On a winning streak

The Growth Company Awards, hosted by Vitesse Media, brought together for the 11th year the advisers and companies making a difference to the development of British business. Joe McGrath reports

This year’s high turnout for the Growth Company Awards was a measure of the strength of their uniqueness, with shortlists compiled by contacting a wealth of chief executive officers in the smaller business space to canvass opinions on the advisers they retain.

Feedback, coupled with the counsel of the event’s judging panel, helped narrow the field and establish the overall winners – the definitive list of advisers for small and medium-sized enterprises to consult.

Vitesse Media’s Leslie Copeland introduced the ceremony, noting that the total funds raised on junior markets amounted to £1.68 billion, a leap of 80 per cent over the last year — solid proof that cash is still available for promising public companies. 

Chilton Taylor, head of capital markets at joint AIM Accountant of the Year winner Baker Tilly, says the firm is working on several potential flotations, but that the IPO market remains fragile.

‘Good companies must seek to finance their growth plans and we are seeing a number of such opportunities. However, whether this demand will be matched by the supply of funds from institutions is still a question,’ he adds.
For the other AIM Accountant of the Year winner, BDO, IPO activity isn’t as disappointing as one might imagine on first glance.

The number of flotations in 2010 increased for the firm on 2009, doing nine last year compared to five the previous year. Chris Searle, partner in BDO’s Transaction Services, says he is currently busy doing about ten.

In the AIM Lawyer of the Year category, Nabarro took the crown from last year’s victors Eversheds. Nabarro is enjoying a good year so far after advising on 13 flotations in 2010 with a combined market cap of £2.5 billion.

You’ll struggle to find a small-cap adviser that hasn’t found market conditions to be tough, and St Helens Capital Partners, winner of the PLUS Adviser of the Year award, is no exception.

‘The volume of good quality transactions is lower than it has been for some time,’ says executive chairman Oliver Cooke. ‘But we are committed to delivering value to our clients through the provision of good quality corporate finance advice and to doing what we can to maintain and improve the quality of companies joining the market.’

VCT Fund Manager of the Year Unicorn snatched the title from last year’s winner Elderstreet.
Executive director and senior fund manager Chris Hutchinson says that all five of the OEIC funds overseen by Unicorn are in top decile in their respective asset classes.

Broker Brewin Dolphin is no stranger to the AIM Adviser of the Year award, having won the gong for the second year in a row. So what sets the firm apart from others?

Mark Brady, managing director in the finance division, says that it’s the firm’s quality research product and an experienced corporate finance team.

Cenkos Securities took the Aim Broker of the Year award. Nicholas Wells, head of corporate finance, says the firm has made an encouraging start to the year, raising more than £400 million for its clients so far.

In this year’s Analyst of the Year category, Singer Capital Markets picked up the accolade while the CF Amati fund landed the accolade of Small-Cap Fund of the Year.

Paul Jourdan, chief executive of Amati Global Investors and co-manager of the fund, said the company was pleased to have landed a ringing endorsement of its long-term commitment to the UK smaller quoted company asset class. The fund’s mandate aims for long-term capital growth by investing in UK-quoted companies with market capitalisations up to £2 billion and has achieved strong returns for investors over the past year.

Majestic Wine triumphed as AIM Company of the Year from the well-respected shortlist, in what has been a challenging year for many but especially so in the retail sector.

The judges commended the company’s out and out customer focus and the sheer diversity of its product range while continually introducing innovative ideas to maximise customer engagement. The PLUS Company of the Year award was won by Quercus Publishing.

Communications at the fore

In another of the service provider categories — Financial PR Company of the Year — Threadneedle saw off strong competition from Financial Dynamics, Walbrook, Winningtons, Buchanan and Abchurch to storm to victory.

Judges praised feedback from the many businesses Threadneedle has served, noting
that it was indeed achieving its goal of growth through reputation by focusing on outstanding levels of service.

Graham Herring, managing director of the PR agency, said that to have won an award where the nominations were from the very plc management teams it represents was the highest praise the company could wish for.

He explained, ‘Every company has its strengths, faces different challenges, and at Threadneedle we pride ourselves on our expertise to create individual communications programmes to fit those needs.

‘We have put together an excellent team, drawing from different backgrounds, such as stockbroking and financial journalism, as well as experienced consultants who have advised companies of all sizes, from FTSE 100 to micro- cap, through all situations.’