Dawson’s double at NW turnaround awards
DELOITTE’S corporate recovery partner Bill Dawson was crowned North West Turnaround Professional of the Year at the region’s inaugural awards for the sector.
Mr Dawson received most votes in a poll of 280 professionals who attended the St Nicks awards at Manchester Art Gallery last night.
As well as winning the overall individual prize, Mr Dawson was named Accountant of the Year after topping an Internet poll which attracted more thousands of votes.
Mr Dawson, who led the Deloitte team advising on the insolvencies of David McLean Homes, Stirling Group and Woodford Group, told TheBusinessDesk he was “proud and delighted” to win recognition from his peers.
He said: “It means a lot that so many people who I respect are here tonight and who have voted for me.
“I have a great team at Deloitte and award are for them too. They have done a fantastic job on turnaround deals, many of which have not been publicised.”
Mr Dawson’s double was not the only twin success of the evening.
KPMG won recognition for its work with retail CVA deals, most notably of which was for JJB Sports.
KPMG won Large Accountancy Firm of the Year and Most Integrated Service Provider of the Year. The awards were collected by Brian Green, head of North West restructuring.
Law firm Addleshaw Goddard was named Large Law firm and partner Ged Barnes Lawyer of the Year.
The brainchild of investment firm Endless, the St Nicks Awards, were launched in Leeds several years ago, and are now a key part of the Yorkshire corporate calendar.
James Cameron of Pinsent Masons was named Rising Star of the year. Mr Cameron advised on the Heywood Williams and Trutex deals.
The Rising Category was hotly contested by young professionals in the legal and accounting sectors. Among the other contenders were Elizabeth Jones of DWF, Joe Hore of Grant Thornton, Kris Aspin of Ernst & Young, Kevin Wall of Zolfo Cooper and Michelle Ewbank of Hammonds.
PA of the Year – another close-fought category – was Michele Ortega of PricewaterhouseCoopers in Manchester.
Michele, who is PA to recovery partner David Kelly, was described in one of the award citiations as “the heartbeat of the PwC team.”
Other winners on the night were:
Mid-tier Law Firm – Cobbetts
Large Law Firm – Addleshaw Goddard
Valuation Agency of the Year – Edward Symmonds
Mid-tier/Boutique Restructuring Firm – MCR
Most Supportive Asset Based Lender – Lloyds TSB Commercial Finance
Most Supportive Bank of the Year – Royal Bank of Scotland
ABL Professional of the Year – Jim Millar, GE Commercial Finance
Banker of the Year – Dave Rimmer, Barclays
Interim Director of the Year – Andy Leese
Lawyer of the Year – Ged Barnes, Addleshaw Goddard.
The winners were chosed by an independent panel of judges chaired by Endless partner Warwick Ley – who also co-hosted the evening, which raised around £3,000 for the Francis House children’s hospice in Manchester.
Other judges were retired duo of corporate lawyer Egan Brooks, and banker Ron Atkinson and TheBusinessDesk.com’s North West editor Chris Barry.
