pro-manchester Creative Conference 2025

Stanley Chow was born and raised in Manchester. He started his career designing flyers and posters for clubs and bars in Manchester City centre, whilst also DJing at many of the venues including Fab Café, Night & Day and The Roadhouse during the late 90s. Around that time he also started finding work for women’s fashion lifestyle magazines: More, Elle, Marie Claire, Sunday Times supplement amongst others; plus he had as spell story boarding ads for Head and Shoulders and M&S.

In 2007 Stanley’s career went global, after being hired to do some design work for The White Stripes, which was subsequently nominated for a Grammy Award in 2008. Soon after he was illustrating on ad campaigns for Vodafone, BT, VW, McDonald’s as well as working for multiple newspapers and magazines in the US including The New Yorker, New York Times, Time, Wall Street Journal, Variety, Washington Post to name a few.

More recently in Manchester, Stanley’s illustrations were used for the ‘Get me There’ Metrolink travel card branding, before The Bee Network came in and also the branding illustrations every year for The Chinese New Year celebrations in the city. His portraits, which Stanley is probably best known for can also be spotted around the city, notably a permanent public exhibit in the Great Northern Warehouse and also at Hotel Football where many of his portraits of footballers are exhibited.

Jo comes from a global advertising agency background.She understands the importance of strategic campaign work and its placement in equal measure. Jo has worked across a multitude of both B2C and B2B client sectors, delivering through-the-line campaigns for the likes of: Britannia Building Society, Magnet Kitchens, DAF Trucks, Thomson Reuters and smaller SME businesses. At Truth, Jo has worked across a diverse range of industries to support TTL campaign work, including but not limited to: The Authentic Food Company, M247, Newcastle University London, University Academy 92, Shaws of Darwen and GC Aesthetics. Jo is adept at understanding the wider strategic business objectives,ensuring an integrated campaign supported by research, insight and media planning can maximise its effectiveness and ROI.

Jess is the Digital Content Director at BIG Partnership in Manchester. With a proven track record in creating impactful content and PR strategies that drive positive business outcomes, she is a keen advocate of the power of digital content in the marketing mix. She works with brands to develop meaningful and engaging communication assets, leveraging performance, audience and trend data to craft truly holistic strategies.

Peter Dickinson is the Founder of KUB and Co-Founder of Vyzion International. He is also a long established business coach and digital marketer and has worked with over 600 businesses from a wide range of sectors over the last 22+ years. Peter has worked with technology for the last 40+ years and holds several degrees including an MBA from the Open University.

Peter and the team launched Vision2Success to help ambitious business owners grow their businesses, disrupt their sectors, and develop a vision that delivers on their goals. Vision2Success offers a range of services, including free workshops, a comprehensive guide to digital marketing in the form of an eBook, free and more in-depth paid online learning, marketing support, and support as outsourced marketing support through our 90-day marketing accelerator programme.

Experienced marketing and communications professional with a proven track record of driving strategic initiatives and delivering measurable results across a range of B2B and B2C environments. Adept at managing integrated and creative campaigns, building strong brands, and leveraging digital channels to generate leads and enhance market exposure. Collaborative leader and project management specialist.

Sam has been at pro-manchester for 17 years and has been an integral part of its growth from a small, effective membership network to a sophisticated business development organisation. A firm part of the Manchester business community, Sam is a familiar face to most, constantly and efficiently working to bring businesses together in the city region.

As chief executive, Sam is responsible for the organisation’s corporate engagement as well managing all existing key partnerships and member relationships. Sam manages the day-to-day running and strategic direction of the business alongside Nicola McCormick – COO. They run the organisation together as equal partners with shared responsibility.

Sam also sits on the board of trustees for Forever Manchester, a charity that supports community activity across Greater Manchester. As well as this, Sam also sits on the Greater Manchester Economic Resilience Board, the Greater Manchester Organisational Representatives Group, the Manchester Business Sounding Board, the Bee Net Zero Advisory Board and the Manchester tech hub Board.

In 2019 Sam also became the Regional Deputy Chair of TheCityUK, where she helps to engage the national body on a regional level on behalf of individuals in the financial and professional services industries. In 2022 Sam was featured in the inaugural Top 50 North West tech Transformers list complied by BusinessCloud

Steve specialises in Intellectual Property, Media, Social Media, Marketing and Privacy Law with a nationally-recognised niche specialism in social media matters. He works mainly in the Media, Digital, Creative, Film, Television, Publishing, Advertising and PR sectors, and is regularly listed as a “Recommended Lawyer” in the Legal 500. He is also the head of our Creative, Digital & Marketing Department, co-founding the Bulletproof Agency Network to help businesses within the sector thrive against a changing commercial and regulatory landscape.

Working across the public and private sectors, Steve brings passion, commitment and commercial expertise to bear for his clients to manage and reduce legal, commercial, regulatory, and reputational risk. Steve deals with both contentious and non-contentious matters, ranging from litigation before the County and High Court to cross-jurisdictional disputes and complex advisory and regulatory work involving the Information Commissioners’ Office, OFCOM and Advertising Standards Authority.

Steve is also a member of the national Law Society Council, as well as the Council of Manchester Law Society, a Board Member of an Honorary Solicitor to the MPA, and a Board Member of Rochdale Development Agency. In his (limited) spare time, Steve is a 1st Dan Black Belt in Shukokai Karate, Husband to Claire, Dad to James and Charlotte and a pop culture. comics, movie and music geek.

Working collaboratively, the Embryo team tackles business challenges from unexpected angles by
combining deep curiosity, bold creativity and innovative technology. Add in expertise in
Organic (SEO, content, digital PR), Paid (PPC, affiliate marketing, paid social) and Creative
(UX/UI design, conversion rate optimisation) they elevate emerging brands and ensure
established companies retain their prominence.

I’m Olly Moriarty, Creative Director at Big Partnership. I’m all about collaboration, creativity, and bringing energy into the studio. I love those lightbulb moments and believe in bold thinking, attention to detail, and finding creative solutions that make a BIG impact.

I’ve been lucky enough to work across a wide range of sectors, from beauty and wellness to entertainment and tech. Highlights include shaping campaigns for Charlotte Tilbury, The Ordinary and Kérastase, as well as working on storytelling and ideation for Disney and premium creative for Miele.

I love a quote and here is one of my favourites – Creativity is seeing what others see and thinking what no one else ever thought.

Sophie comes from a varied marketing background of both brand and agency roles. She understands the importance of strategic, omnichannel marketing and consults on this day to day as a Head of Strategy at Embryo. Sophie has worked across B2C and B2B sectors, delivering multichannel campaigns in-house, for Faith In Nature, Native Communities and smaller SME businesses. At Performance Marketing Agency, Embryo, Sophie works across a diverse range of industries to outline strategies and measure performance. She understands wider strategic business objectives and ensures that marketing objectives complement these, ensuring campaigns are supported by research, insight and media planning, to maximise effectiveness and return.