Last night saw the announcement of 14 winners at the prestigious Finance Awards North West, taking place in front of 400 professionals from the local business community.

The awards ceremony is the only of its kind to recognise the work and achievements of the region’s top finance professionals and businesses.

The ceremony, hosted in partnership with ICAEW Manchester, The Growth Company and RSM, took place on Thursday 11 October at Manchester Cathedral.

Photos from the ceremony are available here.

Lucy Bisset, Director of Robert Walters Manchester, comments:

“We had an impressive number of quality entries, and competition was tight. Often the unsung heroes of any business (small or large) this awards ceremony was a chance for us all to celebrate the outstanding work done by finance professionals in the region and promote the contribution they make to the economic and business landscape for the North West.”

Mark Hughes, CEO of The Growth Company comments:

“The North West is home to some of the biggest and best companies in the UK and the calibre of award entries only secures that belief. Finance is such a crucial cog for any business and it is great to see both the hard work of individuals and innovation from companies celebrated in such a way.

“From our own work with companies in the region we see so much talent in the finance field, and so it’s safe to say the standard for the Finance Awards North West will only get higher and higher each year and we were thrilled to be part of this wonderful celebration.”

Over £1,500 was raised on the night for mental health charity Mind. A recent whitepaper from Robert Walters found that only half of UK employers have a mental health policy in place, and that over three quarters (76%) of professionals would be ‘uncomfortable’ discussing mental health at their place of work.

For further information, please contact Rum Gill on rumandeep.gill@robertwalters.com or 020 7509 8178.

Finance Awards North West 2018 winners:

• Rising Star of the Year: Hannah Evans, United Utilities
• Rising Star of the Year (Qualified): Elizabeth Shore, BA City Flyer
• Interim Finance Professional of the Year: Keeley Buckley
• Mentor of the Year: Tracey Mayall, Bibby Distribution Ltd
• Finance Team of the Year – Greater Manchester (up to 5 People): Eagle Eye Solutions Group plc
• Finance Team of the Year – North West (up to 5 people): WS Transportation Ltd
• Finance Team of the Year (6-19 People): Autocab
• Finance Team of the Year (20+ People): AO.com
• Shared Service Centre of the Year: Hilti
• Business Growth Award: Eagle Eye Solutions Group plc
• Finance Director of the Year (up to 25m): John Hammond, East Coast Concepts Ltd
• Finance Director of the Year (25m-100m): Daniel Orwin, Franke UK Limited                        
• Finance Director of the Year (100m+): Michael Hughes, EG Group
• Lifetime Achievement: Tim Kowalski, NCC Group