Winners revealed at Northern Finance Director Awards

City Football Group's Martyn Hawkins was a winner at the 2022 Northern Finance Director Awards

The winners of the 2022 Northern Finance Director Awards were announced last night at the celebratory gala dinner at Aspire, Leeds.

Over 150 guests attended the awards night, from leading Finance Directors and their teams to business professionals from across the North of England.

The awards, spanning 14 categories and sponsored by international business advisers Grant Thornton UK LLP, global law firm Squire Patton Boggs and recruitment firm Page Group, paid tribute to the enterprise, leadership, resilience, social impact and all-round excellence of financial leaders and their teams in Northern businesses over the past 12 months.

The event was hosted by Page Executive’s John Halton and we heard from Northern FD Awards winners both past and present throughout the night.
With special thanks to our charity partner Yorkshire Children’s Charity, working to transform lives for thousands of disadvantaged children in the region.

North West winners included Adam Prickett of AppLearn who won in the One to Watch category and has been instrumental in the company’s growth from start-up to working with market-leading companies in over 100 countries to ensure they get the most out of their software.

In the Private Equity-backed Company category Mat Hanson of Travel Counsellors was the winner, achieving brilliant results during his time at Cawood Scientific before recently taking on a new role as CFO of Travel Counsellors.

Martyn Hawkins at City Football Group was the winner of the Global Company category, demonstrating impact on a global scale.

The newly added ESG Champion award sought to celebrate those finance leaders who have demonstrated the need to conduct themselves responsibly, making a positive contribution to the environment, society and their own governance programme. Chief Financial Officer of James Cropper plc, Isabelle Maddock, was named ESG Champion 2022 in this impactful new category.

The full list of winners is:

  • Best Northern Finance Director of a Limited Company up to £25m – Ben Priestley, Mansfield Pollard & Co Limited
  • Best Northern Finance Director of a Limited Company of £25m-£100m – Jeroen van Os, ERS Medical
  • Best Northern Finance Director of a Limited Company over £100m – Henry Breese, Symington’s
  • Best Northern Finance Director of a Listed Company – David Brind, Kitwave Plc
  • Best Northern Finance Director of a Private Equity-backed Company – Mat Hanson, Travel Counsellors
  • Best Northern Finance Director of a Global Company (HQ in the North [Subsidiary]) – Martyn Hawkins, City Football Group
  • Northern Finance Director of the Year 2022 – Growth/Scale Up – Mark Fleetwood, END.
  • Northern Finance Director of the Year 2022 – Innovation – Amman Boughan, Lights4fun Limited
  • Northern Finance Director of the Year 2022 – Leadership – Beverley Shepherd, Econ Engineering Ltd
  • Northern Finance Director of the Year 2022 – One to Watch – Adam Prickett, AppLearn
  • Northern Finance Director of the Year 2022 – Turnaround – Nick Scott, Baird Group
  • Northern Finance Director of the Year 2022 – Deal of the Year – Mark Dobson, Estio Training Limited
  • Northern Finance Team of the Year 2022 – Drax Group plc
  • ESG Champion 2022 – Isabelle Maddock, James Cropper plc

Dave Hillan, partner at Grant Thornton in the North West said: “We are so very proud to have sponsored the Northern Finance Director awards again this year. It has been a privilege to meet with so many outstanding Finance Directors and their teams across the North of England – joining them in celebrating their achievements over the past 12 months in what has continued to be a challenging business landscape.

“It was a great pleasure to celebrate with all involved and I would like to once again congratulate all of the finalists on their fantastic achievements. May these continue into the year ahead.”

Giles Chesher, partner at Squire Patton Boggs in the North West, said: “It has been an honour to sponsor the 2022 Northern Finance Director awards, most especially when we consider the talented line up of finalists and winners of this years’ awards. Businesses continue to navigate a challenging landscape, and the role of the FD in doing so should not be underestimated.

“All of the winners and finalists that we celebrate this year are a significant credit to their respective businesses, and all deserve enormous praise for their efforts and achievements.”

John Halton, partner, Page Executive added: “It was a privilege to be involved in these awards again this year and to hear of the continued high performance of finance leaders in the region – there have been some truly outstanding achievements.

“With new challenges facing businesses in the post-covid economy we have yet again seen the adaptability that these talented finance leaders possess and the positive impact their insight and decision making has on the companies they are involved with – the region is certainly better off as a result of their invaluable contributions to it.”

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