Reflections from The Media Leader Awards 2025 winners
The Media Leader awards returned again this year, with the winners announced at The Future of Media London on 5 November at Kings Place.
Now in their fifth year, The Media Leader Awards remain the ultimate accolade celebrating media leadership in the UK, recognising those who are not only shaping the present but also building the future of media.
JCDecaux, Medialab, Ozone, Havas Media, Just Eat Takeaway, giffgaff and MG OMD were among this year’s winners.
The Media Leader powers these awards as part of its mission to champion best-in-class thinking and execution in UK advertising and media today.
This year, the awards continue to champion the industry’s most pressing challenges with ‘Excellence’ categories for Sustainability, Trust, and Talent, alongside a new category for 2025, recognising Best Use of AI.
Some of the winners joined The Media Leader at the studios following the award ceremony to discuss their careers and media trends for 2026.
Lee Isaacs, senior media manager, Just Eat Takeaway
Isaacs was the winner of the Future Media Leader of the Year award.
“It’s a great honour to be recognised,” he said.
Isaacs spoke to his motivations behind his career, highlighting the importance of creativity, innovation and purpose within marketing, which has driven his work in diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI).
Looking to the future, Isaacs discussed the importance of understanding how to use AI and utilising creativity to push it forward.
Watch the full interview below:
Chris Collins and Dallas Wiles, co-CEO’s, JCDecaux UK
Wiles and Collins took the Media Owners of the Company of the Year category and the Grand Prix Media Leader award.
Collins said: “It’s very nice for us to hear recognition on the fact we have undertaken a five year transformational journey and together coaching each other through ti and put in place a new UK leadership team to help us bring us through a challenging time for the media.”
Wiles added: “It just shows how a little channel like OOH can outperform the Meta’s the Google’s and can show that public media is at the forefront of change.”
Both underlined the need to be strategic in light of geopolitical uncertainty and the importance of retaining and appreciating talent.
Collins said: “Be positive — there’s so many good things, we’ve seen great growth in OOH and have communities that we work with still supporting OOH.”
Watch the full interview below:
Lisa Walker, head of media and sponsorship, Vodafone UK
Walker won the Brand of the Year award.
She said: “It’s important because it shows both to Vodafone and the broader advertising community how important media is as a function within any organisation.”
Walker also highlighted the acceleration of change, citing automation and AI, and stressed the importance of setting up in-house marketing teams to ensure brands understand how to spend media budgets wisely.
Watch the full interview below:
Suzy Ryder, CEO, OMD UK
Ryder won the Media Agency of the Year award.
She said: “I’m so over the moon, I’ve been in the role for two years now, and I’ve had a really big ambition for what I wanted to achieve in the role.”
Watch the full interview below: