Gillian Christian was commended with the prestigious CurrencyMe’s ‘Leader of the Year’ award at this year’s Media Isle of Man Awards for Excellence.

The award looks to celebrate outstanding leadership in the Isle of Man community, and was presented on stage by CurrencyMe’s Craig Wolstencroft.

Gillian is a lawyer, and purchased Advocate John Rimmer Limited in 2024 with the firm continuing under the new name of Whittles Law Limited, trading as Whittles - Gillian’s maiden name and the name of her late father Dave Whittles.

Outside of her work as a lawyer, Gillian is chairman of FC Isle of Man, honorary legal advisor of the Commonwealth Games Association and a non-executive director of National Grid Insurance Company (Isle of Man) Limited.

Presenting the award, Craig said: ‘A good leader is someone who is a good listener, someone that can inspire and encourage members of their team to take accountability and perform their jobs.

‘A good leader should also be someone who understands that they don’t know how to do everything, and should surround themselves with people who can do things better than they can.’

Co-host of the awards evening, Micky Swindale, also gave a speech announcing the winner, slowly revealing clues as to who Gillian was.

‘The recipient is completely unaware that their leadership qualities have impressed our judges so much this year,’ Micky said.

‘I’ve previously been told that a good leader should be ethical, agile, compassionate and collaborative - four qualities that this year’s recipient of this award has in abundance.

‘She first exhibited these qualities on the football field, captaining the Isle of Man women’s national team for over 12 years, during which time they played in six Island Games tournaments.

‘She then moved into the legal world, being part of two large firms in the island before forming her own firm [Whittles].

‘She has also remained active in the governance of sport, being on the board of the Isle of Man Football Association and chair of FC Isle of Man through both the good times and the more challenging times.

‘I know how proud Gillian’s father Dave would be of all of her successes.’

Gillian received the award on stage and was accompanied by large raven mascots - a clear link to her involvement with ‘the ravens’ FC Isle of Man.

‘I was told that someone else on my table was winning this award, so I am genuinely shocked,’ she said.

‘To win an award for doing something I love is just the best honour. It’s a privilege and as my dad would say, I count my blessings every day.

‘We have a great team at Whittles who have been amazing, and we have exciting things to come.

‘My family mean everything to me and my husband is always in the background doing the hard work - I just take the glory!

‘I wish to god my dad was here to see this, but I know he’d love everything that we are doing. Thank you.’