The event brought together a wide selection of experienced industry professionals — who were selected via a strict application process and cover all areas of the specialist finance sector and UK — to spend the day judging the companies and individuals shortlisted in the broker and lender categories at Century Club in Shaftesbury Avenue, London.

After much debate, the broker and lender judging panels selected the winners for 27 award categories ahead of the ceremony on Thursday 21st September at the Hurlingham Club.

This year’s awards process featured a new and improved process, which saw shortlisted companies submitting a five-minute video explaining why they deserve to be crowned in their category.

Meanwhile, individual nominees for the Lender Relationship Manager of the Year and Underwriter of the Year categories were required to participate in live, timed interviews during the judging day.

The consideration period for these awards was between May 2022 and May 2023.

The shortlisted nominees put substantial effort into their submissions to illustrate their value and achievements, while showcasing their enthusiasm and passion for their business, as well as for the specialist finance market as a whole.

The broker panel, chaired by Knowledge Bank founder and CEO Nicola Firth, kicked off the day by debating the lender categories and the performance of all individual nominees during the rapid-fire live interviews.

Once the brokers finalised their decisions — with the session finishing at 1:30pm — it was the lenders’ turn to select the broker winners, with the help of the panel’s chair Gavin Diamond.

The lender judges conducted a thorough debate based on the video submissions and their own personal experiences.

When the day ended, the judges praised the B&C Awards judging process for being fair, honest and well organised.

“When people say you can buy awards, I would wholeheartedly disagree and use the B&C Awards as an example,” said Shaz Ahmed, founder and director of Elan Property Finance.

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“The work that goes into entering and judging is second to none.

“Having the nominees provide video submissions was a great idea as it really allowed people to get their expertise and passion across, and the two categories where there were live Zoom interviews were fantastic — a bit of pressure really allowed the nominees to shine.

“The judging day itself was well organised, managed and chaired; there was a wide group of judges, and everyone got to say their bit and have their opinions valued.”

Gavin added: “There was a good mix of judges and personalities which made for excellent debate and thorough consideration of all nominees, with the winners and highly commended being truly worthy of their status following a highly transparent process.”
 
Uliana Kuzmis, deputy managing director for development finance at Hampshire Trust Bank, commented: “I really enjoyed the day, not only because it was beautifully and seamlessly organised, but also because of the conversations in the room.

“The lenders were really honest, fair, and truly tried to consider and take into account so many aspects related to the proposed candidates, while trying to establish the stand-out [nominees].

“It was refreshing to see what is important to other lenders in the room and the genuine care for the borrower and the future of the industry was very profound.”

Leanne Ardron, head of bridging finance at LendInvest, agreed: “The organisation and coordination were fantastic — it had the perfect mix of industry professionals with excellent debates on some of the fantastic businesses that were up for awards.”

Narinder Gill, associate at Coreco Specialist Finance, stated: “It was very enjoyable and fantastic to recognise how well the industry is adapting to an ever-changing and testing market.

“It was great to see so much passion and drive within the industry, given the turbulence over the past 12 months, with all finalists being worthy winners.”

The winners of this year’s prestigious B&C Awards will be revealed during the official Rio de Janeiro Carnival-themed ceremony on 21st September.

Tables for the event are sold out, but there are still some limited sponsorship options available. If interested, please contact Beth Fisher on [email protected] as soon as possible to avoid disappointment.