FRAN NOLAN NAMED ON THE FUTURE IS FEMALE SHORTLIST AT ADVERTISING WEEK EUROPE 2026

Why this one means a lot 

Fran's response to the news, posted on LinkedIn, was characteristically generous. She talked about the women around her, about BRUMWIM (Birmingham Women in Marketing), and about the team at Tribera. She didn't talk about herself.

"Everything I do is shaped by the people around me, so this really feels like a shared moment."

Fran has spent the last seven years building things that make space for other people, and the shortlist is, in many ways, recognition of that work as much as anything else. 

What Fran has actually been doing 

When Fran co-founded Tribera in 2019 with Dré Picart, the agency was built on a specific bet: that world-class creative work doesn't have to come from inside the M25, and that the rigid structures that quietly sideline women, particularly working mothers, weren't going to be part of how we operated.

Since then: 

• Tribera adopted hybrid and flexible working long before the rest of the industry caught on, and in 2022 moved to a 32-hour working week with no reduction in pay. 
• The team has grown to 30, working with brands including Costa Coffee, West Midlands Trains, Greene King and VoucherCodes.co.uk. 
• The agency was named one of Campaign's Best Places to Work. 
• In 2024, Fran founded BRUMWIM, a community for women in marketing across the West Midlands that has since paired more than 60 women into a mentoring programme and hosted sold-out events including a 70-person gathering at Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery. 
• In September 2025, Fran won Marketing Leader of the Year at the Midlands Marketing Awards. 

The shortlist isn't a surprise to anyone who's worked with her. It just means a few more people now get to see what we already knew. 



What does the Future is Female Awards recognise? 

The Future is Female Awards, run as part of Advertising Week Europe, celebrate women across marketing, advertising and tech who are reshaping the industry through their work, their leadership, or both. The 2026 shortlist features 20 women drawn from agencies, in-house teams, tech businesses and grassroots initiatives across Europe. 

It's one of the few awards in the calendar that values the work being done to change the industry from the inside, not just the campaigns being shipped out of it. 

What this means for Tribera 

For us as an agency, the shortlist matters because it reinforces something we've always believed: the agencies that will define the next decade aren't the ones with the biggest London offices. They're the ones with the clearest point of view, the strongest culture, and the leaders willing to do the hard work of building something better. 

Fran is one of those leaders. We're lucky to work with her. 

Congratulations to every woman on the 2026 shortlist. The industry is better for what you're building. 

Work with us: If you're looking for a creative and digital agency that thinks differently about how the work gets made, get in touch. We'd love to talk.