The ninth British Accountancy Awards were held on Wednesday 25th September at London’s prestigious JW Marriott Grosvenor House hotel.
It played host to more than 800 guests from a wide range of accountancy firms, networks and businesses.
The black-tie event, which coincided with Accountancy Age’s 50th anniversary, brought together the best in the industry to celebrate the successes throughout the past year, and highlight excellence in practice, regional practice excellence, excellence in accounting and finance, the best teams of the year and individual excellence.
Guests began arriving at 18:30 and were greeted with a drinks reception and photo opportunities in the entrance hall before making their way down to the great hall where 81 tables were laid out for dinner and entertainment.
First, Austin Clark, Managing Editor of Accountancy Age, addressed the audience. “The British Accountancy Awards go from strength to strength at a time when the sector continues to fascinate, surprise and thrive amid ongoing market uncertainty. It’s great, therefore to see how, in the past year, accountants across the UK have yet again demonstrated their ability to adapt to these challenges and flourish.”
Clark then handed over to Russel Winnard, Director of Programmes and Services at Young Enterprise, the BAA’s charity partner. Young Enterprise works with young people, teachers, parents and influencers to help build a successful and sustainable future for all young people, and to equip them with the work skills, knowledge and confidence they need to succeed.
In addition to giving donations to Young Enterprise, guests also took part in a charity auction which saw a range of art, signed photographs, football shirts and whiskeys.
Following Mr Winnard’s speech, it was time for the first award of the night to be presented – The outstanding contribution to accounting and finance award, which was awarded to Sue Almond, Global Head of Assurance at Grant Thornton International (pictured with Accountancy Age managing editor, Austin Clark).
Following this, it was time for dinner, and the guests were served a three course meal and drinks, and were given a further chance to network at their tables, before the entertainment for the evening began.
The entertainment was provided by comedian Sean Lock, the host for the evening and well known for his regular appearances on ‘8 Out Of 10 Cats’, and the ‘Countdown’ equivalent.
Following his act, it was time to start presenting the awards. There were 25 awards in total coming under five categories: practice excellence, regional practice excellence, excellence in accounting and finance, team of the year and individual excellence. MHA MacIntyre Hudson were the big winners at the awards, winning three awards including National Firm of the Year. Adding to their night of success, the top 15 accountancy firm won Tax Team of the Year and Large Firm Graduate and Non-Graduate Programme of the Year.
Meanwhile, PwC won International Firm of the Year, while there were wins for PKF-FPM Accountants, Smith and Williamson and Infinity Partnership.
Once the winners were announced and the awards had been handed out, the celebrations began, with a live band coming on stage to play out the rest of the night.
