Meet the Mainframe Awards 2022 Judges

By The Mainframe Team

Meet the Judges Each year we bring together an amazing group of people who are excelling in their own fields to judge the Mainframe Awards.

The Mainframe Awards 2022, now in their fifth year, are no exception. The Awards present a unique opportunity to have your work reviewed by one of nine top class judges with the Digital/Creative Ambassador of the Year category going to a public vote.

Judges for the Mainframe Awards 2022

Nicki Capewell

Job: Founder of Pedddle & Tresstle

Category: Make & Trade

I am Nicki, founder of Pedddle and Tresstle, a strong advocate of doing what you love and championing small businesses. I am a mum and a wife which fills a lot of my time but I'm also an avid market fan and love supporting the businesses that work there.

Pedddle is a directory of events and their stallholders. I created Pedddle.com because I wanted to find the creative, independent events that I loved more easily. What started as a hobby has escalated and we now support over 500 stallholders and 150 market organisers across England, Scotland and Wales. We have lots of exciting changes to Pedddle in 2022 to help support the market community further.

Tresstle is an online event platform for the creative industry. It is a more recent addition as a result of Covid. Online events were a wonderful opportunity to allow small businesses to continue to trade without their physical markets. Our platform (tresstle.com) allows organisers to host their own online events and gives the opportunity for stallholders to reach a wider audience, collaborate with different organisers and sell online in time bound online markets.

Paul Simpson

Job: CEO at Derby City Council

Category: Putting Derby & Derbyshire on the Map

Paul joined Derby City Council in August 2019 as Strategic Director of Corporate Resources and Deputy Chief Executive. Prior to that he was at Milton Keynes Council, as their Deputy CEO, having previously been their Corporate Director for Resources. In January 2020, on the retirement of Derby’s former Chief Executive, he took on the role of Acting Chief Executive and then in March 2020, three days before the first national COVID lockdown, he was appointed to his current role of Chief Executive.

Paul is a qualified accountant and has worked in a wide variety of organisations including PricewaterhouseCoopers, the Ministry of Defence, Department for Education, the NHS and four other councils. He lives in Derbyshire and actually started his career at Derby City Council, back in 1991, as a Trainee Accounting Technician.

Andrew Liddell

Job: Development & Partnerships Manager at Creative UK

Category: Best Digital/Creative Upscaler

Andrew leads Elevate, Creative UK’s membership offer for entrepreneurs, freelancers and SMEs. He has over ten years of experience developing new talent, having previously developed professional and talent innovation programmes at Birkbeck, University of London and Ravensbourne College of Art and Design. Andrew is interested in how learning design, innovation and social investment all work together to give a voice to new ideas and new creative talent.

Phil Basi

Job: Programme Leader Media Production & Principal Lecturer TV Production at the University of Derby

Category: Emerging Digital/Creative Star (under 25)

Phil Basi is a multi-award-winning Series Producer / Director with the benefit of over thirty years of music, arts, documentary, factual, and entertainment production. Having worked for both the ITV & the BBC, two of the UK major broadcasters, he brings a wealth of experience and knowledge to his position as Programme Leader of Media Production at the University Of Derby. Being responsible for thousands of hours of TV over his career he still states his highlight is being responsible for the live broadcast of Mother Teresa’s funeral from India back to the UK.

Still an active practitioner he believes that teaching and still being active in the industry is the only way to keep pace with the ever-changing world of Media Production.

Accustomed to building unique multi-skilled teams who have produced programmes from concept to completion across all areas of broadcasting, ranging from large studio productions and full Outside Broadcasts.

He has a strong portfolio of producing and managing large events and live performances from award shows to designing, building and running the Music stages at the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham, Olympia and the Excel Centre. He has also been involved with developing new music talent both on and off-screen, working initially by representing ITV as a judge at the 'Midlands Finest' run by DEP records as part of UB40’s development of music in the regions. He then followed that up by producing a number of shows that actually showcased new musical talent: MOBO Unsung, Soul Music, Xposure, Drum Beat and Music Uncovered.

Kerry Andrews

Job: Executive Director at the Level Centre

Category: Creativity for Good

Kerry Andrews is the Executive Director of LEVEL Centre, a contemporary arts hub for the learning disabled/disabled community working with visual, performing and digital arts.

Kerry has a track record of programming, producing and fundraising. Previous roles include Artistic Director of artsdepot, Head of Producing & Artist Development at Birmingham Hippodrome and working for Arts Council England. Kerry is a board member of Peut Etre Theatre Company and on the advisory board for Rhiannon Faith Company.

karen newman

Job: Founder and Director, BOM (Birmingham Open Media)

Category: Best Digital/Creative Start Up

Karen is the Founder and Director of BOM (Birmingham Open Media), which she established in 2014. BOM is a centre for art, technology and science dedicated to creative innovation with purpose. They explore how technology can be used as a tool for change, to make society a better place. BOM's interests and expertise are in neurodiversity and technology, how technology can help disadvantaged communities, and how it can be used to address environmental problems.

Karen is the driving force behind BOM’s creative vision and mission. She is passionate about how technology can unlock the creative potential of future innovators (particularly unassuming disruptors), and how it can offer solutions to global challenges. Prior to BOM, Karen was Curator at FACT (Foundation for Art and Creative Technology) and Open Eye Gallery in Liverpool, as well as a contributing curator to Liverpool European Capital of Culture 2008 and Liverpool Biennial 2006 – 2012.

Chris Hotham & Keith Cox

Job: Directors at Bloc Digital

Category: Digital Disruptor

Keith Cox and Chris Hotham are former Rolls-Royce technical illustrators who had a vision to disrupt the design and product visualisation industry. Since initially starting their company from their spare rooms at home, they’ve made that vision a reality. They’ve developed and grown Bloc Digital into a leading digital technology studio, delivering cutting-edge digital visualisation, harnessing augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR) and web and mobile applications for global clients including RR, Siemens, national and international broadcasting.

Created in 2000 and firmly rooted in Derby, Bloc Digital is pioneering the use of emerging technologies in creative, digital visualisation and software to deliver a growing range of innovative services and products which enable organisations sectors to work smarter, be more connected and have greater impact with their customers and markets.

At the company’s heart are the Keith and Chris’ values of creativity, horizon scanning and investment in talent. A significant drive is challenging and actively changing industry assumptions that innovation, technology design and creative talent is only found in London or big cities!

The last seven years in particular has seen dramatic growth for Bloc Digital, creating a interactive and immersive powerhouse which provides clients with a full suite digital journey.

The company now employs nearly 50 people and has added architectural visualisation, creative design and branding studios alongside the development of a wider media studio to service broadcast, film, arts and heritage industries.

Daniel Poole

Job: Head of Development at Derby Theatre

Category: Mainframe Unsung Hero

Daniel Poole is the Head of Development for Derby Theatre, the UK’s only Professional Producing and Learning Theatre. In this position he is responsible for the creation and implementation of the Theatres development strategy, ensuring revenue and project funding is secured from a variety of sources. Previously to this Daniel has held positions at Tate Liverpool, The Mighty Creatives and the NSPCC.

Daniel has had a lifelong passion for the arts, dedicating his career to helping build a more resilient sector through supporting organisations to secure the partnerships and funds needed to realise their artistic and community focused ambitions. As an East Midlands native he is particularly interested in how the regions arts ecology has evolved in recent years and recognises the importance of improving diversity across the cultural and creative sectors in the region.

Stephen Goddard & Chevalier PHILIP BROOKS-STEPHENSON, kl

Job: Co-Founders at KuKu Connect

Category: Best Local Network

Stephen Goddard and Chevalier Philip Brooks-Stephenson, KL are the co-founders of KuKu Connect, a globally multi-award winning business membership which connects businesses and entrepreneurs across the East Midlands. KuKu Connect Derbyshire is well-known for the networking ‘Connect Receptions’ which take place at prestigious venues and businesses across the county where business people connect and build authentic business relationships, which build and secure new business for its members. A "no pitches, no presentations and no push approach", along with a fab venue and delicious complimentary hospitality set KuKu apart as an innovative and supportive service for an array of organisations and sectors.

KuKu Connect were the first organisations in the UK to receive a special national award for their ‘outstanding support' to businesses, charities and venues during the COVID pandemic and have gone on to be recognised by a number of global, national and local awards for innovation, the KuKu events and their inspirational and nationally impacting support to the business community over the past two years of the pandemic. KuKu Connect were the recipients of the first ever ‘Best Local Network’ award from the Derby Mainframe Awards 2021. KuKu Connect is a supporter a great number of initiatives and organisations which support businesses and community organisations and are partners to Love Business East Midlands, the Women’s Awards and the Nachural Entrepreneurship and Signature Awards. In 2021 KuKu Connect were given a Silver Award from the Ministry of Defence for their support of the Armed Forces Community.

Stephen and Philip, respectively, spent much of their childhoods growing up in Derbyshire and continue to spend many happy times walking in the Derbyshire countryside. KuKu Connect is now one of top networking organisations in the East Midlands and wider UK, with a community and audience of thousands. KuKu have been a pioneer in changing the landscape of networking events, to create positive, welcoming, friendly and fun environments that are business-effective, attracting business owners and decision makers from a broad range of sectors; it’s time to go KuKu!

Fancy having your work reviewed by one of these top flight judges?

Find out all the details and submit your nomination now.

Deadline For Nominations is the 31st January 2022

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