Last night, ProShare and CGIUKI were proud to host the ProShare Annual Awards Dinner – the premier event in the share plan industry’s calendar. Taking place at the prestigious InterContinental London Park Lane, it was a dazzling evening where members of the share plan industry were able to get together to celebrate one another’s success and share good practice.
As always, the evening was characterised by a friendly atmosphere as the share plan community were welcomed to the pre-dinner drinks reception. Once guests took their seats ahead of a delicious three course dinner – many thanks to the Awards Dinner Partner, Global Shares − Murray Tompsett, Head of ProShare, took to the stage.
Murray reflected that, while last year had been very positive when it came to ProShare lobbying and campaigning, 2023 had surpassed that success by some distance. He commented on the ‘useful and sensible reform to CSOPs and EMI share plans; the reintroduction of bonus rates for Save as You Earn, and the call for evidence on SIP and SAYE.’ He also mentioned a recent highlight for ProShare − a letter to the Chancellor urging for reform of the SIP holding period. ‘It was wonderful – and rather humbling – to be given permission to add the logos of more than 40 companies, including 20 from the FTSE 100, all backing our letter. Thank you to everyone here tonight who helped us build this support,’ he said.
Murray then handed proceedings over to the evening’s host, Konnie Huq. The TV and radio presenter, children’s author and ambassador for the King’s Trust and the British Asian Trust dazzled guests as she guided them through 12 categories with 15 winners and four high commendations. We would like to congratulate all our award recipients – you really do represent the best of the profession.
This year’s nominations delivered a mammoth task for the judging panel with an absolute bumper crop of high-quality submissions. The judging of the awards takes many hours, as every submission is reviewed by a panel who truly understand what excellence across employee share plans and employee share ownership looks like. We would like to reiterate how grateful we are and to say thank you once again to Kirsty Cooper − Group General Counsel and Company Secretary for Aviva plc, Janet Cooper OBE − Chair, ProShare Advisory Panel; NED Nurture Landscapes Group, Roger Fairhead − Group Reward Director at BAE Systems plc and Uzma Stamp − Group Head of Benefits, Wellbeing, Share Plans & Global Mobility at HSBC who together make up to our panel.
The share plan community in the UK is relatively small, but the impact they’re delivering in terms of ensuring that employees are recognised and valued as a company’s most essential assets is huge. The Awards remind us of this key mission and are an opportunity to reflect on the milestones that have been achieved this year.
In his speech, Murray expressed ‘cautious optimism’ about 2024. Come what may, we know that the share plan community will continue to do their best for companies and workforces. ProShare is looking forward to carrying on this good work with them in the new year.
