We Won! Apex Takes Home Marketing Team of the Year Award at Network Group 2026 Gala

Last week, we headed to Glasgow for the Network Group Exhibition, Gala and Awards 2026 with three incredible shortlistings to celebrate:

• MSP of the Year (+£2.5m Turnover)
• Technical Team of the Year
• Marketing Team/Campaign of the Year

And we are absolutely delighted to share that Apex won Marketing/Campaign Team of the Year 2026!

Rachael McKenzie (Marketing Manager), Daniel Shone (Managing Director) and Chris Gorman (CEO) with award presenter Phylip Morgan (Pax8)
Photo Credit: Jermane Clark @ i.One Photography

Held at the Hilton Glasgow on 23^rd April, the Network Group Gala brought together members, partners and vendors from across the UK IT channel to celebrate the achievements, growth and collaboration of the Network Group community. The shortlists included some brilliant businesses across the MSP, partner, vendor, technical, innovation, marketing and account management categories, making this recognition even more special.

A huge congratulations to every winner, runner-up and finalist recognised on the night. In the Marketing category, we were shortlisted alongside some fantastic UK MSPs from 1-Fix, Aabyss, Morgan & Morgan, Nebula IT, Node IT, Think Cloud and Urban Network, so to win among such strong company is something we’re incredible proud of.

A win for the whole Apex team

Although this was a marketing award, it was never just about marketing.

This recognition reflects the creativity, support, trust, and collaboration that happens across Apex every day. It’s a celebration of the people who have helped us tell the Apex story more clearly, more consistently and more confidently over the last year.

When marketing cam fully in-house in early 2025, the aim wasn’t simply to “do more marketing”, it was to build something more strategic, more measurable and more reflective of who Apex really is: a people-first IT partner that helps businesses make IT simple. That work has included brand awareness campaigns, customer-focused content, events, webinars, video, automation, social media, lead generation, internal engagement, culture activity and a stronger data-led approach to measuring what works.

But the reason it has worked is because the people across Apex have got involved. A special thank you goes to CEO, Chris Gorman and Managing Director, Daniel Shone for their support, direction and belief in the value of marketing, and to the wider leadership team for helping create a space for new ideas, campaigns and ways of working; led by our Marketing Manager, Rachael.

We also want to recognise the many people across the business who have supported marketing activity over the last year, including Brandon, Daryl, Ross, Faizan, Harriet, Kate, Laura, Michael, Hasan, Matthew, Jon, Luke, Stephen, Christy, Joshua, Paul, Femi, and everyone else who has shared their expertise, appeared in content, supported events, given feedback, helped shape campaigns or stepped forward to represent Apex. From technical experts leading webinars and sharing insights, to team members appearing in videos, social content and even on billboards across Manchester city centre and Manchester Airport, this award belongs to everyone who helped make Apex’s marketing more human, more useful and more connected to the real people behind our business and the North West SMEs we support.

What Helped Us Win?

The award recognised the progress Apex has made in building a more consistent, useful and customer-focused approach to marketing. Over the last year, our focus has been on helping businesses across Greater Manchester and the wider North West better understand their IT, cyber security and digital transformation challenges – and feel more confident about the decisions they need to make.

We worked hard to make Apex more visible and accessible to local SME decision-makers, using brand campaigns across Manchester to highlight the importance of having a responsive, proactive IT partner. These campaigns helped bring Apex into more conversations with businesses looking for better support and a more people-first approach to IT.

We also improved how we connect with businesses at events. Apex’s first ever trade exhibition was supported by a full campaign before, during and after the event, helping us have better conversations, capture real business challenges and follow up in a more helpful, structured way.

A key part of 2025 was sharing more practical expertise. Our cyber security webinar gave North West businesses clear, accessible guidance on protecting their organisations, while also giving Apex’s internal specialists a stronger platform to share their knowledge directly with customers and business leaders.

Behind the scenes, we improved the systems that support our marketing, including HubSpot workflows, lead nurturing, reporting, social media planning and video-led content. These improvements mean we can communicate more consistently, respond to interest more effectively and create more relevant content for the businesses we support.

We also strengthened our online presence, making it easier for local businesses to find trusted advice when searching for IT support, cyber security guidance and AI services in Manchester.

The launch Sentinel, Apex’s first digital magazine, was another major milestone. Created to share useful insight on cyber security, digital transformation and IT strategy, Sentinel helped us provide more value to businesses looking for practical, straightforward guidance on cyber security.

Proud of all three shortlistings

While bringing home the Marketing Team/Campaign of the Year award was a very special moment, we are also incredibly proud to have been shortlisted for Technical Team of the Year and MSP of the Year (+£2.5m Turnover). Those shortlistings reflect the wider strength of Apex.

Our Technical Team of the Year shortlisting recognised the progress, development and collaboration happening across our technical function, from clearer progression routes and stronger team structures to the expertise behind our Microsoft designations, project delivery and customer support, led by a crack team within Brandon, Dale, Ashley, Daryl, and many more.

Our MSP of the Year shortlisting recognised the wider Apex business: our customer-focused relationship managers, our experienced service desk and project engineers and architects, and our operational functions. All these people make Apex what it is, and able to have a customer-first approach, continued investment in people and process, strong accreditations, proactive service, and commitment to making IT simple for the businesses we support.

Together, the three shortlistings tell a bigger story. They show that Apex is growing not just in size, but in maturity, confidence, quality and teamwork.

Thank you to Network Group

A huge thank you to Network Group for hosting another fantastic conference and awards and for continuing to create a space where MSPs, vendors and partners can connect, learn from one another and celebrate progress across the channel.

We would also like to congratulate everyone recognised across the full shortlist, including the finalists in MSP of the Year, Technical Team of the Year, Marketing Team/Campaign of the Year, Member Innovation, Partner of the Year, Cyber Security Vendor of the Year, Account Manager of the Year and Channel Champion of the Year. The standard across the Network Group community is incredibly high, and it was brilliant to celebrate alongside so many ambitious, committed and talented teams.

A brilliant moment for Apex

Winning Marketing Team/Campaign of the Year is a proud milestone for Apex, but more than that, it’s a reminder of what can happen when people across the business get behind a shared goal. It reflects the team members who stepped in front of the camera, shared their expertise, supported campaigns, helped with events, contributed ideas, gave feedback, championed content, backed new approaches and helped us tell the Apex story in a stronger way.

So from me, a personal thank you to everyone.