Richard Niles is a top award winning London based producer, arranger and broadcaster whose impressive list of credits includes Paul McCartney, Kylie Minogue, Westlife, Take That, Mariah Carey, Cliff Richard, Cher, James Brown, Pat Metheny, Ray Charles, Tina Turner and many more.

Richard has been associated with The UK Songwriting Contest for many years and is an important member of the UKSC judging panels with an eye for new talent. He produced and co wrote with UKSC finalist Younee after her success in the contest which led to BBC appearances, prestigious London gigs and tours of both the UK and the USA for this new singer-songwriter from Korea. Their joint composition "Home To You" charted in the USA and won the Music Aid International Best Songwriter Award in 2009. Richard is also a Doctor of Music and has run songwriting workshops with the UKSC in London. Visit Richard's website at richardniles.com

Internationally renowned producer Stuart Epps is a valuable member of the UKSC judging panels. He brings a wealth of experience and expertise to his role as a contest judge having worked very closely with some of the most successful songwriters, bands and performers in the world. Stuart is particularly well known for his work with Elton John, Robbie Williams, Led Zeppelin, Bill Wyman, George Harrison, Paul Weller, Oasis and many others.

Stuart's favourite song in the recent 2011 UK Songwriting Contest was the pop category winner "What Love Is" by Ken Brown which he described as "unusual, beautiful, sentimental and with poignant lyrics". After the 2011 contest Stuart teamed up with the writer Ken Brown to record a stunning new mix of the song in his state of the art recording studios and you can listen to Stuart's powerful mix of the winning song here. To find out more about Stuart's impressive and varied career in music visit his website at stuartepps.com

Multi award winning singer and songwriter Lucie Diamond first shot to fame in 2006 when she beat Dolly Parton and Faith Hill by winning Female Artist of the Year and also Country Artist of the Year at The European Country Awards. Since then she has toured the world, she has had great success at the world famous Country Music Awards in Nashville and she has topped the country music charts in many countries. Lucie was described by the UK's biggest selling newspaper, The Sun, as "The UK's number one country music export". Lucie joined the UKSC Team as a judge in 2011 and her favourite entry that year was the Country Music category winner "He Only Broke My Heart" by USA singer/songwriter Molly Hunt.

Although successful in the international country music scene Lucie is also very interested in other musical genres and she is expanding into other musical styles close to her heart. As a UKSC judge she has a very personal interest in the song entries as she is always looking for new material to record. Watch out for her next album which will feature an exciting new mix of sounds! Find out more at Lucie's Facebook page.

Simon Ellis is a BRIT Award Winning songwriter and producer who joined the UKSC judging panels in 2010. He has written and produced songs for many top artists including John Farnham, Randy Crawford, Emma Bunton, Steps, Hearsay, D Side, Javine, Maria Lawson, S Club 7 and others. As well as winning a BRIT Award for Best Song he also won ITV Record of the Year and was nominated for an Ivor Novello Award.

Simon is also very well known in the industry for his work as musical director for Britney Spears' World Tour, The Spice Girls Reunion World Tour, and as musical director for Belinda Carlisle, East 17, D:Ream and Jamelia. Simon's judging input has been particularly vaulable in the Pop category of the UKSC and he is an undoubted expert in this area. Visit Simon's website at simonellismusic.com

Natalie was a winner in the UK Songwriting Contest back in 2004 at the tender age of only 11. Winning this event at such a young age brought Natalie to the attention of the music industry with a large feature article in the UK's prestigious The Stage newspaper and interviews on the BBC and she was soon signed by Simon Cowell for his band Angelis. The band were a huge success and Natalie was presented with a Platinum Album Award on live national TV for sales of over 500,000 copies of the band's debut album.  She was also personally presented with a Special Acheivement Award from the President of the Philippines (her family's home country) for outstanding acheivements in music.

Natalie is still succesfully writing and performing in the UK and has recently joined the UK Songwriting Contest panels as one of our newest judges for the 2012 event. She said "I'm so proud of my UK Songwriting Contest win. Doing well in the contest gave me confidence in my writing and I would recommend it to anyone". She is still only 19 and is the contest's youngest judge. Visit her website at nataliechua.co.uk

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UKSC judges have also included many industry executives, producers, songwriters, authors, music journalists, the staff and students of The BRIT School, broadcasters and UKSC directors. Return soon for more announcements and details about the judges for 2012...