One week on, and people are still talking about the Creative Industry Awards 2026!

On Saturday 17 October, creatives from across the UK came together in Birmingham for another incredible celebration of talent, creativity and culture. Guests travelled from across the country including as far as Belfast to celebrate some of the people, businesses and platforms making an impact across the creative industries.

The Creative Industry Awards has always been about more than presenting trophies. It is about bringing people together, creating connections, opening doors and giving talented creatives the recognition they deserve.

This year once again showed exactly why the Awards have become such an important date in the creative calendar.

Celebrating Our 2026 Winners

Thirteen awards were presented on the night, recognising talent across music, film, photography, fashion, content creation, podcasting and the wider creative sector.

The Creative Industry Awards 2026 winners were:

Newcomer of the Year - Natalie Efua France

Makeup Artist of the Year - Michelle Court

Photographer of the Year - RahimArt

Actor of the Year - Sanchez Brown

Creative Space of the Year - Made in Brum Studio UK

Talent Agency of the Year - Atlantis Modelling Agency/Atlantis Actors/Atlantis Online

Creative Platform of the Year - Gullied Out

Podcast of the Year - Your Aunties Could Never

Content Creator of the Year - Mr Miami

DJ of the Year - Kaylee Golding

Videographer of the Year - AY Films Group

Music Artist of the Year - Jah Digga

Creative Legacy Award - So Solid Crew

Each winner represents the range, originality and talent that exists within the UK creative industries, and it was a privilege to celebrate their achievements in a room filled with fellow creatives, supporters and industry professionals.

The presentation of the Creative Legacy Award to So Solid Crew was a particularly special moment, recognising the lasting contribution the group has made to British music and culture.

Our Judges Went Above and Beyond

Behind every category was a judging process led by people who understand the creative industries and the work that goes into building a career within them.

Our judges gave their time, experience and expertise to reviewing this year’s finalists, and their involvement went far beyond simply selecting the winners. The judging panel included industry professionals such as Wizdom Layne, whose work spans artist development, youth music and creative education and has included involvement with MOBO UnSung, and Ross Wilson, whose career encompasses broadcasting, digital media and content delivery.

It was important to us that the people helping to make these decisions understood the industries and communities represented by the Awards.

Our judges also continued to support the event on the night itself. DJ Lala took to the stage to personally present the DJ of the Year trophy to Kaylee Golding, creating a brilliant moment between two women from the DJ and music community.

We are incredibly grateful to all of our judges for the time, care and commitment they gave to this year’s Awards.

Giving New Talent a Stage

One of the things we are particularly proud of is creating opportunities for emerging talent alongside established names. Earlier in the year, we opened our performance casting call, giving artists the opportunity to earn a place on the Creative Industry Awards stage. Our two open casting winners, Priscilla Cameron and Montana, did exactly that.

Priscilla Cameron helped open the evening with her performance, setting the tone for the night and stepping onto the Awards stage after being selected through our open casting process.

Later in the ceremony, Montana took to the stage for her own performance, showcasing another emerging artist to an audience made up of creatives and industry professionals from across the country.

Watching both artists go from an open casting opportunity to performing at the Creative Industry Awards was exactly what we want the platform to represent, creating genuine opportunities for talent to be seen, heard and discovered.

The entertainment continued with an energetic performance from Bellagio Dance Studios, bringing dance into a night that celebrated creativity in all of its different forms.

Our Hosts

Guiding guests through the evening were our hosts Durrty Skanz and Sacha Jones, who brought their own personalities, experience and energy to the Creative Industry Awards stage.

Durrty Skanz, presenter, broadcaster and creator of Durrty Debates, brought his unmistakable energy to the ceremony, while television personality and radio presenter Sacha Jones, also known to audiences from Married at First Sight UK, joined him in keeping the evening flowing.

Together they helped create the relaxed, celebratory atmosphere we wanted for the Awards professional, but never overly formal.

A Closing Performance to Remember

There could not have been a more fitting way to bring the ceremony to a close. Following So Solid Crew receiving the Creative Legacy Award, M.A.C of So Solid Crew and Durrty Skanz took to the stage for the final performance of the ceremony. It brought the room together for one last moment and provided the perfect transition from the Awards ceremony into the celebrations that followed. After a night dedicated to recognising both the next generation and those who have helped shape British creative culture, ending the ceremony with So Solid Crew’s M.A.C on stage felt particularly special.

Our Sponsors and Partners

This year’s Awards were made possible with the support of an incredible group of sponsors and partners, including Red Bull, DRIP, N.E.W (Nutrition Equals Wealth), Birmingham Cars Hire and Retro Cheesecake N Cakes. Their support helped us create an experience that went beyond the ceremony itself.

Birmingham Cars Hire added an extra level of excitement to the evening, pulling up with an incredible selection of luxury and supercars for our guests to experience, including a Lamborghini Urus and Rolls-Royce. Guests had the opportunity to enjoy a spin in the cars, creating another memorable part of the evening.

More Than an Awards Ceremony

What stood out most throughout the night was the atmosphere in the room. Creatives from different cities, backgrounds and disciplines were meeting, exchanging ideas, making introductions and starting conversations that we hope will continue long after the event itself. Some guests had travelled hundreds of miles to be there, with attendees joining us from across the UK and as far as Belfast.

That means a great deal to us, because ultimately, the Creative Industry Awards isn’t simply about one night. It is about building a creative community. It is about shining a light on talent that deserves recognition. It is about putting emerging talent on the same stage as established names. And it is about creating rooms where people who may never otherwise have crossed paths can meet, connect and potentially create something new.

One Week Later…

A week after the Creative Industry Awards, the messages, photographs, videos and conversations are still coming. People are still talking about the night. Guests are continuing to share their experiences, celebrate our winners, post the people they met and talk about the connections they made. For us, that is one of the biggest measures of success!

A huge thank you goes to every winner, finalist, judge, guest, sponsor, partner, performer, host, member of the media and member of our team who contributed to making the Creative Industry Awards 2026 what it was. And to everybody who travelled to Birmingham to be part of it..........thank you.

The Creative Industry Awards continues to grow because of the creative community behind it, and we are incredibly excited about what comes next.

Nominations for the Creative Industry Awards 2027 open on 1 December.