Former editor of the NME, Conor McNicholas is a creative content, brand and disruption consultant who has collected an array of awards throughout his successful career. Conor specialises in looking at how brands can stay relevant, make themselves heard and generate a coherent conversation. Conor considers how operations and customer interaction is affected for the better by the online world. With Conor’s expertise he managed to evolve the print publication that was NME to the hugely successful music brand it is today. Conor has a keen eye for spotting success and by personally establishing awards, tours, live events, TV and radio stations Conor aided NME onto the road of success. Following his achievement at NMEL, he then went on to edit and relaunch both print and online formats of the Top Gear magazine.
With Conor’s expert eye for marketing strategies and consideration of how technology is used he has helped a huge portfolio of businesses to tackle specific problems. The likes of Virgin Media, Volvo, The National Lottery and Reckitt Benckiser are a few businesses helped by Conor to better their internal processes. Conor continues to guide businesses in his current role as CEO of an innovative date-led content agency, working with the likes of Adidas and Lexus to help them implement a top of the game marketing strategy. Conor’s work within his industry has highlighted the problems that can occur within an age where social media messages are spread within minutes and there’s always a demand for fresh content. Conor had been able to harness his knowledge to better businesses in critical situations for example he massively influenced Argos on Black Friday. With Conor’s specialist knowledge in social media, real time decisions and the internal process he helped Argos surpass even Amazon during the intense twenty four hour period of Black Friday.
Conor’s track record also has seen him positively benefit Barclays by helping them to build a content editorial team, establish a sign off system and reduce the content production process from six weeks to just seven days. Throughout Conor’s editorship he has been rewarded with several industry awards from Consumer Magazine Editor of the Year in 2005 to being listed as one of the 1000 most influential people in London by the Evening Standard in 2007 and 2008. His incredible effort at NME was highly noted winning him the Brand Building Initiative of the Year for Club NME along with Editor of the Year & Music Magazine of the Year. Conor was also elected to be the chairman of the British Society of Magazine Editors in 2009. Conor makes for an excellent, knowledgeable after dinner speaker who can tackle any kind of disruption within a business his aim is to help businesses stay one step ahead. He’s a highly regarded speaker and one of the best in his industry who is constantly seeing results for his experienced methods.
Conor McNicholas' official speaking topics are listed below:
• Vision, leadership and team-building
• Mentoring and development
• Creative and strategic development
• Brand and channel management
• Content strategy and multi-platform comms projects
• Brand storytelling and editorial direction
• Music, automotive and the history of gin and tonic
Official Feedback from In-Person & Virtual Events
"A very talented, articulate and insightful editor with a real understanding of how audiences engage with media." - Paul, Big Issue Group CEO
"Conor totally changed the way our part of the business felt in the space of a year. He instilled better process, empowered us to make better decisions, made our part of the business more financially successful and, most importantly, made it a more fun place to work." - Ed, Associate Creative Director
- 2025 – Executive Director at Magnet
- 2014 – Appointed CEO of AllTogetherNow
- 2009 – Elected Chairman of the British Society of Magazine Editors
- 2008 – Listed among the 1000 most influential people in London by the Evening Standard
- 2007 – Listed among the 1000 most influential people in London by the Evening Standard
- 2005 – Named Consumer Magazine Editor of the Year
- 2005 – Won Brand Building Initiative of the Year for Club NME
- 2002 – Appointed Editor of NME
How to hire Conor McNicholas
Contact the Champions Speakers Agency to provisionally enquire about hiring Conor McNicholas for your next event, today. To get in touch, simply call an official booking agent on 0207 1010 553 or email us at [email protected] for more information.
** We do NOT accept requests for autographs, signed merchandise, fan mail, birthday messages or any other non-commercial contact with the speakers or acts. Each speaker on the website may not have necessarily worked with Champions in the past but are known to perform such engagements within the industry.
