It may not have been the Times Rich List or Heat’s Hunks of the Year, but it must have felt like it when Ian Irving found out he’d made it into the top ten of Event Magazine’s list of leading industry players.

The sales and marketing director of experiential agency Sledge was positioned at number five out of 100, thanks to votes cast by more than 2,000 events industry professionals. Particularly pleasing for Irv must have been the fact that he represented the highest entry of the experiential sector, triumphing over his peers.

“A vote for me was a vote for the entire agency, so we are thrilled to be so highly regarded,” said Irv. “We would like congratulate everyone who made the top 100, and would like to thank all the readers and our clients for voting.”

The top five were:
1. Jane Risby-Rose, United Business Media
2. Nigel Nathan, EC&O Venues
3. Victoria Grossmith, NMSI
4. Tim Etchells, Single Market Events
5. Ian Irving, Sledge

The full list of the top 100 can be viewed at www.eventmagazine.co.uk