McCann Central's Media team, UM Central, celebrates best year ever

The media agency, which has offices in Birmingham, Bristol, Leeds and London, now comprises almost 100 media experts and saw an impressive 19% growth in 2024.

This follows the promotion of Kevin Murphy, who recently celebrated 15-years with UM, to Group Managing Director, Media last year. He was tasked with enhancing growth and centralisation across the media teams in Birmingham, Bristol, McCann Demand in London and launching a UM office in Leeds. Following Kevin’s appointment, Ruepal Aujla and Lisa Barrett took on the role of Joint Heads of Media in Birmingham, whilst Grant Crymble was promoted to Group Head of Media Trading. 

In the latest evolution of the UM Central Senior Leadership Team (SLT), Andrew Coroneo has been promoted into the newly formed role of Group Head of Media Product and Innovation having delivered highly successful work with clients such as The Electoral Commission with McCann Demand’s media team. In addition, Guy Beardsley, following excellent work with UM Bristol and UM Birmingham, has moved into a leadership role at UM Leeds. Guy also worked at UM Manchester where he had worked for over 20 years on clients such as Aldi. The UM SLT also consists of Richard Maisey, Managing Partner, Media from Bristol and Nicola Daniel who leads the SLT’s media strategy output.

An award-winning year

Throughout the year, the team scored big at some of the top media awards. ‘Highlight Your Balls’, an innovative campaign created for The Testicular Cancer Society with sister agency FP7 McCann, achieved a Silver Cannes Lions, Silver and Bronze awards at the Media Week Awards, and Gold at The Drum Awards. Alongside the wins, the campaign received six additional Cannes Lions shortlists and one further Media Week Awards shortlist. 

The Birmingham team also bagged a win at the UK Social Media Awards for their Triggering Hope campaign for Network Rail. Across the group, a further three Drum Award shortlists were received for the agency’s work with Brittany Ferries, The Electoral Commission and Acer.

Kevin Murphy, Group Managing Director, Media, said “2024 has been a fantastic year for UM Central and it is a testament to the expertise, ambition and collaborative culture of our expanding team. We have gone from strength to strength and continue to invest in our teams and tools to ensure we’re delivering the best work possible for our clients. 

“To achieve continued growth is fantastic, and five awards and 10 further shortlists to acknowledge our client creativity is even more rewarding.”