North EastAccountancy Awards 2014

Thursday 26th June 2014Hilton Newcastle Gateshead

WINNERS GUIDE 2014

Title Sponsor

These Awards are now in their eighth year and we are

delighted to once again be part of their huge success.

Nigel Wright Recruitment’s Finance teams have been

working closely with companies from across the North

of England and it is extremely reassuring that the

region’s finance community continue to get behind the

event, making it the most successful finance awards in

the region. An awards ceremony like this is a fantastic

opportunity for us to congratulate and recognise finance

teams and individuals across all industry sectors for their

efforts.

Best wishes

Paul Wilson

CEO

Nigel Wright Recruitment

Title Sponsor

www.nigelwright.com

NIGEL WRIGHT RECRUITMENT, BRINGING TOGETHERHIGH-CALIBRE CANDIDATES AND WORLD-CLASS ORGANISATIONS

ON A TEMPORARY AND PERMANENT BASIS.

6 Accounting Technician of the Year8 New Accountant of the Year10 Accountant of the Year12 Business Finance Team of the Year14 Tax Adviser of the Year16 Corporate Finance Deal of the year18 Branch of the Year20 Finance Director of the Year22 Public Services Finance Team of the Year24 Independent Firm of the Year26 Accounting and Finance Employer of the Year28 Outstanding Achievement Award30 Unsung Hero Award

Contents

Accounting Technician of the Year

Sponsored By

Holly Langton, Balfour Beatty Business Services

Accounting Technician of the Year 2014, sponsored by AAT, was awarded to Holly Langton of

Balfour Beatty Business Services. Holly is a highly motivated and high achieving

candidate who has proven to be extremely adaptable in assisting the business during a

transition period and successful in implementing significant improvements in restructuring

processes. The nominations in this category were of an exceptionally high quality, but Holly

was chosen due to her drive and ambition, which is clear to see as she has reached her

current role within three years, which would typically take 5-8 years.

Winner...

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Holly Langton & Jonathan Dodgeon, Balfour Beatty Business Services

New Accountant of the Year

Winner...

Craig Hart, Aspire Technology Solutions Ltd

New Accountant of the Year 2014, sponsored by BPP Professional Education, was awarded

to Craig Hart from Aspire Technology Solutions Ltd. Craig was described by the judges as

the complete accountant for an SME. He is extremely approachable and his enthusiasm and

commitment shone through, having worked hard to drive the business forward and create

a dedicated and successful team in a short period of time. Craig demonstrated professional

and yet personable qualities and the judges believe all these attributes will take him far in his

future career.

Sponsored By

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Monty Halls; Craig Hart, Aspire Technology Solutions Ltd; Tracey Wilson, BPP

Accountant of the Year

Winner...

Vicki Brown, Vertu Motors plc

Accountant of the Year 2014, sponsored by ACCA, was awarded to Vicki Brown from Vertu

Motors plc. The judges of this category felt that they had three outstanding candidates for

this Award, making their decision to select a winner extremely difficult. Vicki impressed

the judges with the very innovative work she has done in the last twelve months. She also

showed great dedication to self-improvement, for her own and her employer’s benefit –

overall a hugely committed and approachable employee.

Sponsored By

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Monty Halls; Vicky Brown, Vertu Motors; John McGee, ACCA

Business Finance Team of the Year

Winner...

Sage UK Ltd

Business Finance Team of the Year 2014, sponsored by University of Sunderland, Faculty of

Business and Law, was awarded to Sage UK Ltd. The finance function at Sage UK Ltd was

chosen due to the value they added to their business, the effective response to operational

change and their clear focus on staff investment and development. The team demonstrated

the progress made within their business despite already working from a positive starting

point, which impressed the judging panel.

Sponsored By

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Claire Conolly, Sage UK ltd; Alastair Mitchell, Sage UK ltd; Robert Hall, University of Sunderland

Tax Adviser of the Year

Winner...

Stephen Hall, Deloitte

Tax Adviser of the Year 2014, sponsored by the Chartered Institute of Taxation, was awarded

to Stephen Hall from Deloitte. There were 4 very talented and diverse candidates this year

and the judges all felt proud of the quality and breadth of tax advisers in the region. Stephen

was described by the judges as a creative and passionate tax adviser. He was selected as

the winner because he has excellent technical and client relationship skills, he leads a team

and enhances their careers and uses his tax skills for pro-bono advice. The judges felt that

Stephen is a role model to the profession.

Sponsored By

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Stephen Hall, Deloitte; Jodie Barwick-Bell, CIOT

Corporate Finance Deal of the Year

Winner...

Tait Walker LLP - Investment by JZI and Souter Investments into Winn Solicitors

Corporate Finance Deal of the Year 2014, sponsored by Rathbones, was awarded to Tait Walk-

er LLP. All the deals nominated were of a very high quality, however the judges felt that Tait

Walker stood out with their corporate finance deal as it was the first of its type in the region.

The team were required to be patient, persistent and innovative as they navigated their way

around some highly complex operational, regulatory and tax issues. The deal also impressed

the judges as it benefited the region as a whole by involving support from some other local

advisers and resulted in several hundred jobs being secured in a deprived area of Newcastle,

with the expectation that the business will continue to grow rapidly in a fast-moving sector.

Sponsored By

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Andrew Moorby, Tait Walker; James Kyle, Rathbones

Branch of the Year

Winner...

Sponsored By

KPMG LLP

Branch of the Year 2014, sponsored by Square One Law, was awarded to KPMG Newcastle

office. KPMG was chosen on the basis of the pathway they have cleared to bring talent into

the profession from areas of society that would normally not have the opportunity. The

judges were also very impressed by the obvious pride in bringing local people through the

organisation to national partnership and the use of the wider network to build specialist

skills in the region that have become self-sustaining.

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Team from KPMG

Finance Director of the Year

Winner...

Sponsored By

Iain Richardson, The Winn Group

Finance Director of the Year 2014, sponsored by Barclays, was awarded to Iain Richardson

from The Winn Group. The judges were truly impressed with the talent and experience that

this year’s nominees demonstrated. However, Iain just edged ahead by demonstrating the

significant contribution he made to increase the financial achievement of the company in

the last twelve months.

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Monty Halls; Iain Richardson, The Winn Group; Brian Foreman, Barclays

Public Services Finance Team of the Year

Winner...

Sponsored By

Northumberland Tyne & Wear NHS Foundation Trust

Public Services Finance Team of the Year 2014, sponsored by CIPFA North East, was awarded

to Northumberland Tyne & Wear NHS Foundation Trust. The judges highlighted that it was

inspiring to meet the nominations for this category. The winning team demonstrated a

strong and focused team based approach. They are successfully providing a wide range of

services to their organisation and are continuing to develop those services despite having

reduced resources themselves. The team have enabled the organisation to increase its

efficiency without compromising the quality of patient care.

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The team from Northumberland Tyne & Wear NHS Foundation Trust with Angela Dragone, Newcastle Upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and Monty Halls

Independent Firm of the Year

Winner...

Sponsored By

Tait Walker LLP

Independent Firm of the Year 2014, sponsored by ICAEW/Northern Society of Chartered

Accountants, was awarded to Tait Walker LLP. The judges on the panel found this a very

interesting category and wish to give a special mention to all the nominees for their hard

work and dedication. Tait Walker was, in judges’ opinion, clearly a firm with a solid foundation

and a depth of experience and expertise. They demonstrated good evidence of innovation,

energy, enthusiasm and fresh thinking with an impressive focus on team building. The

judges were also impressed with their great use of technology including their ‘home-grown’

software.

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The team from Tait Walker LLP with Andrew Jackson, Northern Society of Chartered Accountants and Monty Halls

Accounting and Finance Employer of the Year

Winner...

Sponsored By

KPMG LLP

Accounting and Finance Employer of the Year, sponsored by Echo Events, was awarded to

KPMG LLP. KPMG demonstrated that they have a community based office focussed on

adding value to the regional and social economy. The judges were impressed by their

passionate employees and modern thinking for their modern workforce.

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The team from KPMG

Outstanding Achievement Award Winner... Paul Woolston

The Outstanding Achievement Award 2014, sponsored by Nigel Wright Recruitment, was

awarded to Paul Woolston.

Paul has been described as one of the North East’s top business leaders. A North Easterner

through and through, he was brought up in Sunderland and studied politics at Warwick

University. He is a CIPFA qualified accountant, has a Master of Business Science from

Manchester Business School and in his spare time is a lay canon at St Nicholas Cathedral.

After university Paul wanted to secure a professional qualification so joined the Inland

Revenue and after three years, left to join the Audit Commission in Newcastle where he

trained as an accountant. In 1988, he joined PwC in Newcastle where he built up a public

service department of 50 people, became partner in 1992 and senior partner in 2002 where

he was the PwC UK market sector leader for public services assurance.

Paul became chairman of the North East LEP in July 2011, having previously declined the role

due to his commitment to PwC. Having recently retired as senior partner of the PwC North

East practice, Paul still works closely with the business community in the North East, using his

extensive experience in the public sector, including health, local government and education.

Despite his retirement, Paul still has an ambition to improve the North East and generate

wealth here. To achieve this ambition, he has recently taken on a new role as Chairman

of Middleton Enterprises Ltd. This private investment company has made a substantial

contribution to the North East’s economy by investing in and providing business advice to

entrepreneurial businesses.

Sponsored By

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Robert Forrester, Vertu Motors plc; Paul Woolston; Richard Morgan, Nigel Wright Recruitment

Unsung Hero Award

Winner...

Geoff Little

The Unsung Hero Award 2014 was awarded to Geoff Little for the support he has provided to

Whickham School and Sports College during their difficult transition from a local authority

school to an independent academy. Geoff is described as being committed, focussed and

diligent with good attention to detail. His guidance and advice has helped to re-assure the

trustees and governors, as well as making a difference to his local community. In

volunteering his time and expertise as a governor of Whickham School and Sports College

he has helped them to grow and become an extremely successful academy. His support and

commitment has never wavered despite having a full time job and being hospitalised for

a period for treatment through his battle with cancer. He is a great example to others who

would like to make a difference through supporting schools and communities.

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Geoff Little; Colin Briggs

North EastAccountancy Awards 2014

Title Sponsor

The North East Accountancy Awards recognise excellence within the fields of finance, accounting and tax from all industry sectors operating in the North East.

Book you tickets for 2015! To reserve your tickets for 2015 or find out more about sponsorship and nominations contact the event office:

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