After graduating in Modern History from Oxford University, Anna Watkins began her career at the newly formed M&C Saatchi in 1995. Key clients included The Mirror Group, BSkyB, ScottishCourage and Sainsbury’s.
After 6 years she moved to Madrid where she swiftly learnt Spanish and then secured the position of international sales and sponsorship director at PRISA, where she was responsible for cross-
media partnerships for El Pais, Canal+ and all other group channels.
After 3 years she returned to London and joined TBWA as Content Director of their new branded content arm, TBWA Stream, where she ran Orange’s global film programme amongst other innovative partnerships including PlayStation and ING.
In 2005 she joined the digital agency, Grand Union, to launch Hubbub, their content and social media agency as Managing Director, winning P&G, HSBC and Boots as founding clients. After 3 years she was promoted to Managing Director of Grand Union Group where she oversaw the sale to FullSIX as well as the resultant merger with Six&Co.
In 2012 she was appointed Managing Director of the media agency, Initiative, and was appointed to the IPG Mediabrands UK board in 2013.
She joined The Guardian in October 2013 to launch Guardian Labs.
Anna Watkins Job Title Managing Director Company GUARDIAN LABS
