British Accountancy Awards 2013: The Winners

CONGRATULATIONS to the winners of the British Accountancy Awards 2013!

 

 

 

Outstanding Industry Contribution Award

Winner: Paul Aplin

 

Global Firm of the Year
Winner: Grant Thornton
No judges’ comments, as it was voted for by the Financial Director readership

National Firm of the Year
Winner: MHA Macintyre Hudson
Judges’ comments: A close-run thing, but the firm won by looking to increase the quality of its client base, while investing in the business. Its strong CSR policy was also noted by judges.

 

Mid-Tier Firm of the Year
Winner: Dains
HC: Fitzgerald & Law
Judges’ comments: They’re profitable, have organised around their core services and showed sustained performance. One judge said: “I liked the humility of the firm – their entry was balanced, frank and factual.”

 

Independent Firm of the Year – North England
Winner: Lamont Pridmore
Judges’ comment: The firm provides innovative services, was able to quantify the return for its clients, while putting a lot of effort into the grass roots.

 

Independent Firm of the Year – Scotland
Winner: Stark Main & Co
Judges’ comments: Great client and staff stories stood out in this entry. Stark Main showed good growth and a commitment to its community responsibilities. It also put processes in place to track client and staff metrics.

 

Independent Firm of the Year – Northern Ireland
Winner: Baker Tilly Mooney Moore
Judges’ comments: A broad firm, but demonstrated balance between clients and ensuring staff satisfaction.

 

Independent Firm of the Year – Wales and South West England
Winner: Dennis & Turnbull
HC: Inspire
Judges’ comments: There’s no bull from Dennis & Turnbull, said the judges. They show a modern approach to work, and are trying to understand clients better – what they want.

 

Independent Firm of the Year – East England
Winner: Jeff Lermer & Associates
HC: Lakin Rose
Judges’ comments: The judges highlighted its “exemplary customer care programme” and impressive profit per partner.

 

Independent Firm of the Year – Midlands
Winner: Mitten Clarke
Judges’ comments: Despite going through tough times, the firm proved inspirational to the judges, showing how the firm had changed and progressed. They said the firm had “real drive”, was “entrepreneurial” and had made tough decisions that had maintained profitability.”

 

Independent Firm of the Year – South East England
Winner: Aspirations Accountancy (formerly known as BPK)
HC: Goringe
Judges’ comments: A strong story all the way through for this recently rebranded firm – value billing rather than timesheets, a creative client approach and systems in place to achieve efficiencies – while also managing team dynamics – saw this as an outstanding entry.

 

Independent Firm of the Year – Greater London
Winner: Elman Wall
HC: Jenson Solutions
Judges’ comments: The firm showed itself to be “outstanding”, and excelling when “the travel game has been particularly hard” (it is a leading firm to travel industry).

 

Overall Independent Firm of the Year
Winner: Lamont Pridmore
Judges’ comments: A firm that covers all the bases, impressive growth, well-presented, really on top of their game. It’s all about value to clients, and they demonstrated that.

 

Community Award
Winner: Lamont Pridmore
Judges’ comments: A substantive firm that puts a premium on both the firm and the staff’s contributions to the community.

 

Accountancy Practice Start-Up Award
Winner: Christchurch
HC: Lockhart Business Advisory
Judges’ comments: the firm is “very traditional”, making the most of its very good client recommendations and testimonials in its entry.

 

New Accountant of the Year
Winner: Leslie Cole – BDO
HC: Phil Walters – Norton Accountancy
HC: Russell Gammon – KPMG
Judges’ comments: Leslie showed a “sense of humanity” in her entry, having served as a project manager for the World Bank in Afghanistan. She showed soft skills beyond the technical and put together a fantastic story.

 

Accounting Technician of the Year
Winner: Julia Hill – KPMG
HC: Paul Donno – Jacobs Allen Limited
Judges’ comments: Another close-run category, Julia showed broad workbased achievements and her impact on clients and teams.

 

Training Team of the Year
Winner: RSM Tenon
Judges’ comments: They helped develop softer skills and kept going even, though the firm was going through tough times.

 

Tax Award of the Year
Winner: James Cowper
Judges’ comments: A great regional story, the firm, with an entrepreneur focus, nicely described their cradle to grave, smart, tax advice.

 

Audit Award of the Year
Winner: Price Bailey
HC: James Cowper
Judges’ comments: Price Bailey put together a “very credible submission”, which clearly demonstrated that they were “targeting niche clients and excelling in it”.

 

Client Software Product of the Year
Winner: Xero
Judges’ comments: They demonstrated that the product is easy to use, and Xero is a poster child for the new breed of online accounting systems.

 

Practice Software Product of the Year
Winner: Iris OpenApps
HC: Clear Book Online Accountancy Software
Judges’ comments: Iris continued to innovate through its OpenApps product, helping accounting practices effectively and with good commercial success. It answered the questions, showing good metrics.

 

Training Provider of the Year
Winner: SWAT UK
Judges’ comments: Swat proved to be “quality outfit”, said judges, which “ticks all the boxes”.

 

Best Employer
Winner: Elman Wall
No judges’ comments, as it was benchmarked against competitors.

 

Online Accounting Award
Winner: DNS Associates
Judges’ comments: Stable growth and profitability – a good story about shifting focus to online – committed to it even if it meant that clients would leave.