Co-op Live, Far and Beyond, London Marathon Events, LS Events, OVO Arena Wembley, Shambala Festival and Victorious Festival were among the big winners at the Access All Areas Awards 2025.

Hosted at Novotel London West by comedian Andrew Maxwell, with K4 Group the headline sponsor, the event saw the winners of 22 categories announced, culminating with the presentation of the Access All Areas Editor’s Award.

Since the Editor’s Award was introduced in 2023 it has been won by Glastonbury Festival’s Emily Eavis and Green Man Festival owner Fiona Stewart. The 2025 award was presented to London Marathon Events (LME) CEO Hugh Brasher, with the team from LME having earlier collected the trophy for Best Operations Team.

L-R: Andrew Maxwell, Hugh Brasher, Christopher Barrett

Brasher was presented with the award by AAA content director Christopher Barrett. It has proven to be a remarkable year for the London Marathon, that saw it become the world’s largest single-day fundraising event, with the £87.3 million generated this year bringing the cumulative amount raised since the events’ inception to £1.4 billion.

On collecting the award Brasher said, “We work in an industry that I think is under appreciated in this country. What you each individually do every day is get up and inspire people to get together, and it is this getting together that we need more than ever before. You do it day in, day out; you inspire people to come together and to feel incredible.

“This award is absolutely wonderful. It feels like a real legacy in terms of my father co-founding the marathon in 1981. But the reality of this award is it isn’t really for me; I have the most incredible operations and event experience team.

“As an industry, we bring over £60 billion to the economy and this government has no idea, so what we should be doing is givng the power to the Power of Events, to get together, to shout about what we do, because it really does make a difference.”

The awards ceremony followed the Access All Areas Conference, sponsored by the Pink Bows Foundation. The conference saw key industry figures including Superstruct UK MD Mandy Johnson, LIVE CEO Jon Collins, Martyn’s Law campaign leader Figen Murray OBE, UKCMA chair Anne Marie Chebib and Special Projects director John Wilson take to the stage to discuss major issues ranging from the implementation of Martyn’s Law and the Showstop Procedure to the challenges of short production timescales in Saudi Arabia, the need for festival tax relief in the UK and the plans for the LIVE Trust’s fund distribution.

The winners of the Access All Areas Awards 2025:

Best Independent Festival: Shambala Festival

Best Indoor Venue: OVO Arena Wembley

Best Live Event Supplier: Illusion Design & Construct

Best Newcomer (Event/Venue): Co-op Live

Best Operations Team: London Marathon Events

Best Outdoor Venue: Marvel Stadium

Best Programming: Rock N Roll Circus

Best Sustainable Initiative: LS Events

Best Visitor Experience: Raver Tots

Creative Agency of the Year: Visual Architects

Freelancer of the Year: Emily Kenward

Live Event of the Year (Europe): Altitude Comedy Festival

Live Event of the Year (MEA): Live Nation Middle East – Coldplay Music of the Spheres World Tour

Live Event of the Year (North America): AEG Presents – Tyler, the Creator, Chromakopia World Tour

Live Music Event of the Year: Victorious Festival

Production Agency of the Year: Far and Beyond

Sports Event of the Year: DP World Tour

The Diversity and Inclusion Award: Continental Drifts

The Legacy Award: The Royal Parks

The Rising Star Award: James Blackall

Employer of the Year: enTEEtianment

Editor’s Award: London Marathon Events CEO Hugh Brasher

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