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Enter the FD of the Year awards

This year marks the 10th anniversary of the Accountancy Age Awards, which recognise excellence in accountancy practice, financial management in business and technology. The awards will be presented on Wednesday, 10 November 2004, at Battersea Park Arena, Battersea, London.

The presentation evening is always spectacular, attracting nearly 1,000 senior executives from the practice, IT and business communities, including senior partners and FDs from some of the largest companies in the UK.

Awards are spilt into four main categories: practice, business (including Finance Team of the Year, Annual Report and Accounts and Corporate Finance Deal of the Year), software and individual awards (including the Financial Director of the Year categories).

Last year’s winner of the Financial Director of the Year Award came from the public sector. Philip Lloyd of the Learning and Skills Council won the accolade after convincing the judges he had delivered substantial financial achievement, along with effective communication, efficiency and high-quality service to customers both internal and external. In the judges’ words, Lloyd’s achievements were simply “fantastic”.

But Lloyd had to see off stiff competition from a strong shortlist of FDs. John Rishton of British Airways was a finalist after playing a crucial role in keeping the company airborne during a testing period. Eric Tracey, the Deloitte partner who helped turn round support group Amey, was also in the final five. From the smaller end of the corporate scale, Rick Bloomfield of Don-Bur Holdings was shortlisted for his success in saving the company from bankruptcy.

This year, the Financial Director of the Year award, sponsored by Financial Director, is split to reward the excellent work of FDs from different types of organisations:

Blue Chip Financial Director of the Year Sponsor: Marks Sattin
For FDs working in companies with turnover of more than £50m.

Growing Business Financial Director of the Year
For FDs of companies (including subsidiaries of larger companies) with turnover of up to £50m.

Public Service Financial Director of the Year
For FDs working in the public sector, including central and local government, government agencies, education, charities and other nongovernmental organisations.

But just because the award is split to represent different types of companies doesn’t mean the standard is any different. The judges will, as ever, be looking for evidence of professional excellence in financial management from FDs, CFOs or business unit financial directors from any field of industry, commerce or the public sector.

Specifically, they want to see proof of a substantial personal contribution in a number of areas, including: significant financial achievement on the part of their organisation; personal integrity; imagination; innovation; leadership; enterprise; strategic development of the organisation; and high-quality service.

How to enter

The closing date for all entries is 23 July 2004. Obtain details of award categories and download entry forms from www.ukindustryawards.com/accountancyage. Alternatively, if FDs send a blank email with ‘FD of the Year’ in the subject field to [email protected], the awards team will send a pdf of the entry form by return email.

You can either enter yourself for an award or nominate a colleague.

To enter or nominate, please submit a report of up to two A4 pages explaining why you, or your nominee, meet or exceed the criteria, together with any supporting evidence of your or your nominee’s success and achievements. This may include testimonials from clients, colleagues, advisers, etc.

To ensure the best chance of success, prospective entrants should bear a few points in mind:

– Don’t be shy about entering yourself or a colleague. Success deserves recognition!

– Remember that the award recognises personal achievement. A copy of your annual report will not in itself demonstrate the extent to which you can take credit for the financial performance!

– Supporting testimonials can help your case, if provided by someone such as your chief executive, chairperson, auditor or banker. (Statements from junior staff, however, may be less convincing!)

– Entries should be well presented and easy to read.

– Remember to enter some of the other categories, too, such as the Finance Team and Annual Report and Accounts categories. Good luck!

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