Brand Champions’ Chief Operating Officer, Kerry Nicholson, has been named Operations Professional of the Year at the UK Agency Awards 2026.
The win was part of a strong showing for Brand Champions, which was also shortlisted for Independent Agency of the Year (large) and Best Agency Culture, while Alayna Hilmi-Phillips was shortlisted for the Emerging Talent Award.
The Operations Professional of the Year award is a new category for 2026, created to recognise the people behind the scenes who keep agencies running and enable them to grow. Kerry Nicholson (pictured) was selected as the winner from a shortlist of four operations professionals
Over the past 18 months, Kerry Nicholson has played a central role in strengthening the operational foundations behind Brand Champions’ growth, introducing new systems and processes to improve visibility across areas including project delivery, resourcing, utilisation and profitability.
The judges praised Kerry for having “successfully built a highly profitable, scalable operations infrastructure, which has also been rolled out to clients”, describing the submission as “a highly compelling entry with impressive commercial results”.
Kerry said: “Winning Operations Professional of the Year means a great deal, especially in a category that is brand new this year and puts the people working behind the scenes front and centre.
“Operations is rarely the loudest part of an agency, but it is what allows everyone else to do their best work. The last 18 months have been about building foundations strong enough for the business to grow on, and none of that happens without a brilliant team around me.
“I am taking this as encouragement to keep learning, keep improving and keep making a difference.”
Fiona Wylie, Founder and CEO of Brand Champions, said: “Words really can’t do justice to how deserved this award is. Kerry is so much more than an unsung hero in our business. They’re the person I turn to every day, the person the whole team turns to, and someone who somehow manages to take even the craziest ideas and make them happen.
“When you’re building a business, having someone alongside you who you can trust completely is incredibly special. I couldn’t be prouder.”
