Chairing the lender judging panel is former Spring Finance CEO Gavin Diamond; while Nicola Firth, founder and CEO of Knowledge Bank, will be chairing the broker judging panel.

Gavin — who previously chaired the lender panel for the 2019 B&C Awards — commented: “Being part of the judging panel for the B&Cs is always one of the highlights of the year.

“[I am] really looking forward to chairing the panel once again and facilitating a fair and transparent process for all nominees.”

Nicola Firth — who hosted the FP Show’s Live Criteria Clinics in 2022, and chaired the lender panel for the 2018 B&C Awards — said: “I am honoured to be asked to chair the broker judging panel of the B&C Awards.

“Having been lucky enough to be on the panel in previous years, I know just how fiercely contested these awards are and the arduous debate that goes into each category.

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“The winners of the awards are extremely worthy, and that recognition is extremely important for those deserving of the titles.”

This year’s B&C Awards process started with online voting, which opened in February and closed on Monday 5th June.

Members of the industry each had one vote for the companies and individuals they felt deserved to be crowned at this year’s ceremony.

Votes have now been counted and the expert judges for the B&C awards — who were announced on 28th March — are currently deliberating the longlist to determine who will make it on to the shortlist in each of the 27 categories.

The shortlist will be revealed on B&C on Monday 12th June.

In a new addition to this year’s awards process, shortlisted companies will have three weeks to submit a five-minute video on why they believe they should win the award(s) they are shortlisted for, to take their nomination forward.

The chairs and judging panels will then meet on 27th July to debate who will win in each category, while shortlisted nominees for the individual categories — Lender Relationship Manager of the Year and Underwriter of the Year — will each be interviewed in person by the experts.

The winners will then be announced at the B&C Awards on 21st September at the Hurlingham Club in Fulham, London.

Tables are almost sold out, so please contact Beth Fisher and Megan Goncalves on [email protected] and [email protected] as soon as possible to avoid disappointment.