Awards honouring high-fliers of finance
FINANCE professionals and organisations are being invited to celebrate the invaluable contribution they make to the West Midlands’ economic success at the 2017 Finance Awards.
Entries to this year’s awards are now open with ten categories to choose from, including Rising Star of the Year and Mentor of the Year.
The awards – organised by ICAEW, Robert Walters, the Greater Birmingham Chambers of Commerce and RSM – celebrate exceptional achievements of finance professionals and organisations across the region.
More than 500 people attended the inaugural ceremony at the ICC in the city centre last year when Jaguar Land Rover chief financial officer Kenneth Gregor scooped a Lifetime Achievement Award. Rentokil Initial won the Business of the Year (large) category, while Connect Advertising & Marketing won the Business of the Year (SME) gong.
Chris Poole, managing director of Robert Walters Birmingham, said: “Following the success of the 2016 West Midlands Finance Awards that was attended by 500 finance professionals, we are hugely excited to organise them again this year.
“The level of commitment and enthusiasm we saw from our sponsors and entrants exceeded our expectations and we are keen to build on that success in 2017.”
Paul Faulkner, CEO, Greater Bir- mingham Chambers of Commerce, said: “Business and professional financial services (BPFS) are vital to the success of Greater Birmingham. We have the largest regional hub in this sector in the UK, bringing £23 billion (25 per cent) of GVA into the region.
“That is why the West Midlands Financial Awards are so important to us in recognising an industry that is at the centre of our region, with 30 per cent of Birmingham firms in this sector and more than 300 company headquarters located here. There are 15,000 BPFS companies in total in our region.
“There are a host of major players such as RBS NatWest, Deutsche Bank, Investec, and of course HSBC UK now in the city, alongside numerous other dynamic firms and high performing finance teams.
“The competition at the awards in November is bound to be fierce, and Greater Birmingham Chambers of Commerce are once again delighted to be involved with these awards.”
Mark Taylor, office managing partner at RSM, Birmingham, said: “RSM is delighted to be a partner of the 2017 Finance Awards. These awards are set to become an increasingly prominent feature of the local landscape in terms of recognising high performance in finance.
“There are many outstanding finance professionals and teams in the West Midlands and being a part of recognising those setting exceptional standards is important to us. Good luck to all the applicants.”
John Kelly, president of the Birmingham and West Midlands Society of Chartered Accountants, ICAEW said: “As part of the judging panel for the 2016 awards we saw how high the standard was for entries last year, and we expect the same to be the case this year. Selecting entries for the shortlist will be extremely difficult, but it is massively encouraging to see the levels of enthusiasm from applicants and to get an insight into the exceptional work being done by finance professionals in the region.”