Award Categories

Winners

The ICSA Annual Awards 2018

Highlights from 2018

Meet the ICSA Awards 2018 winners and relive the excitement from the ceremony. Scroll down for galleries and a full report from this year's event or jump using the links below:

Please email us at events@icsa.org.uk if you have any questions about this year's event.

2018 Award Winners

ICSA Awards - Annual Report of the Year FTSE 100

ANNUAL REPORT OF THE YEAR (FTSE 100)

Winner: SSE plc

Sponsor: Link Asset Services

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The best annual reports are easy to read, giving a ‘warts and all’ review of the year with real insight into the company as well as its strategy, how its board behaves and how it manages risk. All of tonight’s winners in this category were transparent with distinct absence of boilerplate and vividly told their company’s story in their own way.

The nominees for this award were:

  • Legal and General Group plc
  • National Grid plc
  • Rolls-Royce Holdings Plc
  • SSE plc
  • Vodafone Group PLC

Congratulations to the winner of the Annual Report of the Year in the FTSE 100 category, SSE plc.

ICSA Awards - Annual Report of the Year FTSE 250

ANNUAL REPORT OF THE YEAR (FTSE 250)

Winner: Hammerson plc

Sponsor: Intertrust

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The best annual reports are easy to read, giving a ‘warts and all’ review of the year with real insight into the company as well as its strategy, how its board behaves and how it manages risk. All of tonight’s winners in this category were transparent with distinct absence of boilerplate and vividly told their company’s story in their own way.

The nominees for this award were:

  • Cranswick plc
  • Great Portland Estates plc
  • Greencore Group plc
  • Hammerson plc

Congratulations to the winner of the Annual Report of the Year in the FTSE 250 category, Hammerson plc.

ICSA Awards - Annual Report of the Year Small Cap and AIM

ANNUAL REPORT OF THE YEAR (SMALL CAP / AIM)

Winner: Biffa plc

Highly commended: Petra Diamonds Limited

Sponsor: Design Portfolio

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The best annual reports are easy to read, giving a ‘warts and all’ review of the year with real insight into the company as well as its strategy, how its board behaves and how it manages risk. All of tonight’s winners in this category were transparent with distinct absence of boilerplate and vividly told their company’s story in their own way.

The nominees for this award were:

  • Biffa plc
  • De La Rue plc
  • Dialight plc
  • Petra Diamonds Limited
  • The Vitec Group plc

    • Congratulations to the winner of the Annual Report of the Year in the Small Cap and AIM category, Biffa plc.

    The Judges also highly commended Petra Diamonds Limited. Well done to them.

ICSA Awards - Audit Disclosure of the Year

AUDIT DISCLOSURE OF THE YEAR

Winner: United Utilities Group PLC

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In this category, the judges were looking for insight into issues such as the work of the audit committee, explanations of how non-audit services and fees are managed and evidence of the external auditor’s independence

The nominees were:

  • AA plc
  • Marks and Spencer Group plc
  • Standard Chartered PLC
  • Tesco PLC
  • United Utilities Group PLC

Congratulations to United Utilities Group PLC on winning the Audit Disclosure of the Year award.

ICSA Awards - Risk Disclosure of the Year

RISK DISCLOSURE OF THE YEAR

Winner: Smith & Nephew plc

Highly commended: Vodafone Group plc

Sponsor: Institute of Risk Management

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Here, the judges were looking for a meaningful description of the business and the risks it faces, why each risk is incurred and how the board committees play their part in managing them. The best reports in this category offer great insight into the issues facing the business and give confidence that risk is well managed.

The nominees were:

  • BT Group plc
  • Cairn Energy PLC
  • Great Portland Estates plc
  • Smith & Nephew plc
  • Vodafone Group plc

Congratulations to the winner of Risk Disclosure of the Year, Smith & Nephew plc.

The Judges also highly commended Vodafone Group plc. Well done to them.

ICSA Awards - Best Investor Engagement

BEST INVESTOR ENGAGEMENT

Winner: Legal and General Investment Management

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The judging criteria here were very simple. We contacted the company secretaries of all FTSE 350 companies and asked them to nominate the investor who has been responsible for the most constructive engagement. Twenty one investors were nominated for this category and the shortlist comprises of the four with the most nominations.

The nominees for this award were:

  • BlackRock
  • Columbia Threadneedle Investments
  • Fidelity Investments
  • J P Morgan Asset Management
  • Legal and General Investment Management
  • Morgan Stanley Asset Management

Congratulations to the winner of Best Investor Engagement, Legal and General Investment Management.

ICSA Awards - Gender Pay Gap Reporting of the Year

GENDER PAY GAP REPORTING OF THE YEAR

Winner: Centrica plc

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This was a very interesting category to judge as this was the first year of reporting and it was striking how differently companies had tackled the new reporting requirement. The winner was the report that had best combined clarity of reporting, executive sponsorship and action planning.

The nominees for this award were:

  • Centrica plc
  • National Australia Bank
  • SSE plc
  • Lloyds Banking Group plc
  • DDB UK

Congratulations to the winner of Gender Pay Gap Reporting of the Year, Centrica plc.

ICSA Awards - Board Disclosure of the Year

BOARD DISCLOSURE OF THE YEAR

Winner: SSE plc

Sponsor: Prism Cosec

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In this category, the judges looked for reports with a strong chair’s statement and a good explanation of the issues the board faced during the year. They were particularly interested in reports that demonstrate how the chair is taking personal responsibility for leading the company, and explain how they lead the board and ensure that the company culture is appropriate.

The nominees were:

  • Croda International Plc
  • Randgold Resources Limited
  • RDI REIT P.L.C.
  • Smith & Nephew plc
  • SSE plc

Congratulations to SSE plc for winning the Board Disclosure of the Year award.

ICSA Awards -Strategic Report of the Year

ICSA Awards -Strategic Report of the Year

STRATEGIC REPORT OF THE YEAR

Joint Winners: Derwent London plc and Rolls-Royce Holdings Plc

Sponsor: Addleshaw Goddard

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In this category, the judges were looking for a clear explanation and analysis of the strategic issues facing the company, including its business model, key drivers, objectives and risks.

The nominees were:

  • Babcock International Group PLC
  • Derwent London plc
  • Diageo plc
  • Glencore plc
  • Rolls-Royce Holdings Plc

The overall quality in this category was very high so in an unprecedented move the judges decided to award two winners in this category.

Congratulations to Derwent London plc and Rolls-Royce Holdings Plc for winning the Strategic Report of the Year award.

ICSA Awards - Remuneration Report of the Year

REMUNERATION REPORT OF THE YEAR

Winner: Hammerson plc

Sponsor: Aon

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In this category, the best reports showed how remuneration was considered alongside the long-term interests of shareowners and how effective remuneration policy can affect positive change in organisational culture.

The nominees were:

  • BAE Systems plc
  • Greencore Group plc
  • Hammerson plc
  • Marks and Spencer Group plc

Congratulations to Hammerson plc for winning the Remuneration Report of the year award.

ICSA Awards - Sustainability Report of the Year

SUSTAINABILITY DISCLOSURE OF THE YEAR

Winner: Vodafone Group plc

Highly commended: Pennon Group plc

Sponsor: Deutsche Bank

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The judges in this category were looking for evidence that long-term stakeholder interests and non-financial factors were linked to the company’s strategy, its objectives, its governance structures and ultimately its sustainability.

The nominees were:

  • Anglo American plc
  • Legal and General plc
  • National Grid plc
  • Pennon Group plc
  • Vodafone Group plc

Congratulations to Vodafone Group plc for winning the award for Sustainability Disclosure of the Year.

The Judges also highly commended Pennon Group plc. Well done to them.

ICSA Awards - Company Secretary of the Year

COMPANY SECRETARY OF THE YEAR

Winner: Miranda Craig – The Sage Group plc

Sponsor: Diligent & Blueprint Oneworld

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For this award, the judges were looking for a company secretary who provides effective team and thought leadership, who shows mastery of the complex legal and regulatory environment and plays an added-value role in the governance of his or her organisation.

The nominees were:

  • Cathy Li – Standard Chartered Bank
  • Karen Marshall – Association of Accounting Technicians
  • Winner: Miranda Craig – The Sage Group plc

Congratulations to the Company Secretary of the Year, Miranda Craig of The Sage Group plc.

ICSA Awards - Governance Professional of the Year

GOVERNANCE PROFESSIONAL OF THE YEAR

Winner: Alison Chan – Alexandra Rose Charity

Sponsor: Computershare Governance Services

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The nominees here are individuals who are at the centre of the governance team and have built and sustained strong relationships with stakeholders, and demonstrated some innovative and effective approaches to good governance.

The nominees are:

  • Nneka Abulokwe – Micromax Consulting
  • Alison Chan – Alexandra Rose Charity
  • Sandy-lee Connolly – Keller Group plc
  • Matt Johnson – Greater Sport
  • Louise Wilkins – The Methodist Church

Congratulations to the Governance Professional of the Year, Alison Chan of Alexandra Rose Charity.

ICSA Awards - Team of the Year

TEAM OF THE YEAR

Winner: Quilter plc

Sponsor: Brainloop

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The winners in this category contributed significantly to their organisation’s success. The range and diversity of the duties and transactions which they undertook meant that they have implemented innovative solutions to cope with both routine tasks and the challenges of more exceptional projects.

The nominees were the teams from:

  • Aviva plc
  • FirstGroup plc
  • GlaxoSmithKline plc
  • Indivior PLC
  • Lloyds Bank Corporate Markets plc
  • Quilter plc
  • Sky plc
  • University Hospitals of Derby & Burton NHS Foundation Trust

Congratulations to Quilter plc for winning Team of the Year.

ICSA Awards - Governance Project of the Year

GOVERNANCE PROJECT OF THE YEAR

Winner: University Hospitals of Derby and Burton NHS Foundation Trust – NHS Merger

Sponsor: Association of Women Chartered Secretaries

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This was open to those individuals or companies who have completed a significant governance project in the last 12 months. All of the nominees here delivered a project that was transformational to their organisations.

The nominees were:

  • Aviva - Mandatory Direct Credit
  • Financial Reporting Council - Review of the UK Corporate Governance Code
  • HSBC - Project EnGlobe
  • KPMG & Purple - Leading from the front
  • Scottish Widows - Digipacks
  • Sport England & UK Sport - Code for Sports Governance
  • University Hospitals of Derby and Burton NHS Foundation Trust - NHS Merger

Congratulations to University Hospitals of Derby and Burton NHS Foundation Trust for winning Governance Project of the Year.

ICSA Awards - Service Provider of the Year

SERVICE PROVIDER OF THE YEAR

Winner: Company Matters, Link Asset Services

Sponsor: Board Intelligence

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This category was designed to recognise the work of individuals and companies who provide secretarial or governance services to other organisations – particularly those that have gone significantly beyond a basic service to provide a more valuable contribution.

The nominees were:

  • Burness Paull LLP
  • CLS Chartered Secretaries
  • Company Matters, part of Link Group

Congratulations to Company Matters, Link Asset Services for winning Service Provider of the Year.

ICSA Awards - The One to Watch

THE ONE TO WATCH

Winner: Anna Machin – ARK

Sponsor: DMJ

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This category identifies the stars of the future. All the nominees here are still in the early stages of their company secretarial or governance career but have the potential to go all the way to the top.

The nominees were:

  • Katy Beattie – Metro Bank
  • Samira Chambas – Aviva plc
  • Paraschos ('Paris') Fokou – Hyperion Insurance
  • Prajna Hegde – Laura Ashley Limited
  • Anna Machin – ARK
  • Natasha Rodley – Centrica plc

Congratulations to Anna Machin of ARK for winning The One to Watch award.

ICSA Awards - Outstanding Achievement Award

Outstanding Achievement Award

Winner: David Jackson

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This is a very special award, one which is presented by ICSA in recognition of continued exemplary work in the secretarial and governance fields.

Congratulations to this year's winner of the Outstanding Achievement Award, David Jackson of BP p.l.c.