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Business Finance Awards 2013: The Winners

Financial Director is proud to reveal the winners of our inaugural Business Finance Awards

MORRISONS’ group finance director Richard Pennycook was presented with the Lifetime Achievement Award at the inaugural Business Finance Awards last night.

Other big winners at the event, held at the Millennium Hotel Mayfair, included ITV group FD Ian Griffiths, who picked up Blue Chip FD of the Year, while LOCOG’s finance team won a special achievement award for their magnificent efforts in tightly managing the budget of the London Olympics.

The event, hosted by Incisive Media publication Financial Director, proved a great success, with more than 300 people attending the first Business Finance Awards.

Dozens of companies were represented at the Awards, with 11 individual and team finance accolades given on the evening.

Kevin Reed, editor of both Financial Director and Accountancy Age, said: “I’m delighted at the amazing response we had for the awards from the business finance community. The sheer range and quality of entries showed that finance professionals were excited about having the opportunity to show how proud they were of their efforts – whether in FTSE 100 companies, through to small voluntary sector organisations.”

When accepting his award, Richard Pennycook said that he had been concerned that the previous years of cheap credit would adversely impact on the quality of the next generation of finance chiefs. However, much tougher economic and business conditions have equipped them with a skillset and experience level that will stand them in good stead for the future.

“The awards attracted a high number of very impressive entries, and it was encouraging to see the great work being done in many commercial finance functions. The next generation of talent coming through into leadership roles is of a high calibre,” said Pennycook.

The headline sponsor for the evening was Towers Watson, while the ACCA supported the Awards as institute partner.

Sarah Hathaway, head of ACCA UK, said: “ACCA is proud to have been the institute partner for the BFA and I’m delighted at the success of the event, and how the value of accountants in business and the public sector was formally recognised. The quality of the award winners was clear and I was particularly pleased to have been able to present a hugely well-deserved lifetime achievement award to Richard Pennycook.”


Lifetime Achievement

Winner: Richard Pennycook, group finance director, Morrisons

Special Achievement
Winner: The London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games

UK FD of the Year – Blue Chip
Winner: Ian Griffiths, group finance director, ITV

UK FD of the Year – Growing Business
Winner: Brian McArthur-Muscroft, group finance director, TelecityGroup
Highly Commended: Colin Stokes, finance director, Kornicis Group
Shortlisted: Tuhel Alom, dsp; Arif Kamal, GL Hearn; Wyn Landon, Sony UK Technology Centre; Hedley Mayor, Anesco

UK FD of the Year: Public Sector and Voluntary
Winner: Ken Sutherland, finance director, National Farmers Union
Shortlisted: Mark Lumsdon-Taylor, Hadlow College; Mehjabeen Price, Creative England; Alison Ryan, PSS

Annual Report and Accounts
Winner: Xstrata
Shortlisted: African Barrick Gold; BAE Systems; BBC; Genel Energy; Go-Ahead; Inchcape; International Airlines Group; Rio Tinto; Taylor Wimpey; Tullow Oil

Software Product of the Year
Winner: FinancialForce Accounting
Shortlisted: Advanced Business Solutions – Collaborative Planning; Advanced Business Solutions – eFinancials; Concur Mobile; Exel4apps; IRIS Accounting & Business Solutions – Exchequer; m-hance; Prophix Software; Real Asset Management; SAP Business Planning and Consolidation; Software Europe; Version One document management and imaging suite R2.2

Finance Team of the Year – Blue Chip
Winner: Sky
Shortlisted: Alliance Trust; AstraZeneca; Capital One; easyJet; Northern Rail; Specsavers

Finance Team of the Year – Public Sector and Voluntary
Winner: Lilian Faithfull Homes
Highly Commended: Department for Work and Pensions – Personal Independence Payment, Finance and Business Case Team
Shortlisted: Citysave Credit Union; Islington Council; Lakes College West Cumbria; Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency; NHS Tameside and Glossop; Nottingham Trent University ; RCT Homes; Riverside – Home Ownership Group; Turning Point

Finance Team of the Year – Growing Business
Winner: Stirling Dynamics
Shortlisted: Sony UK Technology Centre; The Nostrum Group

New Accountant of the Year – Business and Public Sector
Winner: Kayley Griffiths, RCT Homes
Shortlisted: David Airey, Europcar UK; Jennifer Caswell, SACCS Care; Basharat Hussain, Warwick Estates Property Management; Al-Karim Kachra, Country Court Care; Xiaojuan Wang, Citysave Credit Union

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