BT Visit London Awards 2010: Judges

Booking in excess of 11 million room nights a year and with a worldwide network that extends to more than 100 countries, HRG, as part of its overall corporate services strategy, provides clients with a range of hotel solutions to meet wide-ranging budgetary, service and location requirements.

Margaret's career in the hotel industry began when she graduated in Hotel Management from Portsmouth University. Since that time she has held various senior operational and sales roles for well-known hotel chains including Hilton International, Queens Moat Houses and the Forte Hotel Group.

Margaret joined HRG in November 2000, looking after the company's UK hotel relations strategy before moving to a global role. She now has responsibility for HRG's hotel product offering worldwide (HRG's Global Hotel Programme), hotel supplier relationships and the company's technology-based hotel solutions.

Stuart graduated in 1996 with a degree in Environmental Science and Technology from The Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen, and followed it a year later with a PgDip in Information Analysis. After working in many different roles he harnessed his desire for outdoor activities by training as a white water raft guide and was so successful in this field that he represented Scotland in the 2000 European Championships.  

Following this success Stuart continued his passion for outdoor water activities by becoming a Powerboat Instructor with the RYA and obtaining his Boatmasters Licence. These qualifications led him to work with the Water Sports and Activity centre, where he was responsible for running team events for corporate clients. In May 2009 he took up his current role as an assessor for the Green Tourism Business Scheme and to date he has audited more than 200 businesses.

Robin Broke had a successful first career in the Armed Forces before being appointed as Director of the Association of Leading Visitor Attractions (ALVA) in 1996. ALVA was conceived 19 years ago to represent to Government, the tourism industry, the media and the public the views and achievements of the country's foremost visitor attractions. Currently ALVA has 42 member companies/organisations managing more than 1,500 separate sites, including many of our most famous museums, galleries and heritage sites whose international standing makes them a magnet for overseas visitors.  

Robin has been actively involved with the Tourism Alliance as a Board Member since its inception, having played a large role in founding it in 2001. He is a member of the Tourism Industry's Emergency Response Group (TIER) and of the British Tourism Development Committee (BTDC). He sits on the Historic Houses Association's Tourism and Commercial Development Committee, among many other commitments.

Jo Fernandez is the travel editor at the London Evening Standard. She is also a freelance travel writer but spends the majority of her time working on the Evening Standard travel section and regular seasonal supplements and hopes to launch a travel awards scheme for the paper next year.

Mike is an established business and lifestyle journalist and social media consultant to the UK events industry. He is Contributing Editor for Visit London, and was the 2009/10 Vice-President Communications for the UK Chapter of the International Special Events Society (ISES). He's launched three magazines on behalf of Haymarket Media Group and specialises in digital, marketing, media and live events. He blogs at www.journalistfiles.blogspot.com and can be found on Twitter via @Mikeyfletch.

Richard Foulkes is Director of Special Events & Productions at Imagination, one of the world's leading independent integrated communications agencies. Joining Imagination from the theatre in 1982, Richard was instrumental in establishing the company's technical and production strategy for its event and exhibition activities. 

Moving on from that challenge, he became an influential member of Imagination's client-facing Brand Communications Group, where he was responsible for initiating and implementing face-to-face and marketing projects for a range of blue-chip clients including Warner Brothers, Ford, Coca-Cola, Orange and Guinness.

In 1999, Richard was invited to join the Imagination Board of Directors as Director of Special Events & Productions. Since then he has worked on an international scale delivering bespoke events and large-scale brand campaigns.

Richard is the current President of the International Special Event Society (ISES) UK Chapter.

Having started his career in retail travel almost 15 years ago, Chris has been with Superbreak for seven years. Originally heavily involved in the development of the overseas programme, he has more recently taken responsibility for their hotel relationships in London and has relocated to the city from York.

He is delighted to be involved in the BT Visit London Awards, commenting, "London truly is the greatest city in the world with something to offer everyone. I look forward to being involved in recognising the best of what is already a very good product offering."

Since beginning his broadcasting career with the BBC in Bristol 18 years ago, Dan has enjoyed success across a wide variety of different disciplines; Radio Programmer, Presenter and Producer.

He turned to the world of Commercial Radio in 2000 to host Somerset's Number One Breakfast Show at Orchard Fm, before becoming part of the biggest Commercial Radio Network in the UK with GCap in 2005.

In 2008, Dan packed away his headphones to create a new Head of Marketing position within UKRD (one of the Sunday Times's Best Companies to Work For) before moving to London last February.

Dan now works as the Commercial Programming Manager at London's Number One Radio Station, Magic 105.4, working with a wide range of internationally recognised brands including American Express, Directline and Specsavers along with many of London’s biggest attractions and businesses including The Science Museum, ZSL London Zoo and Visit London.

After writing for local newspapers and women's magazines for more than five years, Janine spent a year backpacking around South America. When she returned to London, she used her passion for travel to land the role as Features Writer for travel trade publication Travel Weekly, before turning freelance. Janine joined TNT magazine as Travel Editor at the start of 2010, a dream job that takes her around the world, from touring rural Spain on a Vespa to snorkelling between tectonic plates in Iceland.  

Biography to follow

Jonathan is a renowned industry commentator who specialises in market demand, financial feasibility studies, strategic planning and product development. He has advised a range of hospitality clients, from individual budget hotels through to multi-component urban and leisure resorts. Jonathan has also helped develop brand new hotel concepts.

Prior to joining TRI Hospitality Consulting, Jonathan worked for Hilton International in Brussels and for Whitbread in operational management and marketing roles. He joined TRI in 1986 and became Managing Director in 1995.

Outside his consulting activities Jonathan is a Fellow of the Institute of Hospitality and the Tourism Society, a Patron of the Edge Hotel School and sits on the Editorial Board of Hospitality Magazine. He also maintains close links with his alma mater, the University of Surrey, where he has held appointments as Visiting Fellow and Professional Stage Fellow, and frequently returns to give lectures.

Rochelle Long is editor of leading event industry magazine Meetings and Incentive Travel. A journalist for 10 years, Rochelle has a background in daily newspaper reporting in her native New Zealand. Rochelle has lived in the UK for five years and was previously deputy editor of Conference News and Conference + Meetings World.

M&IT provides event organisers with the latest news, meeting and event destinations, case studies, and event trends and strategies. For further information visit www.meetpie.com.

Biography to follow

Peter Madden is Chief Executive of Forum for the Future, a UK-based not-for-profit that develops cutting-edge sustainability solutions with some of the world's top businesses and government bodies. He is a leading expert on green issues and futures, and works on the strategies and innovations needed to prosper in a low-carbon world.  

For the last 20 years he has been an influential advocate for sustainable development. From 2002 to 2005, he worked as Head of Policy at the Environment Agency, leading teams working on issues such as climate change, and environmental economics. Prior to that, he was Ministerial Adviser to the British Government, where he advised Ministers and the Prime Minister on environmental issues. Before that, he was Director of the Green Alliance and previous to that, Head of Policy at Christian Aid.

Peter has written widely for the media and published numerous pamphlets and reports. He is currently a Board member of the London Sustainability Exchange and of the South West Regional Development Agency, and sits on the steering group of the European Commission Paradiso project on the future of the internet.

He has previously been a Board member of the UK Round Table on Sustainable Development: the European Environment Bureau; the Green Fiscal Commission; and the Green Globe Task Force.

Isabel qualified as a London Blue Badge Tourist Guide in 2006 and works with a wide variety of client groups in English, French and Italian. She is additionally qualified for both the 2012 venues and the Houses of Parliament. Since 2007, Isabel has been a Director of the Institute of Tourist Guiding, of which she is now Deputy President.

Before qualifying as a guide, Isabel's career was in tourism marketing, working for a range of blue chip companies including the British Tourist Authority (now Visit Britain) and Forte Hotels. Her most recent role was as International Marketing Director for NorthStar (Cahners) Travel Group, then part of Reed Elsevier.

Dick Porter is Chairman of the British Educational Travel Association – a membership-based organisation for education through travel into and out of Britain. He co-founded and is a Director of STA Travel, a student travel company trading in over 90 countries. He is Chairman of Top Deck Tours and Griffin Marine Travel and a Board Member of Australian Business as well as Director of a number of companies and charities.

In 1993, Trewin Restorick founded the award-winning environmental charity Global Action Plan, which runs programmes with businesses, schools, local organisations and households, bringing communities together to achieve environmental savings and social benefits.

Trewin sits on the Defra Third Sector Advisory Board and is a trustee for Sustainability and Environmental Education. He is one of Al Gore's UK Climate Change Ambassadors and is a frequent media commentator on environmental issues, appearing on Channel 4 News, Sky News, BBC Breakfast and CNN.

Before starting Global Action Plan, Trewin worked for Friends of the Earth as Recycling Coordinator and Head of Marketing. In these roles he established the first blue box kerbside recycling scheme in the UK and created Paper Round, an office based recycling scheme in London which now has a turnover of £3 million. He has also worked for Plymouth City Council, the Dartington Trust and the BBC.

Keith is a freelance consultant in travel and tourism and currently runs the Welcome To Britain project for Visit Britain. He is a barrister and, until recently, was ABTA's Head of Business Development and Consumer Affairs. He writes and broadcasts on consumer affairs, having been Senior Campaigns Lawyer at the UK's Consumers' Association and legal editor of the journal Consumer Policy Review for many years.

He is author of several consumer law books, including 450 Legal Problems Solved, and spent many years as a member of the Confederation of British Industry's Consumer Affairs Panel. Keith was responsible for ABTA's policy and strategy work on Corporate Responsibility including sustainable development, holiday health and safety, and disability access issues. Keith also led ABTA's complaints-handling, access to justice, education and events departments.

Keith is Deputy Chair of the Disabled Persons Transport Advisory Committee (DPTAC), the statutory body responsible for advising the UK Government on disabilities and accessible transport, and is chair of its International (Aviation and Maritime) Working Group. He is also a member of the DCMS tourism accessibility group and Chair of its working group on consumer engagement. Keith represents the European travel trade industry body (ECTAA) on the European Civil Aviation Conference (ECAC) disabilities group. He also represents the UK outbound tourism industry on the European Commission Tourism Sustainability Group.

Daniel spent the first six years of his career at Saatchi & Saatchi, producing communications for brands such as the NSPCC, Sony, Visa, Lexus and Proctor & Gamble.

In 2005 he moved into politics - working on the 2005 General Election campaign for Michael Howard; then for David Cameron as Head of Communications. Daniel worked on David Cameron's campaign for the Leadership of the Conservative Party in 2005 and was Campaign Director of Boris's election campaign for Mayor of London in 2008.

Daniel now works as the Mayor's Director of Marketing, with a brief to lead on developing marketing and brand strategies, and policy development to support the priorities and objectives of the Mayor. Daniel is responsible for projects including A Brand for London, marketing of the 2012 Olympic games and their legacy and promoting London as a world city for both commercial investors and visitors.

Chris's lifetime spent within the customer service industry provided the stimulation to build a company that helps its clients deliver fantastic customer service – Assured Customer Experience. Chris's enthusiasm and passion for developing a growing mystery shopping company means there is never a dull moment. He says it's reassuring to know that the company's feedback actually makes a difference to its clients and helps increase their sales and improve customer service. In these challenging times customers are demanding great value, fashioned from great service at a great price.

The nature of Chris's business ensures he is a frequent visitor to London. He says, "I believe the diverse mix of people and culture within our capital is truly the finest anywhere in the world. It is a great privilege to be judging the Visit London Awards."

Biography to follow

After completing a Drama and English degree, Alison started her career in events in 1999 by launching a new media show for Centaur Communications. She then joined CMP Information in 2001 working across Technology For Marketing and Call Centre Expo, significantly growing revenue on both products.  At this point she also launched the Call Centre Executive Forum, which is still a successful business forum onboard the MV Aurora.

Her next challenge was International Confex which, on joining in 2005, had been in a seven-year sales and visitor decline. Through recruiting a strong team from scratch and immersing herself in the industry she achieved great results and has since integrated Blue & Green, venuefinder.com and Event UK into what is now known as the Confex Group.

Since joining Cake in 2005, Chris has orchestrated successful campaigns, via the COI, for Visit London (Waterways, Outdoor Spaces), The Royal Marines (Recruitment), The Royal Navy (Sponsorship support) and The Big Lottery (People's Millions).

He provides strategic guidance to all Cake's PR clients, including blue-chip brands such as Sainsbury's, Unilever (Pot Noodle, PG Tips, Ben & Jerry's), Sky, The Prince's Rainforest Project and confused.com.

Increasingly, he ensures a seamless strategy that incorporates traditional print and broadcast media as well as new digital communications platforms and social media.

Previous client credits include Reebok, McDonald's, Gillette, Carlsberg and Johnnie Walker.

Before joining Cake, Chris was a director of Communique PR, the UK consumer arm of global giants Burson Marsteller. He previously held main board positions in the UK with Porter Novelli and Ketchum.