GUEST OF HONOUR AND SPEAKER REVEALED AHEAD OF THE STATIONER’S INNOVATION EXCELLENCE AWARDS CEREMONY ON OCTOBER 17TH

Today, the Stationer’s Company unveiled the guest presenter for the 2025 Innovation Excellence Awards, where the best of the Communications and Content industries will be announced.

Dr Vanessa Lawrence CB started her career as the Geography, Geology, Agriculture and Veterinary Science Publisher for tertiary education at Longman Group which today is known as Pearson; they gave her an excellent business training over the first 11 years of her career. During that time, she was awarded a Scholarship from The Stationers’ and Newspaper Makers’ Company for a project to further management and technological skills in the industry.

Vanessa now has over 35 years’ experience in the digital data community and has specialised in geographical information and space applications. From 2000-2014, Vanessa was the Director General and CEO of Ordnance Survey, Great Britain’s National Mapping Authority. She was the first woman to lead the organisation in over 200 years and eventually was the longest serving Director General since 1875.

From 2011-2015, she was the founding co-chair of the United Nations Committee on Global Geospatial Information Management (UN-GGIM) – this was the first new ‘official’ Committee formed within the United Nations, since the early 1990s. Today, UN-GGIM is globally, the lead Policy organisation working in geographical information.

As the owner of Location International, she and her team have been working internationally for the last 10 years as senior advisors to governments, inter-governmental organisations and large private sector organisations as to how they can benefit from improving their own use of location information, including data generated from Space.

Expert judges at The Stationer’s Company have now whittled down their top picks of the brands going above and beyond in 6 categories ranging from Start Ups to Education Technology.

The ultimate winners will be announced at a champagne reception and lunch on 17th October 2025, at the historic Stationer’s Hall in London, where some of the communications and

content industry’s big hitters will come together to find out who has been honoured with a coveted trophy from the Innovation Excellence Awards, now in their 11th year.

Through the awards, the Stationers’ Company recognises the key role the Communications and Content industries play in the UK economy, highlights outstanding innovation in the sector and offers the opportunity to share best practice.

Vida Barr-Jones and Kate Howell, the awards co-chairs said:

“It is a privilege to welcome Dr Vanessa Lawrence, CB the Innovation Excellence Awards ceremony this year, as we celebrate the 11th year of the awards.

Innovation is a vital means for organisations to remain relevant, competitive, and responsive in their respective industries and we want to celebrate it.

We want to extend a huge congratulations to all the shortlisted brands and companies – they should be very proud of themselves and the ceremony will be made even more special by the attendance of such an inspirational trailblazer in her field.”

There are a limited number of early bird tickets still available for the champagne reception and awards ceremony at the historic Stationer’s Hall.

ABOUT DR VANESSA LAWRENCE, CB Amongst other appointments, Vanessa is the Non-Executive Deputy Chair and Senior Independent Director of the Alan Turing Institute for Data Science and AI, the UK’s national centre for AI and Data Science, a Non-Executive Director of UK Government Investments, the UK government’s centre of excellence in corporate governance and corporate finance and the Chair of the UK’s Centre for Doctoral Training in Geospatial Systems.

Vanessa is also an Adjunct Professor at the University of Southampton, is the Honorary Colonel of 135 Geographic Squadron Royal Engineers and an Honorary Group Captain in 601 Squadron, Royal Auxiliary Air Force. She is Patron of two charities, Cure Parkinson’s and Map Action.

She has been awarded eight honorary doctorates from UK Universities and was awarded the Royal Geographical Society’s Founder’s Gold Medal in 2024. She was made a Companion of the Order of the Bath in 2008, in the New Year’s Honours.