Growth Company Awards 2001

We reveal our awards for excellence in the growth company field

It is our intention that these awards go from strength to strength, and become a real measure of quality for those involved in the growth company arena.

The Investor Care Award

Winner: Alizyme

AIM Company of the Year

Winner: BioFocus

Runner-up Minorplanet

Shortlist: Aquarius Platinum

Shore Capital

Seymour Pierce

Growth Company Journalist of the Year

Winner:Geoff Foster, Daily Mail

Runner-up: Miles Nolan, Investors' Chronicle

Shortlist: Edmond Jackson, Sunday Telegraph;

Anthony Hilton, Evening Standard;

David Parsley, Sunday Times

Ofex Company of the Year

Winner: Argyll Consultancies

Runner-up: Accidentcare

Shortlist: St Mark's Homes

Information Dynamics

Disperse Technologies

AIM VCT of the Year

Winner: AIM VCT

Shortlist: Close Brothers AIM VCT

AIM Distribution Trust

AIM Adviser of the Year

Joint winners: Peel Hunt, HSBC

Shortlist: Nabarro Wells

Charles Stanley

English Trust

AIM Broker of the Year

Winner: HSBC

Runner-up: Peel Hunt

Shortlist: Brewin Dolphin

Numis

Charles Stanley

Ofex Financial Adviser of the Year

Winner: Ruegg & Co

Runner-up: Loeb Aron

Shortlist: Altium

Brook Corporate Finance

Ofex Institutional Investor of the Year

Winner: Scottish Value Management

Shortlist: Matrix

Artemis

AIM PR Firm of the Year

Joint winners: Financial Dynamics, Merlin Financial

Shortlist: Binns & Co

Fleet Financial

Winningtons

AIM Lawyer of the Year

Winner:Theodore Goddard

Runner-up: Nicholson Graham & Jones

Shortlist: DLA

Taylor Joynson Garrett

AIM Accountant of the Year

Winner:Ernst & Young

Runner-up: Arthur Andersen

Shortlist:HLB Kidsons

Saffery Champness

How the awards were decided

Aim and Ofex Company of the Year Awards - Our shortlist for these awards was drawn up by carrying out quantitative research amongst all AIM and Ofex companies, looking at two criteria: turnover growth from last year to this, and profit growth (or loss reduction). We took into account those companies which may have distorted figures due to acquisitions or mergers. Our judging panel made up of fund managers, corporate financiers and analysts then ranked the companies on the shortlist. The shortlist threw up a mixed bag of companies, but the clear winner was BioFocus, the chemistry services business which is benefiting from the trend to outsourcing in the pharmaceutical industry.

The Investor Care Award - We sent a questionnaire to all our members and subscribers, asking them to nominate one or more companies which provided an excellent service for their shareholders.

Growth Company Journalist of the Year - The shortlist was derived from research carried out by Growth Company Investor, focusing on the coverage each journalist has devoted to the growth company arena over the last year. Our judging panel then ranked those short-listed

AIM VCT of the Year - The shortlist for this award was drawn up by examining net asset values per share over one, three and five years. The shortlist was then submitted to the judging panel for ranking.

AIM Broker, AIM Adviser, Aim Accountant, AIM Lawyer, AIM PR Firm and Ofex Adviser Of the Year - The shortlists for all these awards were drawn up from responses to a questionnaire sent to all AIM and Ofex companies. This asked them to rate their satisfaction with their professional advisers. As with the company award, the shortlists were then sent to a panel of judges. In order to make the judging as fair as possible, it should be stressed that no professional was asked to judge his peers in the same category.

Ofex Institutional Investor of the Year The winner of this award - Scottish Value Management - was selected by our judging panel as being a clear winner for 'single-handedly raising the profile of investing in Ofex'.

Judging panel - We would like to thank all our judges for their time and effort. Without them the Awards wouldnot have been possible. The judges were as follows: David Adams, Travers Smith Braithwaite; Peter Ashworth, Teather & Greenwood; Peter Binns, Binns & Co; Henry Fairpo, Pannell Kerr Forster; Adam Hart, Peel Hunt; Alan Hutchison, unquoted.co.uk; Colin McLean, Scottish Value Management; Robert Mitchell, Friends Ivory & Sime; Richard Oldworth, Buchanan Communications; Nick Rodgers, Beeson Gregory; Chilton Taylor, Baker Tilly; Mark Watson-Mitchell, SQC Research; Brian Winterflood, Winterflood Securities.