28 DEALS AWARDS2014 THAMES VALLEY Deals Awards gala evening grows in scale and status


With entries doubling this year and two new awards included, David Murray, publisher of The Business Magazine, proudly welcomed 300 guests to “the major regional awards night for the corporate finance community in this buoyant region of ours.”


The 440 entry nominations received this year, and inclusion of Due Diligence Team and Alternative Lender of the Year categories, not only reflected the increasing stature of the Deals Awards but also that the UK economy is now in recovery mode, Murray stated.


Data from Corpfin revealed that deal volumes nationally were up almost 3% for 2013 with the aggregate value of transactions up 1.5%.


And, that regional ‘buoyancy’ was highlighted by the Thames Valley being responsible for over 42% of total UK deal value in the past 12 months – the largest amount of any region including London.


Within the south east, Grant Thornton was the most active adviser, and Shoosmiths the most active law firm – for the second year in succession, added Murray.


Deals Awards category sponsors this year were BCMS, Grant Thornton, HMT, HSBC, James Cowper, Leumi ABL, Pitmans, PwC, and Wilson Partners. Murray thanked them all for their much-valued support. He also paid tribute to the Deals Awards judges for their professional knowledge and, with 440 nominations, their stamina…


The upbeat and celebratory mood of the evening was eased into top gear by comedian and actor Miles Jupp (top) well-known for his appearances in Mock The Week, The Thick of It, Michael McIntyre’s Comedy Roadshow and most recently on the highly-acclaimed comedy, Rev.


Host for the evening was Martin Stanford (bottom), a Sky prime-time news anchorman and no stranger to the Thames Valley business community, having hosted the Thames Valley Business Magazine Awards for the past two years.


Awards took place throughout the evening, between courses of dinner provided at the prestigious gala evening at the Royal Berkshire Conference Centre. Guests also used table keypads to vote on the night for three of the award winners – Dealmaker of the Year, and two Deal of the Year categories.


During the evening last month, another ‘winner’ turned out to be the Brain Tumour Research charity, which benefited by £2,815 as the corporate finance guests attending showed their generosity through personal donations.


Murray said afterwards: “Although Miles Jupp had fun at all our expense this evening, and was very funny, the evening is a serious reflection on the past year in corporate finance. We had some great winners tonight and it was right to recognise more than one winner in some categories where the nominations were so strong.”


www.businessmag.co.uk THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE – THAMES VALLEY – MAY 2014


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