Winner: Pippa Jacks, group editor, TTG Media
Pippa Jacks drives the editorial strategy of TTG Media, publisher of the weekly travel trade magazine TTG. The judges praised her work to keep TTG Media "current and relevant" and her passion about her role in the wider industry.
Since joining TTG as a graduate trainee in 2006, Jacks has risen to lead its editorial operation as group editor. After promoting the idea of the travel industry as a force for good for many years, in 2019 Jacks worked with research and design partners to develop a new purpose for the business. The theme "For smarter, better, fairer travel" now underpins everything the company does – from news stories of 100 words to events for 1000 people.
New website hubs, a registration gate and a renewed focus on bulletins has bolstered TTG Media’s online operation and driven digital revenue growth of 31%. Jacks is also key to the business’ live operation. She led the repositioning of the TTG Travel Awards, due to relaunch as The Travel Industry Awards by TTG later this year, and runs the TTG Top 50 Travel Agencies scheme, which brings in £300,000 a year.
Highly Commended:
Oliver Duff, editor, i
In a year when i overtook The Guardian as the UK’s most trusted digital newsbrand (PAMCo), its editor Oliver Duff claims a well-earned Highly Commended for an "extremely impressive job", the judges said. Duff’s 90-strong team delivered scoops such as exposing a £70m black hole in the Conservatives’ spending pledges, driving readership (up 54% across print and digital in 2019) and revenue (digital revenue rose 29% last year). Judges commended the paper’s "incredible results in an overcrowded market"– a record that was vindicated when Daily Mail & General Trust acquired the title at the end of 2019.