judges
Karen Carter | Managing Director | KAOS Marketing Ltd.
Karen is a seasoned marketing veteran with over 25 years of experience working in all facets of the discipline. Starting on the agency side she spent her early career as a Client Service Director to many large high-tech firms. Moving client side, she spent over 14 years at Microsoft in varying roles in both B2B and B2C, creating strategies to help extend the brand and drive demand, first at the corporate headquarters, then in the Western Europe field headquarters. After leaving Microsoft in 2014, Karen set up her own consultancy to help small and mid-size businesses to understand the value of a strong marketing strategy and help them navigate the ever-changing media and advertising landscape. After spending a year as Global VP of Marketing and Sales at start-up venture Adepto, a SaaS platform for the gig economy, she then moved on to become Managing Director at design agency, Article Ten. Taking this varied set of experiences, she is now the acting CEO/CMO of HR tech start-up GoHire which is reinventing hiring for small businesses. In her spare time, she works with a variety of industry organisations as a mentor and speaker while also giving her time to helping with communications and marketing. These include the IAA, Bloom and the Conscious Ad Network.Judges
Chris Allwood | Head of Digital Product Design | Bloom and Wild
I'm Head of Digital Product Design at Bloom and Wild. Over the last 8 years, I have worked with the likes of Treatwell, Lyst, BBC, Boots, Sunspel, Clarks Shoes, John Smedley, and Speedo. I'm happiest where Product, Brand and eCommerce intersect — thinking about how a brands promise is expressed across digital products and touchpoints.
Liam Bateman | Chief Technology Officer | Silverchip
CTO And software developer, Liam has over 15years experience in the digital industry, working with some of the uk’s leading companies and brands. In 2010, with his friend and business partner, he co-founded Silverchip, an award winning digital agency in the heart of Manchester City centre, boasting an impressive client list and being renowned for its bespoke software development. Liam is extremely passionate about the importance of developing a ‘real-world curriculum’ within schools and colleges, working alongside students and young people to provide opportunities and routes into the sector.
Matthew Billington | Co-Founder | Society
CEO, Co-Founder and newly qualified dentist, Matthew is a young and passionate entrepreneur. In 2020, Matthew with his Co-Founder, launched his own community app ‘Society’, which has now revolutionised the way students across the world engage with their clubs. In only 12 months, Society has seen exponential virally growth into over 130 universities and well over 1000 clubs and societies. Matthew has a passion for changing the norm and breaking trends, this ambition has lead to great success at such a young age.
Carlotta Bonafini | Vodafone | SEO Lead
Carlotta is leading the SEO team at Vodafone UK, where she is overseeing the development of their new digital strategy. She started her professional career in the marketing field working for Expedia in the search department. She directed many regional projects before moving into a global position where her initiatives created outstanding results whilst pioneering new processes. She supervised both creative campaigns and technical projects, and launched many impactful ideas. Carlotta graduated from London Metropolitan University and Milan Catholic University and has been living in London for over 9 years. Passionate about high-tech, she is working on improving her coding skills and is always eager to expand her technical knowledge.
Rafael Brandao | Director, Product Experience LATAM | HBOMax
Experience Design Manager passionate about Arts and Technology. For more than 15 years I’ve been working in several Advertising Agencies and Design Offices as an Interactive Art Director and UI/UX Strategist. Today, I’m the Head of Experience Design and User Studies at Telecine, a joint venture between Grupo Globo and the major Hollywood Studios. In 2012 I also concluded my Master’s degree in Design at ESDI/UERJ (Brazil) and IADE Creative University (Portugal). Alongside my current role at Telecine I’m an UX Design professor at Miami Ad School Brasil, the best creative school worldwide (Cannes 2019), a Mentor at Designed.org and AbeLLha and Vice President of the UX Committee of IAB – Interactive Advertising Bureau.
Martin Bryant | Media and Tech Consultant
Martin Bryant is a consultant, speaker, writer, and educator in the fields of technology and media. He works to help technology companies craft a narrative around their products and business. He was previously Editor-in-Chief of international technology publication The Next Web, and Community Editor at Tech North, where he shone a light on the stories of startups and entrepreneurs in the North of England.
Natalie Carroll | App Marketing Manager | Staysure
Natalie has worked on App marketing strategies across a range of apps including Bounty pregnancy & baby app, Addison Lee and Uswitch. Most recently Natalie is working on the launch of a insure tech app which is set to disrupt the insurance market. This involves market research, user testing and developing a brand from scratch. Natalie is experienced in app acquisition, attribution and retention and enjoys working with UX/Product to improve the app experience and offering via testing and analysis of data.
Liam Charnock | Product Designer (Apps) | The Very Group
Liam is a user experience and digital product designer specialising in app development. He has nine years experience working in technology roles for a number of start ups before joining The Very Group, the UK’s largest pure play retailer responsible for brands like Littlewoods & Very. Liam plays a lead role in the design thinking and strategic discovery for the company’s app portfolio as they continue to innovate and grow the app experience with the goal of it becoming the channel of choice for their customers. Liam’s work has been featured at The Retail Week Awards and is noted for his innovation work with global tech charity, Hacking Health.
Philip Crotheres | Head of SEO & Content | Starcom Performics
Phil is Head of SEO & Performance Content at Starcom Performics, part of the Publicis Media Groupe, leading a global team who work with brands such as Samsung, Proctor & Gamble, and Domino's. Having 10+ years’ experience in content, SEO, and web design, his primary focus is helping organisations understand how consumer insights can inform their content decisions and how that content can be accountable to brand spend.
Andrew Diggle | Head of Digital Content | Formula 1
Andrew is a deeply experienced global media leader, expert in directing large-scale sports and entertainment digital platforms, international fan engagement and commercialisation. Currently he oversees global digital content for Formula 1, one of the fastest growing sports across digital platforms in the world. Previously Andrew oversaw Content, Programming and Production at Manchester United, and directed all of its media platforms through unprecedented digital transformation, growth and extension in a ground-breaking commercial and digital environment. Prior to Sport, Andrew was central in B2B and B2C start-ups in funding and innovation support, and digital publishing in the scientific, medical and reference areas.
Roisin Donnelly | Non Executive Director | Homeserve
Roisin Donnelly was Former CMO for Procter & Gamble Northern Europe, leading six countries and 72 leading brands with a turnover of £5 billion and a marketing budget of £0.5 billion. Roisin is an experienced digital and e-commerce leader. Roisin is currently a Non Executive Director of Homeserve and Checkatrade and a former Non Executive Director of Just Eat plc, Holland & Barrett and Bourne Leisure. She is on the Digital Advisory Board for Coca Cola Europacific Partners. She is on the board of IAB UK (Interactive Advertising Bureau) advising the digital industry.
Amanda Farley | VP of Growth | Aimclear
Amanda Farley is a marketer, performance strategist, and business success leader. She is VP of Growth at Aimclear®, a highly decorated, integrated marketing agency dominant in customer acquisition and winner of 17 US Search Awards including 5X most recent Best Integrated Agency. Aimclear's differentiator is the balance of holistic brand-builds, PR, data, and integrated performance marketing. Amanda’s experience includes 11+ years as Managing Partner running a 20-person integrated team which achieved national recognition. Her B2B and B2C marketing leadership experience runs deep in healthcare, professional services, ecommerce, and global IoT (smart homes, smart cities, smart cars, etc.). Her expertise extends international agriculture, food conglomerates, influencer driven ecommerce sales, automotive aftermarket diagnostic tooling and electric vehicle charging systems, finance, major non-profits, and other verticals.
Marcus Hadfield | Chief Strategy Officer | Apadmi
Alex Hamilton | Head of PR and Social | McCANN
Alex has been working in the Northern marketing world for nearly 10 years within agencies and media analytics businesses in Manchester. Most recently Alex joined the senior management team of integrated agency McCann Leeds as Head of PR & Social, working across a number of well-known B2B and B2C brands.
Gareth Healey | Agency Coach and Mentor | Beyond Noise | @
Gareth is the founder of Beyond Noise, a strategy consultancy that works exclusively with established independent marketing agencies. He has spent most of his 25 year career in the agency sector and for 15 years was CEO and co-owner of CreativeRace. Gareth now uses his experience to help agencies grow, and agency owners to unlock their potential.
Steve Hilton | CEO | Liberty Apps
Founder of an agency started in 2008 to produce life changing smart phone applications. We've grown organically to create apps for big names including Warburtons, Microsoft & IBM. Recently spoke at TedX and International Business Festival Invited by the British Computer Society to deliver talks around the UK Presented technology talks at 20+ events regarding Culture, Chatbots & Mobile Apps Recent personal recognition includes: * Winner of the NHS Hackday * Winner of the Homeless Hack * Winner of Hacking the Future of Energy * Most notable app at the Public Health England HackX Lives to improve lives across the globe using smart phone technologies
Ben Hogan | App Consultant
Ben started one of the UK’s first mobile app agencies in 2011 on a BBC TV show and very quickly built an award-winning agencies building apps for Walkers, Slendertone, Nike, Will-iAM and won best fitness app with '30 day fitness’ which to this day is one of the most downloaded fitness apps in the world.
Amelia Johnson | UX Manager | MoneySuperMarket.com
Amelia is UX Manager at MoneySupermarket, one of the top 5 comparison websites in the UK. Day to day she leads UX within the car insurance team, helping households save money on their insurance through iterative design and strategy. Amelia has a degree in graphic design and over 10 years in the industry, she has worked in both agency and in-house roles with brands such as Triumph Motorcycles, Subway, Warner Hotels, Formula E and Booking.com.
Umar Khan | Senior Digital Strategist | Nakheel
Umar is a passionate digital marketer with over 9 years of experience in managing high budget digital marketing campaigns. With experience and expertise on all the verticals of Digital Channels including SEO, Google Ads, Social Media, Content Marketing, Programmatic, Marketing automation, CRO, UX, analytics etc. Umar has worked with top companies in UAE and currently linked with Nakheel as the Senior. Digital Strategist. He also conducts digital marketing corporate workshops & regular classes for well-known educational institutes in Dubai.
Steve Kuncewicz | Partner and Head Of Creative, Digital & Marketing Sector Group | BLM LAW
Steve is a Partner and Head of Creative, Digital and Marketing at BLM Law in Manchester. He specialises in intellectual property, media social media and privacy law and is listed as a "recommended lawyer" in the Legal 500’s 2019 edition, and was a Co-founder if 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 and Co-Chair of Creative ProManchester.
Louisa Laughton-Scott | Interaction Desin Specialist | Treatwell
Louisa Laughton-Scott is an interaction design specialist, focusing on helping companies effectively and efficiently design for their users. She is currently working as a Product Designer for Treatwell, Europe's largest hair and beauty marketplace. While working, she is also studying for her master's degree in Human-Computer Interaction Design. In her spare time she is Global Events Manager for UX For Change, a global initiative dedicated to bringing the UX design community together in order to tackle problems from any non-industry related fields, such as education, charities and the public sector. Follow her on Medium @LLaughtonScott , Instagram @louisatechdesign and Linkedin https://www.linkedin.com/in/llscott/ .
Denise Maskew | Head of Digital Experience | Talk Talk
Dave Murray | Managing Director Europe | rewardStyle
Dave Murray is the Managing Director (Europe) and founding leader of rewardStyle London, who has grown the non-US side of the business from a start-up through to the hyper-growth stage. He has over 12 years’ experience in Digital Marketing, largely focused on fashion and lifestyle, with global experience optimising teams and developing strategies across international markets
Jotham Oakley | Head of Product | Brightec
Graduating from Ravensbourne University with a degree in Graphic Design, Jotham worked in a range of design roles before joining the Brightec team in 2015. Since then he has designed for Android, iOS and Web across multiple sectors (Travel, Retail, Financial Services, Academic and B2B services). Jotham's role has morphed from pure design, to also include product management - where he now gives his creative input at a strategic level to household name brands such as Waterstones and Virgin Red. He is committed to making people’s lives better through his work. Jotham has been on the judging panel for the prestigious UK App Awards since 2018.
Anil Patel | Marketing and eCommerce Director | Mode in Pelle
As Marketing and eCommerce Director Anils takes full ownership of the P&L and lead all Omni Channel including marketing activities across an estate of 50 stores. Anil has an excellent balance of commercial experience and academic knowledge; educated to degree and MBA level. In his previous roles Anil has acquired a broad range of skills, from running my own business to managing budgets in excess of £5m and sales of over £30m. Anil specialises in business turnaround and transformation and have a proven track record of delivering results.
Tiago Perdigao | Director | Fractal Mind
Tiago is an experienced Manager with +25 years of experience in the areas of marketing, sales and retail, having worked in companies such as adidas, Jeronimo Martins, Sonae and FNAC. He has worked for adidas as Portugal Marketing Director and as Director of Brand Activation for the regions of Africa and the Middle East (MENA) where he received many media, activation and retail awards. He also as been part of several jury panels in marketing awards events on the region. A true team player, he has extensive national and international experience in various business areas so he feels at home anywhere on the globe, and in any kind of project. Always pioneering in the use of new technologies to the business world, he took on gamification as his latest challenge in 2017, currently leading Gamification startups in both Portugal and the UK. He achieved is Bachelors in Management in Portugal, followed by an MBA with Marketing focus in the UK. More recently he concluded a Post-Graduation Diploma in Retail Management and another in Arts Markets and Collections. He is also a long time Member of the CIM (MCIM) and (believe it or not!) a Chartered Accountant.
Andrea Pernici | CHIEF TECHNOLOGY OFFICER | 3BMETEO.COM
Chief Technology Officer at 3bmeteo.com, one of the main weather Italian websites, and at Search On Media Group, which organizes the Web Marketing Festival and owns the biggest Italian community on Digital Marketing.
Joel Peters | Head of UX and Content | Travelodge Hotels Ltd
Nishant Ranka | Google
Nishant Ranka is a senior product manager at Google. Nishant specializes in building products that bring together AI and ML based techniques with classic information retrieval & personalization techniques to provide user understanding and control. Over the last 5 years, Nishant has spearheaded large improvements at Google in personalization and information retrieval systems across Google Ads and Google Search, including the launch of Google Events, and Google Discover - a new content curation app used by over 800 Million users across the world. Nishant has been regularly featured for his product work. Nishant holds an MBA with honors from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and bachelors in Electrical Engineering from Indian Institute of Technology Delhi.
Muhammed Salim | Senior Product Designer | Revolut
Muhammed Salim is a Senior Product Designer at Revolut. He is currently leading designs in Cards and Recurring Payments in the retail app. He successfully designed the Subscription payment model. Also he was leading design in retail Payments where he successfully designed the Username payments, the Global payment search and did reshape the user experience in Payments to fit the regulations in Japan, Singapore and USA.
Sara Sanna | Senior Product Designer | Expedia
Sara is a Product design manager currently working at Expedia group. She has 10 years of experience in building digital products for Web and mobile apps. She's passionate about finding that sweet spot that combines customer and business requirements. More recently, she's been involved in empowering and supporting product designers to do their best work.
Ricardo Seixas | Managing Director | One Day Agency | @
Along with his 15+ years of an international career in the digital space spanning 4 continents, Ricardo worked for consumer brands, start-ups, software houses, and digital agencies. Most recently, and after being a lead at Google and restructuring a large media agency digital division collecting multiple awards, he founded a digital marketing agency named One Day Agency. Across his experience, he led innovative digital projects and campaigns for Liverpool ONE, I Saw It First, L’Oreal, Telefonica, Sanofi, Ambev and the world’s top agencies.
Puff Story | Chief Change Maker | 3 Sided Cube
Puff Story is Co-Founder of 3 Sided Cube USA, responsible for the client relationships and impact of projects. Named as one of the top 100 most influential business developers in the UK, Puff is known for her contagious laughter, love of neon colours and an unrelenting passion to help organisations such as The American Red Cross, The World Resources Institute and Save the Children to make a real difference. Puff has vast amounts of practical experience in a variety of industries but has a love for using tech for good in the NGO, charity and third sector.
Will Turner | Co-Founder | GoJoe App Ltd
Will is CEO and co-founder of GoJoe, a tech startup fitness app which is backed by (among others) gold-medal winning Olympians and C-suite executives from major consumer brands. Will’s started out as a lawyer in the City, before moving in-house at Team GB, working with Olympians and global brands such as Coca-Cola, adidas and P&G.
Geraldine Vesey | Director | Vesey Communications
Geraldine Vesey, director of Vesey Communications, is a PR and communications professional with experience of working for Government, public and private sector clients. She spent two decades as a director of multi award winning consultancy, SKV Communications, responsible for the strategic direction and growth of the company, She has a specialism in behaviour change communications and has worked for a range of government departments, most recently the Department for International Trade, Food Standards Agency, Get into Teaching campaign for the Department for Education, Department of Business Innovation and Skills, and Health Education England. Expertise in regional activation of national campaigns has seen Geraldine involved in creating and managing campaigns across sectors straddling industries from finance and fashion to football and food.
Matt Webster | Global Marketing Lead | Spotify
Simon Wharton | Business Strategy Director | PushON
Having led PushON for 12 years, In 2017 Simon transitioned from Managing Director to Business Strategy Director where he could apply his considerable experience in digital transformation to PushONs digital consultancy service. Simon has spent more than two decades operating within the digital sector, initially in a corporate environment, before becoming embroiled in the early days of the Manchester digital community. Alongside his business partner, Roy Wilding, he pivoted PushON out of an incarnation of a previous successful digital business. Steady planned growth has seen the business gain recognition as one of the North West’s leading eCommerce agencies. The business’ expertise in eCommerce development and its particular skill with online marketing has led to a raft of peer reviewed award wins throughout the North West, UK and Europe. Simon also has a reputation for “sticking his oar in” to drive the digital sector forward. He is a council member for Manchester Digital, lectures at local universities and was a founder of SASCon, the infamously expert digital marketing conference. He speaks at events, organises events and largely keeps himself busy both in the sector and in the community. He has four children available to keep him stressed and is the gofer for a local under 10s football team. When he finds the time to go out, you’ll most likely find him seeing a loud band somewhere.
Gerry White | Director Search Engine Optimization (SEO Director) | Rise at Seven | @dergal
Gerry White has been in the industry for 20 years, with a background in development he transitioned to technical marketing leading on SEO, analytics and other digital growth strategies in companies, agencies, the government and corporations such as the BBC. In the past few years Gerry has spoken at conferences around the globe including Paris, Germany, USA and of course the UK. A regular judge for awards such as the UK Search Awards, Growth Awards and E-Commerce Awards and was the Technical SEO Lead for Just Eat a FTSE 100 company in 12 markets as well as consulting for other e-commerce brands. Currently working as the SEO Director for Rise at Seven. Gerry is also a co-founder of the Take It Offline events.