Lucy Meacock. Two times RTS award-winner Meacock has been presenting Granada Reports and its predecessor Granada Tonight for almost 20 years. The former Chester Chronicle reporter has also started presenting some ITV News weekend bulletins and can be increasingly found as a speaker or guest of honour at regional functions of different sorts. Turns 50 next year.
 
 

Richard Maddock. Station director, Radio City and City Talk. Sony award-winning programmer picked up a gold award at Bauer's internal radio awards in September. Oversaw the launch of City Talk in January which Bauer claims is on track. Despite increased competition from its sister talk station and a more purposeful Radio Merseyside, Radio City increased audience numbers over the year to 480,000 capturing a 11.6% share of the local market. Actively participates in the two stations' substantial promotional initiatives.
 

 

Michael Taylor. Editorial director, Newsco Publications. Oversaw the launch of a new Business Insider magazine in the South West and new initiatives in the North East.  After years dominating the region's business media, the title now has major competition from Crain's, TheBusinessDesk and City AM from next spring. In common with other primarily print publishers, Taylor's task is trying to work out how to remain relevant to his readers' world in an increasingly digital age where revenues are a fraction of those historically generated by print.
 

 

Adrian Dunleavy. Chief executive, Ten Alps Communications. The rapid pace of organic and acquisitive growth demonstrated by Ten Alps has left Dunleavy with a markedly bigger division under his control than last year. Publishing, digital, video production - all report to him and the company has stressed it sees substantially bigger growth coming out of its Manchester base. Almost two thirds of the company's £80m sales are generated by the Communications division.
 

 

Jane Luca. Head of regional affairs, ITV. Luca was one of the very few members of ITV's regional affairs teams who managed to keep a job in the broadcaster's spring clean of its communications teams. Luca has been promoted to a new role where she is responsible for the delivery of ITV's regional affairs strategy with a focus on Ofcom's Public Service Broadcasting Review as it unravels. Luca now divides her time between London and Manchester.
 

 

Tony Livesey. BBC. Presenter on Radio Lancashire, sports editor of North West Tonight, presenter of Rugby League Raw, late night presenter on Five Live and all round broadcasting presenter. The gamble the Beeb took with him has paid off handsomely. Taking a leaf out of his Sport Newspapers days, has recently taken to taking parts in stunts such as being caged through to stunts on behalf of charities.
 

 

Kevin Young. Editor, Lancashire Telegraph. In common with his peers across regional dailies, he has seen circulation drop markedly in recent years. The current figure though of just shy of 30,000 daily sales demonstrates just how powerful the title remains in east Lancashire. Young has also overseen the launch of several new 'ultra local' titles over the past year and was behind the paper launching in March what was claimed to be the UK's first free text service for regional papers covering news, sport and traffic alerts.
 

 

Ranvir Singh. Co-anchorwoman, BBC North West Tonight. She and Gordon Burns now seem comfortable with each other and clearly the Beeb is happy as Singh now also presents the late evening news report. Still reportedly living with her parents, she is however increasingly keen on being seen in the wider community and the word at the Beeb is that her star is very much on the ascendancy.
 
 

David Walter. Founder, Photolink. Walter has gradually refined the offer of his original single Manchester photographic studio into an international operation employing 90 staff working across photography, creative and digital. Clients include John Lewis, Littlewoods, Kangol, Chelsea FC, Lookers and River Island. Walter has led the JV with Argos in India which followed a successful earlier launch into China. Both ventures relate to digital activities in home shopping for those countries' fast-growing middle classes. Has strengthened his management team in recent years to help cope with the increasingly successful spectrum of work the company is winning.
 

 

Ben Hatton. Managing director, Rippleffect. A 'heluva' year for Hatton. The boss of one of Liverpool's big three digital agencies struck gold with the sale in April of his £2.5m turnover agency to Trinity for circa £5.8m. The sale doesn't seem to have dimmed his hunger to succeed as subsequent new clients have been won in the shape of a cracking three year deal from Arsenal FC, Peel airports and TheBusinessDesk.com.
 

 

Nigel Dyson. Managing editor, BBC Radio Cumbria.  Another year delivering outstanding performance as the station's market share, already impressive at 16.3% has risen over the year to 16.7%. Still some way to go before the station relives those giddy days in 2004 when it captured over 20% of the Cumbrian audience but still the highest market share of any BBC local radio station. Dyson's remit is broader than the station however as he also sits on the BBC North East and Cumbria management team board.
 
 

Mark Garner. Publisher, Planet Confidential. Garner's company publishes the entertainment websites Manchester, Liverpool and most recently Leeds Confidential. The websites are enjoying the fruit of promotional budgets moving increasingly online as it extends its business model of restaurant owners, house builders and other suppliers of all things urban, paying a monthly retainer to promote their services on the websites. Plans for other cities likely to be on hold but meanwhile 100,000 plus readers remain faithful. Some observers however are suggesting that MEN Media's relaunched citylife.co.uk is tougher competition than he's hitherto faced.
 

 

Peter Bourhill. Publisher, Lancashire magazine. Owned by Owen Oyston, the growth and development of the title over the past 18 months has been nothing short of astounding. Having poached the senior management team at Lancashire Life, Oyston increased funding and Bourhill gladly grasped an opportunity. From an unaudited bi-monthly selling around 6,000 copies per issue in 2006, the lifestyle title is now monthly and sells in excess of 20,000 copies per issue and is ABC audited. Events and more things digital are next on his agenda.
 

 

Stuart Maconie. Radio 2 presenter. In addition to his ongoing high profile work with Mark Radcliffe, Maconie is spreading his regional wings. He has started writing a column for CN Group's Cumbria Life magazine and has agreed to front the NWDA's tourism advertising efforts. His book "Pies and Prejudice" about the culinary habits of his home-town Wigan has proved a bestseller.
 

 

 

Tony Wood. Creative director, Lime Pictures. Working with his fellow management duo of Reynolds and Marley, Wood oversees the growing programming output of Lime. Despite the much publicised loss of Grange Hill, major new commissions from the UK and overseas are ensuring that Lime and its 400 plus staff remain extremely busy. Along the way, Hollyoaks goes from strength to strength picking up six awards at the Soap Awards in September.

 

Chris Hughes. North West regional MD Newsquest.  Began his career as an accountant with Pilkington before joining Trinity Mirror. Moved to Newsquest in 1997 as a regional finance director, rising to MD of the Warrington Guardian series in 2001. Appointed to current position in 2004. His patch includes The Bolton News, the Lancashire Telegraph and around 40 weeklies – including the Wirral Globe and the Bury Times - arguably Newsquest’s biggest regional operation.

 

Paula Trafford. Managing director, Scarlet TV. RTS award-winning Trafford also owns just over 50% of Motive TV, an AIM-listed TV production company. She’s had a good year with new commissions won from Sky, ITV and the Crime and Investigation Network. Sky commissioned three prime time documentaries including: "50 Greatest TV Endings" presented by Cilla Black and ITV commissioned a show for its Superhuman series. In total the four commissions were worth circa £900,000 - a substantial amount for an indie with no series credits to its name.

 

Louise Taylor. Editor, Cheshire Life. Has a tough act to follow in the footsteps of Patrick O'Neill, the title's previous editor for over 20 years (and a judge of this Media 100 who refrained from commenting on her inclusion or otherwise on this list). Taylor previously held several senior editorial positions within Archant's North West operations including editing Pure Taste and Pure Weddings and as fashion editor of both Cheshire and Lancashire Life. Appointed editor in April of the 18,000 circulation monthly, still Britain's biggest magazine by pagination.

 

Andy Spinoza. Managing director, SKV PR. Spin, as he is still widely known, maintains arguably the best network of journalist contacts of any North West PR - Jon Brown's contacts are more Liverpool-focused. The agency, which celebrated its 10th birthday in the summer, picked up some useful new accounts including BDP and retained Midas following a high profile repitch. However the 20 strong agency's leaning towards property and regeneration will need all Spin's considerable energy to manage through the days ahead.

 

John Clayton. Managing editor, BBC Radio Lancashire. The station's ratings and market share have slipped over the year from 10.7% to the current 9.1%. A widely publicised rejig of the station's schedule in January saw an increased emphasis on people features, sport and gardening. A subsequent controversy about the station dropping its cricket coverage was robustly denied. Social engagement is high on Clayton's agenda, from the station's pioneering Open Centre to most recently offering the opportunity for over 200 young people to work with the station on the theme of ‘Born in Burnley’.

 

Mick Ord. Managing editor, BBC Radio Merseyside. Ord has been enjoying a dual role this year combining some of his normal activities with also being the Beeb's commissar for Liverpool 08. A dedicated digital presence and a stack of editorial initiatives have appeared. An enthusiast of all things Merseyside, his contribution has been reflected along with his colleagues’ efforts in the station’s increase in market share over the year from 13% to 16.5%.

 

Damian Walsh. Owner, Mondiale Publishing. Consistently successful but steadfastly publicity-shy media entrepreneur. Pocketed £5m from United Business Media a couple of years ago and followed it up this year with the additional sale of the Stockport-based company's trade events Sleep and Arc to UBM once again, although this time for a more modest £3.5m. The 46 year old younger brother of his fellow publishing sister Jo Walsh (GovNet) still runs the publishing company however and is also a director of Galaxy Radio.

 

Neil Hodgkinson. Editorial director, Cumbrian Newspapers. Day to day he edits the News & Star in Carlisle and the Cumberland News while overseeing various other editorial interests. The Cumberland News was voted weekly paper of the year at this year's Regional Press Awards – the third time in eight years. Hodgkinson himself has twice picked up newspaper of the year awards at the RPA in previous roles.

 

John Pickford. Head of news, Bauer Radio Manchester. Award-winning Pickford runs the news operation in Manchester for Bauer whose remit now extends across the company's Big City network covering the North's largest cities. Arguably the region's leading radio news journalist playing a key role in ensuring the North West genuinely remains at the forefront of national radio excellence.

 

Mike Ryan. Founder Idaho. Despite his protestations to the contrary, Idaho does seem to have returned to growth mode with new signings at the grand old dame of Manchester digital agencies. Now well clear of dot comery and web design, Ryan is viewed by the region’s digital community as its most trusted long-serving servant. Over the summer, he led the digital sector's contribution to Manchester Innovation's growing economic development ambitions.

 

Julian Carter. Group sales director, GMG Radio. Rock Radio is the latest of GMG's stations taking the total number under Carter's sales management to 13 stations. GMG runs a number of central operations from Manchester and Carter's team generated sales of £48.8m in the year to March. A team of 40 selling national and regional airspace report to him while he also oversees a further 125 staff selling local space. A member of the GMG radio board and two industry boards.

 

Nina Wheeler. Owner, Brazen PR. Back from maternity leave to the region's most controversial PR agency. Brazen by name and nature, the agency shows little inclination to change its (successful) ways demonstrating bags of energy. Claims turnover is in excess of £2m with clients including Vileda, Stilton, Best Western, Blackburn Rovers and Transform. Many detractors but arguably – good or bad - the nearest thing the region has to a West End consumer-led shop.

 

Nicky Unsworth. Managing director, BJL. Led the team which acquired the Manchester ad agency from the founders in 2006. Now 75 strong, the agency is the largest independent in the region. Apart from Bradford & Bingley building society, other more stable accounts include Morphy Richards, Lambrini, Pilkington, UCLan and William Hill. Unsworth has headhunted several senior colleagues from rivals in the past 18 months and a fledgling PR operation focusing on social and digital media has been launched.

 

Shaun Fensom. Chairman, Manchester Digital. The unassuming Fensom presides over the Big Chip awards and various green hosting initiatives while also still harbouring ambitious plans to host international technology conferences in the North West. Fensom and his colleagues would like to MD to be the main body representing the 5,000 plus digital industry companies in the region employing around 40,000 people.

 

Bill Gleeson. Business editor, Daily Post. Now in his ninth year as business editor at the paper – he qualifies as an institution. His knack for frankly getting to the nub of stories either delights or irritates readers, depending as ever on the subject matter. Despite cutbacks elsewhere within Trinity regionals, Gleeson has enjoyed new investment in his business pages and a new bi-monthly title LDP which launched in February. In between, he also presents a weekly business show for City Talk.

 

Ian Savage. Editor, The Bolton News. Appointed editor of the 29,000 circulation daily paper in January this year. The 41 year old was previously editor of the Bury Times group of papers - a Newsquest stable mate – for which he still retains editorial responsibility. Previous experience was gained on the TBN and at the MEN. The website underwent a major relaunch this year but decided to suspend the facility for readers to post comments in April following a rash of controversial postings.

 

Dougal Paver. Managing director, Paver Smith. Still only three years since the MBO and the Liverpool PR agency is up to 30 plus staff with a claimed turnover of £2.4m.  New clients swing regularly through the door via the agency's front of house concierge Paver. His first acquisition this year, Factory Communications, will be followed by others. Paver wants a Manchester office and something digital. Recently appointed as the only private sector representative on the Liverpool Commission, it will be fascinating to see how Attila gets on with his newly-found public sector friends.

 

Murray Morse. Editor in chief, Sport Newspapers. The former editor of the Cambridge Evening News and a former news editor of the Daily Record joined the SN this summer.  A costly and initially successful relaunch of the papers took place in the spring but since then sales of the daily and Sunday titles have slipped. Morse’s brief is apparently to alter the emphasis from less of the magazine/features feel to embrace more news...early days still.

 

Jenni Murray. Presenter, Radio 4 Woman's Hour. Back into full swing following her return last year from her very public battle with cancer. Her other major Manchester landmark show, media programme the Message, has been dropped in favour of a new reworked show which is now broadcast from London with Steve Hewlett, Channel m's chairman, as presenter. She occupies a rare position (in terms of being a ‘Radio 4 institution known to be living in the North’) similar to that that Brian Redhead used to occupy.

 

Andy Crane. News presenter, Channel m. Former Piccadilly radio and BBC presenter joined Channel m as its original news anchorman. He has fronted various news programmes and is currently lead presenter on the evening programme. MEN Media also frequently turns to him when it wants to announce high profile group initiatives. The station claims a weekly audience of 300,000 viewers.