The Yorkshire Finance Director of The Year Awards are back for their fourth year and 2005’s new look programme promises to be bigger and better than ever.
Sponsored by business advisors Ernst & Young, financial recruitment specialist Sewell Moorhouse and European lawyers Hammonds, the awards scheme has established itself as the leading competition of its kind in the region.
The role of the Finance Director has changed dramatically over the last five years and although it is still primarily accountancy-based, the modern day Finance Director has to be able to contribute more to their firm than preparing the accounts.
The Awards are therefore judged on all round business and managerial skills, including interpersonal qualities and commercial awareness, as well as technical accounting skills.
Phillip Hilling, Managing Partner at joint awards sponsors Ernst & Young in Leeds, said: “The days when accountants were simply number crunchers have gone. We are looking for people who are not only good technical accountants but who have contributed a lot more to their businesses. Those who say ‘we’, rather than ‘I’."
Cliff Sewell, Joint Managing Director of Leeds, Sheffield and Doncaster-based Sewell Moorhouse, added: “A good FD these days has to be able to run a team and be part of a team, they need to have well developed management skills and appreciate the needs of a range of stakeholders, not just management and shareholders.”
The Yorkshire Finance Director of the Year has been an undoubted success in previous years, commanding respect from the professional financial community throughout the region.
This year the programme will involve two separate award categories split by company size. The judges will also make a third, special award this year, which will seek to recognise outstanding change management skills and achievement on the part of a Yorkshire Finance Director.
David Armitage, Corporate Partner at Leeds-based law firm Hammonds, said: “One of the great things about the entries we have seen in previous years is that they have come in from companies of all sizes. FDs of small companies face a set of challenges which are markedly different to those facing FDs of larger companies, but are no less significant. That’s why we felt it essential to formally recognise this diversity through two separate awards this year.
“Many awards schemes focus predominantly on the very large businesses based in the region, particularly the key PLC's. We felt it was equally important to create a dedicated award for companies with turnovers of below £50m, which are the lifeblood of Yorkshire business.”
The Change Management Award has been introduced to further profile and celebrate the achievements of Finance Directors outside of their core financial role. The judging panel will be looking to give special recognition to an individual who has used their broader business skills to manage organisational change, whether that be related to business growth, mergers and acquisitions, geographical developments or other changes which have impacted the company over the past 12 months.
Cliff Sewell commented: “The nature of some of last year’s entries moved us to introduce this special award for 2005. We were faced with several nominations which demonstrated real flair and ability, but not necessarily related purely to financial performance.”
Last year, the Yorkshire Finance Director of the Year Award was presented to Alison Everatt of Canterbury Foods Group Plc. Alison, 38, from Brigg, is a fellow of the ACCA and joined the company in April 2002 as Finance Director of Canterbury Foods. Previously, Alison spent six years with Kimberly Clark in the 1990s, first as Management Accountant and latterly as Finance Manager. From 1998 to 2002 Alison worked for Hazlewood Chilled Foods, as Group Commercial Accountant. In July 2003, Alison was appointed to the main board of the newly restructured Canterbury Foods and became Group Finance Director.
Commenting on her award, Alison said: “2003 had been a very challenging, but extremely rewarding time for me as FD with the group and it was hugely satisfying to win the award in recognition of all those efforts.
“The group had seen significant changes in the 12 months previous to the awards. In 2003 we sold two businesses for £11.9m, moved our stock market listing from the official list to AIM, and consolidated our shares to reduce the bid/offer spread. This enabled the group to reduce its debt, restructure its bank facilities and to concentrate on its core business of food manufacturing.”
Commenting on Alison’s selection as 2004 winner, Cliff Sewell of Sewell Moorhouse said: “Alison was an outstanding candidate, highly experienced with an impressive record of achievement at every stage in her career. Ms Everatt works in a very competitive sector and is clearly making a major and important contribution to the growth of Canterbury Foods.”
Phillip Hilling of Ernst & Young added: “Alison had helped turn around the profitability of Canterbury’s ongoing business, moving from an operating loss in the first half of 2003 to an operating profit in the second half, an extremely impressive achievement.”
Hammonds’ David Armitage concluded: “Alison had worked with a range of stakeholders throughout the business and it is this entrepreneurial flair, outside of her obvious core accountancy skills, which really made her stand out among her peers.”
2004’s Runners up were Colin Fuller of Kingfield Heath Ltd and Andrew Finneran FD of Richmond Foods Plc.
The 2005 awards are now open for nominations. With two distinct company size-related categories, as well as the special Change Management Award, the scheme promises to attract an even broader range of candidates. The programme will culminate in an exclusive awards dinner at Rudding Park on Thursday, 29 September, 2005, with coverage of the event and all winners and finalists set to appear in Insider’s October issue.
The closing date for nominations is Friday 27 May 2005. Entrants will be interviewed during June and July and a shortlist announced in August.
The Yorkshire Finance Director of the Year Awards are your chance to acknowledge the achievements of a colleague, a business associate or a friend or to have your own hard work recognised by nominating yourself.
For further information and nomination forms, email Lesley Page at Sewell Moorhouse, lesleyp@sewellm.co.uk
