The RAC in Pall Mall was again the venue for the Guild’s annual Dinner and Awards presentations on the evening of Thursday 5th December, with members, their automotive PR colleagues and leading motoring and motorsport personalities enjoying another highly convivial gathering.
Welcoming the guests Guild Chair Simon Harris reminded everyone that the Guild passed another milestone in October, 80 years of existence; “Eight decades of passion, progress, and an enduring fascination for all things automotive. From the rumble of the internal combustion engine to the hum of the electric motor, from hand-cranked starters to self-driving cars (sort of) – we’ve seen it all, and we’ve told the world about it in ways that have informed, inspired, and challenged.”
Yet while proud to look back and consider how the Guild had stood the test of time, Simon emphasised that we remain a forward-thinking organisation, with such initiatives as the new awards to be presented during the evening for fundraising in conjunction with WOMAC and for diversity, as well as continuing with the Young Writer of the Year award encouraging the next generation of motoring journalists, and working with the Motor Industry Communicators Association (MICA) to present the Young PR Professional award.
Another major innovation, set to come to fruition in the new year, would be the establishment of the Young Members’ Forum, a place where younger Guild members – and non-members – can share ideas, network, and help shape the future of our profession. “This is about creating a community within a community, where the next generation can find their voice and drive the Guild toward even greater achievements,” Simon commented.
Despite all this progress and all this promise, however, Simon added that real challenges are still to be faced as we move into the future: payment rates are failing to keep pace with the cost of living, we’re doing more work now than ever for less pay in real terms and the rise of Artificial Intelligence (AI) looms over us – a real threat. To meet it members must adapt, but also protect the integrity of our craft, the authenticity of our voice, and the personal connection we all bring to everything we do.
Responding on behalf of the guests, MICA Chair Oliver Rowe took up the theme of AI, thoughts on which have also occupied the PR side of the business and which produced one of MICA’s training themes of 2024 – the impact of AI on automotive communications, how it be can used wisely, and whether it has it the potential to replace us in the future.
“In short, its select and discerning deployment does have a role, but not yet the ability to take over,” Oliver said, though adding; “For the rest of this decade, as MICA heads to 10 years old, I’d like to think that man and machine can be in balance. For the turn of the century, when the Guild turns 160, the real me isn’t so sure…”
The evening’s presentations began with two very special ones, the first being the induction of MICA Managing Director Richard Gotch as a Friend of the Guild. The Friends are an exclusive club with the number at any one time restricted, but Simon added that Richard has definitely earned his place.
“His contributions to our industry go far beyond the professional, someone whose dedication, skill, and passion have had a lasting impact on many people in this room, Simon said.
He added that Richard’s leadership is elevating the art of communication, fostering collaboration and inspiring a shared commitment to excellence; “But what sets him apart is his unwavering support for others as well as his longstanding support for the Guild of Motoring Writers.”
Simon then invited David Richards, CEO of motorsport innovators Prodrive Ltd, onto the stage for the presentation of the Pemberton Trophy, given annually to a member of the Guild who has made an outstanding contribution, although not exclusively through journalism.
This year the award went to former committee member Ian Wagstaff, a fitting recognition of Ian’s exceptional contributions to motoring journalism and literature. His career spans decades, beginning with race reporting for Motoring News and Autosport, a stint as Press and Promotions Manager at Silverstone and then later, as editor of Auto Accessory Retailer, laying the groundwork for a long freelance career, during which he contributed to renowned outlets including Financial Times Automotive and The Economist Intelligence Unit.
Ian is the author of more than 20 books and his work in the Porter Press series on Great and Exceptional Cars has set a benchmark for detailed automotive histories. His most recent work is a history of Prodrive, so it was a particular delight that a very surprised Ian received his trophy from David Richards.
GOMW and MICA Young PR Professional of the Year Award
This award brings together the Guild and colleagues in the Motor Industry Communicators Association to recognise the talent in young automotive PR professionals. It is open to PRs aged 30 and under and the judges were looking for the best example of performance, professionalism, insight and practice.
Guild Chair Simon Harris and MICA Managing Director Richard Gotch presented the award to Melissa Lodge. Melissa’s work experience includes four years of PR across the automotive, luxury and B2B sectors working with account managers, facilitating media interviews, organising hosted driving events, broadcasting and data analysis before starting her current role as Senior Press Officer at Genesis Motor UK in June 2024.
Highly Commended: Emma Illman (Hyundai Motor UK), Will Rees (Kia UK)
AA Campaigning for Motoring Award
From road safety to electric vehicles, or roads maintenance to environmental issues, the judges wanted to see examples of how entrants have built and delivered their case to improve the lives of all road users.
AA Public Relations Manager Tony Rich presented the award to James Foxall, the judges considering James’s articles on the pothole problem had a coherent and consistent theme that developed further with each article, as well as a call to action for the audience, encouraging them to enter their own pothole story.
See the winning entry
Highly Commended: Louise Cole, Mike Rutherford
BCA Feature Writer of the Year Award
This always hotly-contested award is given to the writer judged to have made the most outstanding contribution to automotive feature writing. It was presented by BCA Head of Public Relations and Friend of the Guild Tim Naylor, making his final presentation before retirement next year after three decades of unstinting support for the Guild.
The winner was Maxine Ashford, who in a fresh look at the topic of electric vehicles, tackled the issue of disabled drivers accessing public charging points and the physical hurdles they face, producing an extremely interesting and well researched story.
See the winning entry
Highly Commended: James Foxall, Adam Hay-Nicholls
Bentley Editor of the Year
This award saw two of the three finalists shortlisted for a second year in succession but it was the third, Pal Negyesi, who was named the winner and presented with his trophy by Bentley Motors Head of Product Communications Mike Sayer.
The judges felt Pal’s application stood out, not least for the quality and consistency of his title Rare & Unique Vehicles, but also his enthusiastic commitment to the concept, whilst producing something totally original in a relatively saturated market.
See the winning entry
Highly Commended: Richard Aucock (Auto Retail Bulletin), Tom Geggus (Autovista24)
Genesis Award for Automotive Technology Journalism
This award recognises engineering excellence for technical audiences that also proves easily accessible to non-specialists. Genesis Motor UK’s Head of PR and Communications Simon Branney presented the trophy to Yousuf Ashraf.
The judges enjoyed reading Yousaf’s well-written piece taking an in-depth and engaging technical deep-dive into the Aston Martin Vanquish – it was insightful without being heavyweight and managed to balance storytelling with technological details.
See the winning entry
Highly Commended: Trinity Francis, James Taylor
Gordon Bruce Classic Writer of the Year sponsored by Hampson Auctions
The award for classic writers has been renamed in memory of the late and greatly respected long-term supporter and friend of the Guild, Gordon Bruce. Gordon’s wife Marilyn and Zach Hamilton, Managing Director of sponsor Hampson Auctions, presented the award to Simon Hucknall.
Simon’s well written work on the mighty, thundering titans of the Edwardian racing age and why they were originally created won him the award for a second successive year, the judges feeling that it made for a gripping read.
See the winning entry
Highly Commended: Giles Chapman, Karl Ludvigsen
IVECO Commercial Vehicle Writer of the Year
This award, which provides an important insight into the world of commercial vehicles, was another won for a second successive year by Trinity Francis, who triumphed over a shortlist of previous winners.
IVECO Brand Communications, Events and PR Manager Tyler Heatley presented the award to Trinity for an entry that the judges felt not only displayed exemplary knowledge of her subject matter, but also a real passion for it.
See the winning entry
Highly Commended: Jack Carfrae, Brian Weatherley
Prodrive Motorsport Cup
This, one of the most popular awards and presented by Prodrive CEO David Richards, recognises an outstanding achievement by a Guild member reporting on motorsport at any level.
The winner for a third time was Vaishali Dinakaran, who travelled from her home in Germany to collect her trophy. The judges felt Vaishali’s insightfully written, very personal take on her journey would engage an onlooker into motorsport, not focusing on the winners but the participants, highlighting the sense of achievement and joy the sport brings – a story crafted rather than just written.
See the winning entry
Highly Commended: Jonathan Noble, James Taylor
Prova PR Business Writer of the Year
Still supported by its founding sponsor, this award saw the judges looking for a clarity of writing and well-researched articles, both of which this year’s robust entry list provided.
Prova PR founder Richard Postins presented the award to Richard Aucock, whose submission stood out from an extremely high standard of entries both for his impressive deftness at getting to the core of an issue and for his ability to generate an incredible amount of quality content week on week.
See the winning entry
Highly Commended: Tom Hooker, Tim Wallace
RAC EV Journalist of the Year
This award saw judges looking for a single article specifically related to the use of electric vehicles that was informative, innovative and entertaining, and was presented by RAC Senior Press Officer, Rod Dennis, to James Foxall.
The submission that won James his second award of the evening was described by the judges as an extremely comprehensive, detailed and balanced article weighing up all considerations of an EV buyer. The judges added that James writes accessibly, includes many supportive data points and uses quotes from industry stakeholders to provide a well-rounded take on EV purchasing.
See the winning entry
Highly Commended: Dino Buratti, Alex Goy
Subaru Photographic Awards
The phrase ‘a picture is worth a thousand words’ is proved time and time again with the exceptional quality of the entries in the Guild’s annual Photographic Awards, which this year welcomed a new sponsor in Subaru.
Unfortunately work commitments prevented both the winners of the Motorsport and General categories from being with us. Finalist Will Broadhead collected the Motorsport Award on behalf of winner Drew Gibson from Subaru Public Relations Manager Brian Wheeler, while Jayson Fong was named winner of the General category – his trophy will be passed to him at a later date.
See Drew Gibson and Jayson Fong’s winning entries
Highly Commended (Motorsport): Will Broadhead, Michael Stokes
Highly Commended (General): Peter McFayden, Michael Stokes
Suzuki Award for the Montagu of Beaulieu Trophy
This is one of the Guild’s blue riband awards and one of the few open to both Guild members and non-Guild members alike, catering exclusively for books. The entry list reflected an interesting and eclectic mix of submissions.
The first, second and third-placed finalists received their trophies from Suzuki Head of Press and PR Alun Parry, with the top prize going to John Mayhead for Goldie: The amazing story of Alfred Goldie Garner. Described by the judges as a remarkable first book from John, it is a biography of Lieutenant-Colonel ‘Goldie’ Gardner and an account of his prolific record-breaking before and after the Second World War – painstakingly researched over many years and full of historical detail.
Second place was taken by George Levy for his book Texas Legend: Jim Hall and his Chaparrals. Based in the US, George was unable to attend on the evening and his award was collected by his publisher Eric Verdon-Roe.
George’s book is the first and only official biography of Jim Hall, the man who designed and built some of the world’s most innovative race cars at his isolated headquarters in Texas. All of the Chaparrals are described in exhaustive detail.
Previous finalist Graham Rabagliati took third place for his book Emeryson: The Life of Paul Emery. Filling a gap in motor racing history. Graham produced an incredibly well researched work detailing the life of Paul Emery, his cars, engines and racing, much of which was achieved on a shoestring budget.
See the winning entry
Second place: George Levy
Third place: Graham Rabagliati
Toyota Young Writer of the Year
This award made a welcome return this year with a new sponsor, Toyota providing the support enabling us to provide both Guild and non-Guild members under the age of 30 with the opportunity to showcase their work. The judges looked for articles that exhibited a combination of thorough research and well-crafted journalism.
Toyota’s Senior Press Officer, David Crouch, presented the award to Ryan Standen for his fabulous story published in Classic & Sportscar on an infamous Lotus Carlton that was used in a series of ram raids in the 1990s – a car so quick it easily outran the police. The story was forensically researched and featured not only the original owner’s replacement Lotus Carlton but also a period police Rover SD1.
See the winning entry
Highly Commended: Yousuf Ashraf, Alex Wolstenholme
Sue Baker Journalist of the Year – sponsored by loop
This award sees the judging panel carefully accessing the winning entries in this year’s Awards with a particular emphasis being placed on initiative and endeavour. It was presented by Guild Chair Simon Harris and loop’s Head of Agency Tim Bowdler to James Foxall. James impressed the judges in all the categories he entered in what proved to be an impressive strike rate.
GOMW & WOMAC Award for Fundraising – sponsored by Sims Images
The first of two new awards introduced this year sees the Guild joining with Women on the Move Against Cancer (WOMAC). Open to Guild and non-Guild members alike, this award is presented to a member of the automotive media, or an automotive media organisation, that has made a significant endeavour in fundraising for charity.
Guild Chair Simon Harris and MD of award sponsor Sims Images Georgia Fox presented the award to Paul Philpott, President and CEO of Kia Motors UK. Throughout his career Paul has taken bold and meaningful actions to support an array of UK charities and causes. He continually ensures corporate success is shared with charity partners and other worthy causes, all in the view of helping others.
Over the years this has amounted to significant sums of money being donated to worthy causes which include The Walton Charity, The Children’s Trust and most recently The Surrey Wildlife Trust, a local charity dedicated to protecting local nature reserves and environment.
Paul also ensures that automotive industry specific charity organisations are fully supported while on a personal level, he ran the London Marathon raising in excess of £48,000 only to return the following year with eight more colleagues and raise even more. For more than a decade he has provided financial support for underprivileged children in Sudan, and closer to home he is a regular contributor to The Teenage Cancer Trust – Paul is a worthy winner of our initial Fundraising Award.
Guild Special Contribution to Motoring Award – sponsored by Kia UK
The 2024 recipient of this award is Daniel Geoghegan, who always dreamt of creating a country club for classic cars but never really developed the idea until he found himself recovering from a broken pelvis following an accident during a vintage car rally. He realised he needed a site with lots of empty buildings to provide sustainable futures and economic viability and began to look at disused airfields.
As a result RAF Bicester became Bicester Heritage – purchased in 2013, the 10-year business plan was achieved by Year 6 and the site now hosts more than 50 specialist automotive businesses, all of which involve different high-skill, high-knowledge jobs.
Several years ago the team threw down some straw bales and invited cars to gather on site, naming it Scramble Sunday. About 350 people turned up with an eclectic mix of vehicles. Nowadays, Scrambles regularly attract 7,500 visitors.
Six years ago, the Starter Motor charity was established to promote apprenticeships thereby offering youngsters an opportunity to become ambassadors for the charity. In the last couple of years 5,000 young visitors have attended careers days.
Unfortunately Daniel was unable to attend the dinner, so Starter Motor charity General Manager Steve Coates received the award from Kia Head of Press and Public Relations Daniel Sayles and Guild Chair Simon Harris.
GOMW Diversity Award
The second new award for 2024 honours an organisation in the automotive sector that has excelled in promoting diversity, inclusion and equality and was this year presented to Females in Motorsport.
This organisation began as an outlet for founder Helen Hicks’ journalism student coursework and quickly grew in numbers, with an ever-growing following on social media and its dedicated website, and with endorsements at the highest levels of motorsport.
Today, the organisation is a volunteer-run resource for women keen to work in motorsport and a place to celebrate diverse female racing talent. Since 2018, more than 30 women have been involved in the platform, with many going on to work full-time in motorsport making it the largest women-in-motorsport page across the globe. It averages 8,000 reads a month on its website, video views are around three million a month and impressions are just shy of five million.
Females in Motorsport also has a focus on placing young women in industry, including arranging internships. It has also worked with JLR and hosted a number of one-day educational events in collaboration with the brand’s Formula E team, as well as playing a key role in resourcing and promoting McLaren’s 60 Scholars initiative.
Helen received the Award from Guild Chair Simon Harris.
Young Driver of the Year
The Guild’s two awards for rising motorsport stars suffered this year from the simple fact that both winners were still to complete their competitive seasons! We will ensure their trophies are presented to them at a later date.
Oliver Bearman, named the Guild’s Young Driver of the Year, was in Abu Dhabi for the final round of the Formula One World Championship, ahead of his taking up a full-time seat with the Haas team in 2025. Born in London and raised in Chelmsford, our Young Driver of the Year has had quite the career despite his young age – he is still only 19.
Oliver started racing in karts in 2013 and secured impressive results, winning the Kartmasters British Grand Prix in 2017 and in 2019 taking the IAME International Final, IAME Euro Series and IAME Winter Cup. He then switched to Formula 4 single seaters in Germany and Italy and at the age of 16 left school to pursue his career in motorsport, joining the Ferrari Driver Academy in Modena. He progressed to Formula 3 and in 2023 the FIA Formula 2 Championship, on the F1 Grand Prix support card, and he took sixth in the championship with four race wins.
Continuing in F2 in 2024 but also named a reserve driver for the Ferrari F1 team, Oliver’s most notable achievement to date was when he stepped in at very short notice during the 2024 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix when regular driver Carlos Sainz had to withdraw with appendicitis. Oliver qualified in P11, becoming Ferrari’s youngest-ever F1 driver, and finished the race in P7, becoming the youngest driver to get points on their debut race. He also raced for Haas in the Azerbaijan and Brazil GPs ahead of joining the team full-time in 2025.
Young Rider of the Year
The Guild’s Young Rider of the Year, Davey Todd, was also unable to be with us as he had racing commitments in New Zealand.
Davey’s father bought him a small motocross bike in 1998 when he was just three years old. Age six, he entered his first race, finishing in fourth place and in the following year he won the same championship. He went on to many wins in Motocross but also suffered several bad injuries. Progressing to Supermoto he rode in the British and European Championships and then in 2015 moved away from off-road racing to ride a Supersport bike on short circuits.
Disillusioned with short-circuit racing, Davey switched to the roads in the 2017 with outings at Armoy and Oliver’s Mount in Scarborough, but it was in the following year he confirmed his potential. Making his Isle of Man TT debut, he took two top 10 finishes and lapped at more than 128mph, becoming the then second fastest newcomer.
In 2019 he built on that promise, finishing in the top 10 in all five of his races, including sixth place in the Senior TT Race with a fastest lap of 131.491mph, a stunning effort in just his second year on the Mountain Course. He also won at the North West 200 and scored podiums at the Ulster Grand Prix and Classic TT.
He was then signed by Honda but the Covid pandemic resulted in him losing his ride after the TT was cancelled for a second year. In 2022 he was a revelation wherever he rode, winning the British Superstock Championship and on the roads, taking wins at the Southern 100 and Oliver’s Mount, plus his first TT podium, third, in the Superstock race and fourth in the Senior.
This year of 2024 saw Davey’s best season yet. Riding both BMW and Ducati machines he took three wins at the North West 200, followed by his most notable breakthrough on the Isle of Man a fortnight later, where he won two TTs at lap-record pace against stiff opposition.
Outstanding Achievement in Motorsport
This award recognises an outstanding achievement made by a British driver or rider of any age in any form of motorsport during the current year, and was presented by Guild Chair Simon Harris to Michael Dunlop.
Michael was born into a motorcycle racing family and first raced in the Irish Mini Bike Championship, before stepping up to a 125 on short circuits. His first true road race was the 2006 Cookstown 100 where he led by the end of the second lap and went on to win by 22 seconds – a sign of things to come.
His first taste of success on the Isle of Man came in the 2006 Manx Grand Prix, a race for amateurs and newcomers using the same Mountain Course as the TT. Michael won the Junior race and made his TT debut the following year in the Superbike TT.
He took his first of a long list of TT victories in the 2009 Supersport race. While he has since won on many other road racing courses, it is his achievements at the Isle of Man TT which qualify him for this award. He has made the Supersport class his own with a total of 13 wins, has taken five wins in both Superbike and Supertwins and three a piece in Superstock and Senior classes.
This year, he passed his uncle Joey’s equally remarkable tally of 26 wins, making him the most successful TT rider of all time with 29 wins. In total, Michael has stepped on to the TT podium on 68 occasions, which, at the age of 35, is a truly remarkable achievement.
President’s Trophy
The scheduled final Award of the night was presented by Guild President Nick Mason and honoured one of a tiny number of female automotive company CEOs. Joining the industry as a temporary accounting clerk, Linda Jackson has broken through a few glass ceilings on her way to being CEO of Peugeot. She secured her first automotive industry job in 1977 with British Leyland and stayed with the company through its transformation to Austin Rover and Rover Group, where she held numerous positions in finance and sales.
Linda became finance director of Rover France in 1998 being promoted to managing director two years later, and European finance director of MG Rover in 2004. She was then hired as finance director of Citroën UK in 2005 and promoted to the same position at Citroën France in 2009.
She became known to many of us while serving as managing director of Citroën UK and Ireland from 2010-14 where she helped put the brand on a more secure footing and oversaw an increase in sales at a time when it was undergoing a transformation.
She was appointed CEO of Citroën in 2014, becoming the first British woman to run a car manufacturer, and only the third woman to achieve that in the entire automotive industry. Under her leadership, the Citroën brand was stabilised and became more profitable.
Appointed CEO of Peugeot in 2021 following the formation of Stellantis, Linda has overseen the growth in sales and leadership in the European small car sector. Along the way she has won several industry accolades, including being named Autocar’s Most Influential Woman and the Sue Brownson Award for Outstanding Leadership in Automotive.
The President’s Trophy often recognises the highest achievers in motorsport, vehicle design, racers and riders. Winners in the ‘business’ side of automotive are a little rarer.
