Billboard U.K. Honors 40 Top Music Executives Under 40 for 2026

In the past few years, an intriguing cast of characters have championed British creativity on a global stage. Olivia Dean and Lola Young scooped up Grammys, while Yungblud , RAYE , PinkPantheress , Sam Fender and more all brought their own distinct personalities and sounds to some of their biggest-ever audiences. These new faces bring fresh approaches and daring ideas, and push our scene into the future.

Related

Billboard’s 2026 U.K. Power Players Revealed

Hilary Duff to Receive Outstanding Pop Tour of the Year Award at 2026 Billboard Live Music Summit

Judge Rules Woman Accused of Shooting at Rihanna & A$AP Rocky's Home Mentally Fit to Stand Trial

That spirited attitude has filtered down to the executives who work across the U.K.’s music sector as it jostles to retain its position as the world’s third-largest market. Billboard U.K.’s inaugural 40 Under 40 list looks to capture the rising executives that are setting the standard for their peers and leading from the front.

Submissions opened in August, with executives able to submit their eligible peers via an open nominations form. The responses were then considered by Billboard U.K . editors before the successful candidates were selected; each executive can only appear on the 40 Under 40 list once. The launch of the list follows the publication of Billboard U.K.’s Power Players list in June , which recognizes senior leadership at selected companies.

Honorees will be celebrated at a special event at Beyond The Music conference and festival in Salford, Greater Manchester on Wednesday (Oct. 7), attended by key industry executives, policy makers and artists.

See the class of 2026 for Billboard U.K.’s 40 Under 40 list below.

Michael Adex

Founder & CEO, NQ

After founding NQ at age 20, helping steer rapper Aitch toward mainstream stardom and a BRIT Award while supporting a wealth of local talent, Adex is now expanding the Manchester entertainment company “further into my other passions: sport, film and TV.” In 2026 alone, NQ has launched Creamfield Recordings alongside the U.K. dance festival of the same name, while securing Aitch a Netflix documentary, Don’t Be Afraid , to tell the story of his January 2025 climb of Mount Kilimanjaro that raised over £160,000 for the Down’s Syndrome Association. “NQ was never meant to just be a music company, we want to build businesses, brands and talent on a holistic level within culture,” Adex adds. Now 30, he has also set up NQ Legacy, a community outreach project to assist young people in finding their place in the arts, and is calling on “the major [labels], the DSPs, the big promoters and government to invest in impact, not just activity.”

Bradlee Banbury

Music brand partnership agent, Creative Artists Agency

“A good agent should put pressure on themselves to deliver for their clients and not wait for others to do so,” says Banbury, 38, who has delivered landmark brand deals and performance opportunities for talent including Jennifer Lopez, Jorja Smith, Hans Zimmer, Sam Smith and Katy Perry across the luxury fashion, beauty, travel and retail sectors. Most recently, he has helped Zimmer to “develop a new sonic identity and bespoke inflight music” for Qatar Airways. “If I had to list off every upcoming work-related project that I was excited about, the list would never end,” he adds, with former Billboard U.K. cover star Loyle Carner coming onboard as his latest client.

Ishsha Bourguet

Director & agent, THE•TEAM

Starting out as a DJ in South Africa, Bourguet now oversees a roster encompassing global stars and future U.K. talent at The•Team. The past year has seen her elevate ascendant pop star Tyla from a slot on the All Points East main stage through to an upcoming headline U.K. tour and guide amapiano upstart Skyla Tylaa to a sold-out KOKO show in London. “We all have a responsibility and duty of care to invest in the next generation,” the 39-year-old says of the responsibility she feels to pay it forward. “This can range from mentorship to offering your time to speak with young people at youth centres and schools, and, of course, ensuring there are paid positions such as internships available at your company. There is nothing more valuable than gaining experience and knowledge.”

Alex Burford

Managing director, Warner Records U.K.

The team of executives that Burford and Warner Records U.K. is building is full of “dynamic, entrepreneurial and creative thinkers” that approach “campaigns in a completely modern way.” He points to the “incredible” results for signee PinkPantheress and her Fancy That mixtape, which featured Billboard Global 200 chart-topper “Stateside (Remix)”. Now, Dua Lipa’s “Training Season” is storming up the U.K.’s Official Singles Chart two years after its release, landing back inside the top five. “I don’t think any other combination of executives would have delivered those campaigns,” he concludes.

Rivca Burns

Head of music, Factory International

“We need to champion diversity, be patient with learning and not be afraid to fail,” says Burns, 39, who has served as head of music at Manchester’s state-of-the-art Aviva Studios for the past three years, home of arts group Factory International. It’s a philosophy that the 39-year-old lives by, having tirelessly championed the city’s grassroots music community at a national level while pushing the boundaries of what’s possible for artists at the venue. Over the past year, that has meant helping develop the Music Growth Package with Arts Council England and programming ambitious projects with artists including Ezra Collective, Nia Archives, Bonobo and Nubya Garcia. She’s particularly excited about the 2027 edition of the flagship Manchester International Festival, which she says will offer “something truly unique for audiences.”

Tom Coulson-Smith

Vp of A&R, Concord

Coulson-Smith, 38, has developed and honed an eclectic roster of songwriters, producers and artists at Concord from the likes of Mount Kimbie and Yazmin Lacey, to Wesley Joseph and Biffy Clyro. In 2025 and 2026 so far, Concord writers have contributed to 14 No. 1s on the U.K.’s Official Albums Chart, including Olivia Dean’s The Art of Loving; Dave’s The Boy Who Played the Harp ; and Gorillaz’s The Mountain . “It’s rewarding to see our writers contributing to music that is resonating both in the U.K. and around the world,” says Coulson-Smith. A valuable career lesson remains his driving force: “Sign the music you genuinely believe in, surround yourself with good people, and do the work the right way. If you stay true to those things, good work has a way of rising to the top.”

Menna Dief

Promoter, Live Nation

Dief’s past year has been defined by three major milestones in the representation of Arabic music in London: promoting Angham’s Royal Albert Hall debut, the first headline performance at the venue by an Egyptian artist since 1976; orchestrating Omar Khairat’s presentation of Arabic composition at the Hall; and helping launch Maharajan, a one-day festival at Crystal Palace Bowl. Raised between Baheira and Cairo, Egypt, much of Dief’s time with Live Nation as a promoter has been guided by a desire to connect the diaspora with its cultural roots, while pushing the live industry to “give chances to new visions,” which she has achieved through the aforementioned shows. There are “a lot of things in the pipeline for 2027,” the 27-year-old says, “including some artists that London has not seen in decades.”

Rebecca Dixon

Global head of marketing & strategy, Various Artists Management

A key driving mantra for Dixon in her role has been listening to artists and “not sticking to things formulaically because it’s worked for someone else.” Dixon, 32, played an integral part in the roll-out for Melanie C’s Sweat LP, which reached No. 3 on the U.K ‘s Official Albums Chart, the highest-ever placing for a solo project by any of the Spice Girls: “She’s the most inspiring and hardworking person and encourages that in everyone around her too.” Dixon’s next focus will be the sophomore album from dance-pop act Rose Gray. “She’s just such a talent and has an incredibly strong vision,” Dixon says. “I can’t wait for people to discover and absorb themselves into her album and world.”

Sabine Fell-Douglas

COO, Publishing, Believe

At Believe, Fell-Douglas has spent the past year working to expand the role publishing operations played for writers, from those creating their first song to chart-topping artists. This means moving publishing beyond a function that operated quietly in the background and making it something that actively created value and opportunity for writers at every stage of their careers. Building greater visibility across registration, song earnings, and data matching, demonstrates to Believe’s roster of signees that “transparency should not be a USP, it should simply be the standard,” Fell-Douglas, 35, says. “If it’s your song and your money, you should be able to understand what’s happening to it.”

Sarah Gabrielli

Head of A&R, Sony Music Publishing U.K.

In her role as head of A&R, Gabrielli, 36, has worked to not be “distracted by the noise of the industry and instead keep my focus on the songs.” Recent signings to Sony Music Publishing by Gabrielli’s team include Little Simz, Olivia Dean, Myles Smith, Dave and EsDeeKid, proving that SMP U.K.’s “creative team have really been shining and achieving this year.” Developing and empowering talent in her team is paramount to this success: “It’s vital the industry always works to grant young people the space to express themselves and bring ideas to the table,” she says, to allow “progressive and innovative approaches to develop.”

Anu Gantumur

Executive of Creative Europe, BMI

“I deeply believe in the saying that great music transcends barriers,” Ganumur says of her mission at the BMI. As such, she’s worked to create international opportunities for U.K. talent, including curating the performance rights organization’s stages at U.S. festivals such as Lollapalooza, SXSW and ACL, with appearances for U.K. acts Sasha Keable, Chloe Qisha and Ben Ellis. Gantumur, 30, also partnered with BMI’s Nashville Creative Team on an exclusive London Q&A with Ty Myers during the recent Country 2 Country Festival. “Whether it’s language, genre, territory, or culture, I find that my work often has me at the forefront of cross-cultural exchange,” she concludes.

Jack Greengrass

Head of A&R, Island EMI Label Group

Lola Young, The Last Dinner Party and Jacob Alon — the latter of whom won the BRITs’ Critics Choice prize and two Ivor Novello Awards — collectively serve as just a taster of the recent successes for Island Records’ roster. The skills of A&R in current age, Greengrass says, remain steadfast, however: “Back brave, unique artistry and then be patient with it.” The 38-year-old continues, “some of the most rewarding things I’ve been involved with have taken time. Patience and conviction are massively important in this job.” Up next? English Teacher’s follow-up to Mercury Prize-winning debut LP This Could Be Texas and the rise of Irish trad-folk group Madra Salach.

Jamie Herron

Campaign manager, frontline recordings U.K., BMG

In 2021, Herron joined the team at BMG as an apprentice with no music industry experience. His willingness to take on new challenges has seen him go on to earn several promotions in the intervening years, but he says the biggest lesson has been learning to trust his expertise. “Something that I have learned, and which I still need to remind myself of now, is that my voice has value,” he says. That burgeoning confidence and leadership mindset has translated into some pivotal success, including last year’s campaign for MARINA’s Princess of Power , her first LP to be released independently and distributed through BMG. “We doubled the first-week sales of her last album, and were able to surpass a lot of expectations too,” Herro

_Originally reported by [Billboard](https://www.billboard.com/pro/billboard-uk-2026-40-under-40-list-revealed/)._