• Stuart Hall. Born in Hyde 78 years ago, Hall is going strong albeit at a slower and (relatively) subdued pace. A graduate of UMIST, he joined the Beeb in 1959 and went on to present the evening news programme for 25 years. Still best known for It’s a Knockout. Can now be heard on Radio 5 reporting on football games and writing for his old friend Owen Oyston’s Lancashire magazine.
Harwood-Matthews
• Robert Harwood-Matthews. The 36-year-old chief executive of TBWA\Manchester has had a challenging year. Came to Manchester a year ago from London with a brief to reinvigorate BDH, arguably the finest ever regional ad agency. He has restructured the agency, lost some senior staff (still employing 160) and dropped the BDH brand. They say morale is now improving and the recent win of £10m of new BP business was timely.
Singh
• Ranvir Singh. Born in Preston, Singh is another of the region’s UCLan alumni. Joined BBC Radio Lancashire having been offered a six-month contract while on work experience at the station. Her increasingly familiar face on TV can only increase given her new role as Gordon Burns’ (q.v) co-anchorwoman on North West Tonight.
Hall
• Terry Hall. Recently appointed MD of publishing at Cumbrian Newspapers and has also joined the board. Started as an ad sales rep for CN in 1981 and was appointed ad director in 1988. His portfolio of two dozen plus titles includes the News & Star, North West Evening Mail and The Cumberland News.
Rowe
• Rita Rowe. A 47-year-old former reporter, Rowe co-founded Mason Williams, which recently celebrated its 21st birthday – rare for an independent PR agency. MW has won numerous industry awards and has been a fertile training ground over the years. Has over 40 staff across offices in Manchester and London and a host of top brands as clients. Doesn’t take prisoners.
Livesey
• Tony Livesey. Burnley fan and former editor of the Sport newspaper now presents the breakfast show on Radio Lancashire and regularly appears on BBC TV NW, as the unofficial sports editor. He presented Traitor on BBC2 (which was nominated for a Golden Rose) and has written and presented for Channel 4.
Dyson
• Nigel Dyson. Managing editor of BBC Radio Cumbria. The station enjoys a local audience share of 16.3% - the sort of figure other UK station managers would die for. Started in broadcasting at BBC Radio Humberside and subsequently moved across BBC stations in Blackburn, Northampton, Three Counties and Cambridge. Claims his travelling days are over.
Garner
• Mark Garner. Aka Gordo of web phenomenon Manchester Confidential. Love or hate him but you can’t ignore him. With his bankruptcy and porn days now behind him, Gordo has subsequently launched Liverpool and Leeds will go live shortly. The brand focuses on food, drink and entertainment and he claims over 100,000 readers a month and substantial profits on turnover approaching £1m.
Langton
• Eric Langton. 58-year-old editor in chief of Trinity Mirror Cheshire. Oversees almost two-dozen papers in a highly affluent region. Started in journalism at 18 and learnt his trade writing and subbing on the Post and Echo. Has edited several of the papers now under his editorial control.
Harris
• Paul Harris. Owner, publisher and editor of the Jewish Telegraph based in north Manchester. The paper has several editions covering Manchester, Liverpool, Leeds and Glasgow and claims the attention of a good proportion of the 100,000 plus Jews in these areas. Family controlled since establishment in 1950.
• Kim O’Brien. Publicity shy co-founder in 1999 of Liverpool-based Move Publishing. The company’s main publication is Your Move, a residential classified-led magazine, with 50,000 copies distributed freely across Merseyside every fortnight. A commercial edition was launched at the start of 2007 and is planned to roll out to other northern cities. Move morphed out of the family business and is still the publisher of Catholic titles that formed its first foundations. Rumoured to own a large stake in the Design Foundry, the design agency in the same offices on Henry Street.
Clayton
• John Clayton. 49-year-old managing editor of BBC Lancashire. His operation includes Radio Lancashire with an audience of 230,000 and the BBC website. Says his role involves looking out for the strongest local talent and then finding the best programme format to allow them to connect with the audience.
Hirst
• Philip Hirst. 56-year-old boss of Hirst, Kidd and Rennie, which owns the Oldham Chronicle together with other print interests and a 50% stake in Oldham FM. Joined the Chron as a reporter in 1973. Became editor in 1990 and MD in 2000. Recently transferred printing of its newspapers to Trinity Mirror. His proudest boast is writing 5,000 or so leaders between 1977 and 2000, come hail or hangover.
Ord
• Mick Ord. Managing editor of BBC Radio Merseyside. Currently on attachment co-ordinating the proposed coverage of Liverpool's Capital of Culture year. Despite a market share of 13.5% of the Liverpool radio audience, the station needs him back as it prepares to fend off the launch of Emap’s City Talk.
McVey
• Esther McVey. Former GMTV presenter is the prospective Conservative candidate for Wirral West. Currently running a PR company, the women’s group MakingIt, properties incubating SMEs with a media bias and is planning a move into publishing. Currently keeping a surprisingly low profile despite advising the Madeleine Fund – she has known Kate McCann since they did their A levels together.
Trafford
• Paula Trafford. Managing director Scarlet TV. Helped launch the ‘Big Breakfast’ and Granada Sky Broadcasting's Lifestyle channels. Co-founded Scarlet in 2004 and recently acquired a 50.6% stake in parent company AIM-listed Motive Television. She won four RTS awards for her BBC1 film ‘Diana: My Sister the Princess’. Scarlet is growing rapidly with commissions for the BBC, ITV, Channel Five, Sky and Discovery.
Spinoza
• Andy Spinoza. Founded City Life magazine in 1983 and later became MEN diary editor. Launched PR agency Spin Media in 1998- relaunched as SKV in ’05 but staff still knows him as ‘Spin’. Chairs Manchester University’s Alumni Association and is reputed to be Alan Gilbert’s (president of Manchester Uni) private PR adviser.
• Damian Walsh. The 45-year-old younger brother of Jo Walsh (q.v.) and owner of Mondiale, which publishes a number of trade and consumer titles from its base in Stockport with 52 staff. He sold part of the business including ‘Theme’ magazine to United Business Media for £5m a couple of years ago. A director of Galaxy Radio, he maintains an extremely low profile.
Hodgkinson
• Neil Hodgkinson. 45-year-old editorial director of Cumbrian Newspapers. A former editor of the Lancashire Evening Post and Yorkshire Evening Post, he edits the News & Star in Carlisle and oversees the editorial on a number of fellow CN titles including the Cumberland News which this year won newspaper of the year in UKPG’s Regional Press Awards.
Pickford
• John Pickford. News editor Emap Radio in Manchester. Heads up a team which almost routinely wins national awards. This year his team, which provides news for several stations, including Key 103, won a bronze at the Sony Awards for Journalist of the Year and was awarded the prize for best news coverage in the UK at the IRN Awards.
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A first for the North West - How-Do's Top 100 Marketers. These leading professionals help drive the creation and generation of prosperity in the region. READ
The North West’s media folk who wield the greatest combination of influence, power and employment, primarily in the region but also, in many cases, well beyond. READ
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