Annual: Top 10 Directors

With an epic commercial such as the Hovis spot on his reel, Ledwidge has proved he deserves his place at the top. Although renowned for beautiful, filmic visuals, his humorous direction on Britvic Drench's "Brains" shows he can also continue to surprise, making Rattling Stick, the production company he founded alongside Daniel Kleinman, one of the most in demand.

2. Daniel Kleinman

Kleinman may not have a magnum opus such as Hovis this year, but he remains just as sought after as his partner, for his comedic timing and stunning visuals. This year's output is just as prodigious as last, with big-budget numbers on Specsavers and Orange, as well as his recent Wall's campaign, which proves he can be just as effective with a small budget as he is with the big stuff.

3. Fredrik Bond

After returning to our shores last year, Bond has established himself as a vital asset on the UK ad scene. Sterling work on Carling and Stella 4% is evidence his talent is entirely transferable to British-loved brands, while he continues to show prowess on the international advertisers too, creating stunning campaigns for Philips and Levi's.

4. Chris Palmer

He'd set a high bar last year with Skoda's "baking of", which he did not reach in 2008. But his first-rate efforts on COI campaigns such as the anti-smoking "wanna be like you" spot, and "do the test" and "whodunnit" for Transport for London, have made him the go-to guy for government-funded ads.

5. Vince Squibb

Now two years into his career as a full-time director, having made the move from Lowe in 2006, Squibb is edging his way up the list, and even netted a Campaign Big Award for his MTV anti-drink-driving spot. Luckily, he was behind the camera on the HSBC "lumberjack" shoot, as the stunning cinematography was the only positive thing about the spot.

6. Noam Murro

After the success of last year's "night drive", VW enlisted Murro for this year's witty sing-a-long "dog" for Polo, easily one of the top ten ads of the year. Great work for Tesco's Florence and Fred fashion brand made up for his less impressive efforts on the Orange "I am" spot.

7. Nicolai Fuglsig

Although this year has seen him a little less busy in the UK than last, Fuglsig continues to be hotly in demand due to his breathtaking cinematography. This was put to good use in the visually arresting Ford "blank canvas" commercial.

8. Simon Ratigan

He may still be a relatively new face in London commercials, but his recent work for Mastercard, Vodafone and Orange show a unique visual style that was most deftly displayed in the Sony "foam city" ad.

9. Shane Meadows

The king of realism turned his hand to ad-funded film this year with the award-winning Eurostar flick Somers Town. This created a demand for Meadows of epic proportions, with Fallon and AMV BBDO managing to rope him in behind the camera on Asda's "back to school" campaign for George, and Defra's "act on CO2" spot respectively.

10. Traktor

This Swedish collective continues to impress for the sheer volume of work on its reel. This year, the "school's out for summer" spot for Mastercard was their star turn, while the direction on ads for Trident and T-Mobile also did the job.

This article was first published on Campaign