Spirit of Manchester Awards Judges

Jeremy ‘Jez’ Myers is, by his own admission, not a writer. A recipient of Manchester City Council’s ‘Pride of Manchester’ Award and the Chairperson for the Spirit of Manchester Awards, the passionate Mancunian has often found himself championing the people of his beloved city and its surrounding areas. Whether writing in local papers or shouting about things online, Jez has a knack for rallying support around his community and doing what he can for others.

After meeting partner Maria Romanenko, a Ukrainian journalist, in 2020, Jez was set to leave Manchester for Kyiv. However, after fleeing Russia’s all-out invasion of Ukraine, Jez has thrown his full support behind the people of Ukraine through a variety of volunteering projects. The story of the escape has been featured, in part, in over one hundred major media outlets around the world and has gathered tens of millions of views.  

Jez has been Chairperson of the Awards for the last decade, an honour which he doesn’t take likely. Jez considers it to be an absolute privilege to sit with the other judges and read over the many nominations, often from the absolute unsung heroes of the community, which frequently leave him awe struck.

John is a Partner at Castlefield - The Thoughtful Investor, a business which was established in Manchester in 2002 to provide ethical investment and advice to the charity sector and private individuals. 

John has worked in financial services all his career starting out in banking, before moving over to the investment management world in 2001. His career has included spells at some very large corporations (RBS, American International Group and latterly, as a Director of Tilney Group) and also smaller, boutique-type businesses. 

Outside of work, John is a proud Mancunian and a voluntary Vice President for the charity, Forever Manchester. He enjoys playing and listening to music and is (increasingly) an armchair Manchester United supporter.