It’s the time of year where everybody promises they’re going to go to the gym more, drink less and watch less TV – but not at StrategiQ! Here at StrategiQ, January is the time to reflect on the year just gone, and promise to do more of what we did last year! It’s also the time to say thank you to those who we think went above and beyond and deserve that extra level of recognition, by means of our Annual Awards.
Our annual awards are always a highlight of the January strategy days, as we all get a bit emotional listening to the amazing nominations from the team and special mentions from the leadership team who decide the winners for the other categories. Each winner receives a weekend away for two and some spending money, as well as a sweet certificate, beautifully framed, to hang on their wall.
The winners for the awards are determined by things like client feedback, training commitments, impact on clients, MVP nominations and personal development in the year. The People’s Champion award is entirely decided on a voting system, where everyone in the company submits their nominations for who they think is the people’s champion.
We added some extra categories this year to the awards – the Rising Star and the Client Impact awards, which I’ll explain in more detail below.
Let’s take a look at the categories, the shortlists and our winners!
The Categories
- People’s Champion
- Marketer of the Year
- Marketer of the Year (Production)
- Rising Star
- Client Impact
- CEO’s Champion
TLDR: The Shortlists and Winners
- People’s Champion – Duncan Brown, Dan Long, Josh Crawford, Emma Squires
Winner: Josh Crawford - Marketer of the Year – Poppy Mace, Levi Williams-Clucas, Josh Crawford, Emma Squires
Winner: Emma Squires - Marketer of the Year (Production) – Keiran Buchanan, Josh Clare-Flagg, Dan Long, Duncan Brown
Winner: Duncan Brown - Rising Star – Becky Evison, Imogen Jones, Mike Wilson, Daisy Sturgeon, Be Peters
Winner: Mike Wilson - Client Impact – Oli Hearsum, Roisin Ryan-Self, Emma Squires
Winner: Roisin Ryan-Self - CEO’s Champion – Roisin Ryan-Self, Charlie Taylor, Ash Thrower, Duncan Brown, Emma Squire
Winner: Ash Thrower
Let’s dig a little deeper into the categories, why the shortlistees were shortlisted and who won, and why.
Category 1: People’s Champion
The people’s champion award is simply down to the number of nominations received by the individuals in the team. The winner takes home a fabulous certificate and a UK break for two.
Josh Crawford
“Wow, what a year! Everyone has really upped their game in 2021, all of whom are deserving of the award. However, I can only pick one and my vote goes to Josh. Since starting, Josh has fundamentally changed the agency’s approach to data and performance measurement. As an agency, we can now confidently report on the impact our marketing has on delivering meaningful business results for clients. Jacada’s attribution report is a prime example of this. Not only was it award-winning, but has played a fundamental part of building the business back up from scratch. But it’s not just data and measurement, Josh’s UX & CRO expertise has played a significant role in the agency’s website projects over the last 12 months. It’s clear that both designers and developers appreciate his insights to deliver spectacular websites for clients. No matter the job, big or small, Josh always rises to the challenge and always goes above and beyond to either delight clients or provide a supporting hand to his colleagues. Well done Josh – you had an awesome 2021!”
Dan Long
“From the day dot Dan made a splash, everything he touches is a true reflection of how far the development team has come this year. I love working with Dan because of his expertise and attention to deal, but I especially love his desire to work as a team and this really shows in the result of this in his work. How can someone who consistently comes a close second not be an award winner, he doesn’t overshine in one single month, he consistently delivers excellent work, every day!”
Emma Squires
“My nomination for “People’s Champion 2021″ is Emma. Always forward-thinking, her positive energy and motivation to learn more, is why Emma is a key member of the StrategiQ team. I don’t think there’s a day where she stops thinking about her clients and how to better their strategy. Emma balances commercial thinking with relentless care delivering exceptional client service. It’s always a pleasure to work, the journey and impact she’s had this year make her a clear winner of the people’s champion award!”
Duncan Brown
“This year I would like to nominate Duncan for the People’s Champion award. A lot of what Duncan does might go unnoticed, behind the scenes in server config and code, however, this is someone who truly has StrategiQ’s values at their core. Giving care and attention to our clients, questioning decisions, always checking that projects are commercially viable and showing expertise. Duncan has gone above and beyond to help the StrategiQ team, deliver results for large clients and help to cover knowledge gaps when team members have moved on. Brilliant work Dunc!”
And the winner is!…
Josh Crawford
Congratulations Josh, with a very clear majority win, you’ve captured the hearts and minds of the StrategiQ team in 2021. Thanks for all your hard work and enjoy your prize!
Category 2: Marketer of the Year
The Marketer of the Year (marketing) award is designed to recognise the achievements, training, dedication, client and process impact and development of individuals who make up the ‘marketing’ arm of the team. This award is decided upon by the leadership team and the winner receives their fancy certificate and a UK break for two.
Let’s take a look at the shortlist and winner for Marketer of the Year.
Poppy Mace
“Poppy has had an incredible year, going from strength to strength and overcoming difficulty with perseverance and honesty. Poppy has gone well out of her comfort zone in 2021 and taken the lead in her specialism, as well as taken on more responsibility with her clients and really championed her own personal development. Poppy works so hard with everything she does and continues to thrive.”
Levi Williams-Clucas
“Levi had what she described as “one of the hardest but best years” of her career this year, overcoming some big personal challenges, as well as employing bravery and courage to achieve some of her biggest career goals. Levi undertook a personal brand building strategy this year with partnerships and conferences and continued to develop her skills and knowledge, undertaking hands-on projects to help her learn and grow her abilities in Search, and it’s paid off with the industry recognition she’s getting in return.“
Josh Crawford
“Josh has spent an entire year simply demonstrating our company values day in and day out – always going the extra mile to support our clients and his colleagues. His caring nature is evident each day in the office where numerous questions and ‘can you just’ are dealt with and supported without any fuss or complaint – even when deadlines are creeping in and the workload builds up. He finds a way of always supporting his colleagues for the greater good of the agency and our clients. Josh is simply an expert in his field and specialism in every sense of the word. “
Emma Squires
“Emma lives and breathes our values and you can see the passion she has for her job. Always one of the first in and always one of the last out, her hard work and dedication to the business is definitely not unnoticed. Her energy and positivity shines through, not just with clients but also with every member of the team, making everyone feel welcome. She consistently goes above and beyond and has developed so much in the last 12 months that she’s almost unrecognisable.”
And the winner is!…
Emma Squires
“Emma often flies under the radar, but always puts a real shift in to help her clients achieve their goals whilst keeping the team engaged and in the know. I’ve been super impressed with her work and how she shows a high level of expertise and caring understanding of the business from bottom to top – really setting the standard!
Emma has also done a stellar job of developing her own expertise with a great training list across a wide range of disciplines. Even picking up PPC earlier in the year!
Great job Emma, keep it up and have another fantastic year.”
Congratulations Emma, a well-deserved win!
Let’s move on to the next category…
Category 3: Marketer of the Year (Production)
This category goes the same as above, where the winner is awarded a UK stay for two and a fancy certificate for being the best in the biz when it comes to production.
And the shortlisted nominees are…
Keiran Buchanan
“The care and attention Keiran puts into everything he does, always looking to expand his skills and offering to the agency is admirable. The man has ambition in abundance and he will very likely continue to be the superstar we all know him as already. Keep going Keiran, you are a very dedicated and motivated designer and the future will only get brighter for you!”
Josh Clare-Flagg
“Joshua has been exceptional this year and has really taken on his role with passion and determination. Joshua has constantly maintained a can-do attitude and broken records in our agency and perhaps even in the industry with his work on page speed and efficiency. Joshua is fun to be around, skilled, considerate and honest and he just naturally lives our values in his day-to-day life.”
Dan Long
“A natural-born problem solver and expert in his field, Dan has found technical solutions for pretty much anything that comes at him. Each site that he works on is of the highest quality and his ability to think outside the box, research and present back solutions, demonstrates Dan’s proactive attitude because he genuinely cares about the client and his team… he can even launch multiple websites in one day! Dan epitomises the StrategiQ values and has proved since joining us that he always goes above and beyond for both clients and the StrategiQ team.”
Duncan Brown
“A consistent performer – who really cares – and often slips under the radar is Duncan. Modest and with an unwavering pride in our work, Duncan has really stepped into the Lead Developer role this year – delivering complex projects, supporting the team and being a badass deputy marshall for Tom.”
And the winner is!…
Duncan Brown
“He is a rock in this company and supports each and every department in it. He supports colleagues and clients; if he doesn’t know the answer, he’ll find it! His positive attitude rubs off on the team and goes above and beyond to help and support. Working on R&D projects in his spare time, he’s constantly learning and innovating. Duncan lives up to each of our values and deserves to receive this award!”
Congratulations Dunc, AKA Dave, and thank you for your amazing work this year.
Next up is one of our new categories –
Category 4: Rising Star
This award is a little different to the others, as it’s awarded to the team member who has given their energy to learning and development, who has untapped potential in their role and is aligned to our values with no questions asked.
And the shortlisted nominees are…
Becky Evison
“Becky has taken on her new role with incredible enthusiasm and passion. Becky is a key member of the production team, planning, organising and managing projects with an intense level of detail. Becky has also recently undertaken some account management style roles with some clients and has absolutely smashed it.”
Imogen Jones
“Imogen has developed her skills tremendously since she joined the company as a recent graduate. Though she’s quiet and calm in the office, she’s absolutely bulldozed through her training and development and has found where her passions lie in SEO and social media. Immie has huge potential to continue to train and develop into a true world-class marketer and the passion to back it up.”
Mike Wilson
“Mike impresses the team on a regular basis with his dedication to R&D as well as his lazer sharp focus on being as skilled as possible but also as accommodating as possible for the rest of the team. Mike struggles to say no to helping people and he uses every opportunity to grow and learn. Mike has also come leaps and bounds in the last year in terms of the quality of his output, which was impressive to begin with – and he’s not giving up! He’s always full of ideas and is a fantastic asset to the company.”
Daisy Sturgeon
“Daisy joined us after a brief stint doing work experience with us and has never looked back, and nor have we. A talented designer with a thirst for knowledge and skill, Daisy has proven that she’s up for the challenge of working in a bustling agency that goes at high speed – with high standards. Daisy is a joy to be around, is always positive and has that irreplaceable desire to be an expert that sets her up perfectly for a career here at StrategiQ.”
Be Peters
“Ever the visionary, Be’s ambitions went even further than design, as she navigated her way into the marketing team in a brand new, demanding role. Taking on and owning social media as a channel was no mean feat, and it’s safe to say all eyes were on Be to see where she would take it. Well, after a couple of months in the role, finding her footing, and learning the lay of the land, we can all agree that social is in a safe pair of hands. In a short period of time Be has completely overhauled how we organise, plan and schedule client’s social content, she has supremely levelled up our social team’s output, she has established new best practices, and perhaps most importantly; Be has proven that leadership isn’t reserved only managers and directors, but for how we lift up and support our colleagues day-to-day.”
And the winner is!…
Mike Wilson
“Well, where to start, in addition to his positive and can-do attitude to all projects that he gets tasked with, Mike has stood out this year with his unyielding research and development in both photography and video which has contributed to new service offerings as well as promoting our own brand. From our new headshots format that quite frankly shits on any other agency headshot style, to experimenting with new longer-form social content, that has paved the way in solidifying our new company podcasts. Continuing to learn, hone his craft, and simply be the best, Mike epitomises our ‘Expertise’ flag that we proudly wave as a company.”
Category 5: Client Impact
Another new category for the annual awards is the client impact award. Affectionately known as the Ronseal award, this award goes to the person who has had the biggest client impact.
The shortlist…
Oli Hearsum
“Oli’s level of expertise and positive ‘can do’ attitude and always demonstrating his knowledge and capabilities are second to none. His approach to his work and contributing to prospective clients is to be commended, constantly taking the initiative and putting himself in other people’s shoes. Oli is a very well respected and valued member of the team. Oli has had an incredible impact on some of our most well known clients, and has been instrumental in the award wins from 2021 – he really deserves this recognition.”
Roisin Ryan-Self
“Roisin is tremendously thorough, articulate and efficient. Without her, it sometimes feels like we’d be running around like a bunch of headless chickens. If we had heads and beaks, we’d be squawking a cacophony of noises so harsh your eyes would bleed. Thankfully, we don’t get that far. Thanks to Roisin. She calms, organises, and puts us on the straight and narrow. Our clients get world-class service, her co-workers get world-class coordination. Every client she touches has only glowing things to say about her and so do her colleagues.”
Emma Squires
“It’s not a mistake, she really got this many shortlists! Emma again has excelled this year in her efforts to become the world’s best account manager, and her clients feedback says everything it needs to say. She’s honest, bold, doesn’t take any nonsense and has the drive we all wish we had.”
And the winner is!…
Roisin Ryan-Self
“This girl deserves all the recognition she can get! I am a constant observer of her helpful, unflappable manner – always happy to give you her time. The way she communicates with clients is also top notch, and she obviously strives to do the best possible job for all of them. Her project management skills are top notch, as is her internal communication and knack for getting the job done!”
Congrats Roisin, very wholly deserved!
Now onto the final category…
Category 6: CEO’s Champion
Andy himself takes time to choose his champion for the year – the person he thinks has stood out above everyone else in his eyes. Here’s the shortlist…
- Roisin Ryan-Self
- Charlie Taylor
- Ash Thrower
- Duncan brown
- Emma Squires
And the winner is!…
Ashley Thrower
“Ash is someone who has had challenges this year but consistently stepped up, grown, developed, fought and won! When I think about Ash back in January, he’s gone from strength to strength in terms of his creativity, branding, his management, his leadership and his support for the team. He’s taken his team from three people to six this year, each of whom is thriving and developing in their own way all under his leadership and skill. He also brought Daisy into the team, starting off with work experience but then offering a long-term opportunity which is often hard for young people coming out of University.
He is one of the only people who I consistently see working closely with each team member, giving guidance and support on a daily basis. Ash lives and breathes StrategiQ. He is wildly ambitious, taking on the Creative Director role back in April, stepping up and owning Ovaro, working during his personal time to take that to the next level. He is commercial in his thinking, working towards his new business target each month, constantly looking for opportunities and nailing it when they come in. Blue Array and Calligo are two that come to mind. Calligo has given Ash the opportunity to increase his skills in project management and account direction which he has taken by storm and run with.
He’s had challenges along the way, but he never gives up or lets anything deter him from his end goal. Ash was also instrumental in creating StrategiQ 2.0 with Phil, the presentation of which was one of my personal highlights from our strategy day and am proud to take this next level StrategiQ brand into the wider world. On a personal level, Ash has been a rock for me this year; he is patient, approachable and full of guidance and support. He has offered guidance when I haven’t known what direction I wanted to take my career in StrategiQ, regardless of the fact that I am not in his direct team. He is always willing to support.
He is an absolute asset to our team, both in leadership and his creativity. Just reading back some of his MVP nominations from this year; “Excellent team leader”, “patience is incredible”, “absolute power-house”, “expertise, maturity, humility, ambitious” – all words I would use to describe Ash. I really feel that he deserves some recognition for his hard work, tenacity and determination.”
Congratulations Ash, how does it feel to be the boss’s fave?
Well done to everyone who was nominated, shortlisted, and of course the winners – here’s to another year of world-class expertise in the making!
Wanna be part of all this? Get in touch with us or check out our careers page.