Judging

5th January 2012 - Nominations Open
6th February 2012 - Nominations Close
2nd March 2012 - Judging panel meet to discuss the nominations
29th March 2012 - Awards dinner held at HAC

The Judging Process

The vastly experienced and impartial judging panel of equity market participants and commentators will sift the initial list of nominations down to the individual winners, they will be looking for evidence of:

  • Effective innovation
  • Commercial success
  • Financial soundness
  • Clarity of strategy
  • Effective implementation of that strategy
  • Management acumen

Ideally the winners' share price will have performed consistently well during the year although acquisitions, disposals, restructuring programmes, fund raisings and the launch of innovative product and service offerings can all be given special recognition - especially if a firm's share price has responded favourably.

The Judging Panel

  • Russ Mould

    Russ Mould (Chairman of Panel), Editor of Shares Magazine.

    Russ spent 12 years at investment bank UBS as an equity analyst covering the technology sector. Russ took the role of lead analyst on several initial public offerings and reached the level of Managing Director in 2003, becoming head of UBS' global semiconductor research effort. He joined Shares in 2005 as technology correspondent and was appointed editor in July 2008.

  • Michael Cahill

    Michael Cahill, MarketMatters

    After a degree in Economics from Cambridge, Michael Cahill spent 16 years as an analyst at the highest level in fund management and investment banking. He translated this experience into a common sense easy to understand approach in his book 'Analysing Companies and Valuing Shares' and now runs MarketMatters, where he provides financial training, coaching and consulting services.

  • Tim Ward

    Tim Ward, CEO, Quoted Companies Alliance

    Tim Ward is CEO of the Quoted Companies Alliance, the trade association of the small and mid-cap quoted sector, which works in the UK and Europe to promote and maintain vibrant, healthy and liquid capital markets. With eight highly effective technical committees, the QCA lobbies Europe, Whitehall, regulators and exchanges on a wide range of topics whilst connecting corporate members with investors and the market through a series of well regarded publications, seminars and events.

    Tim's career began at PriceWaterhouseCoopers where he worked with clients mainly in the retail and banking sectors. After several years in senior positions with a smaller quoted company and a strategic management consultancy, Tim joined the London Stock Exchange in 1993. During the following 10 years he held various senior management roles, including Head of Issuer Services and Head of Marketing.

    Tim joined FTSE International in 2003, becoming Finance Director in 2005. As part of FTSE's Executive Group, Tim was responsible for finance, legal, HR, risk management and facilities during a period when revenues grew from £30m to £50m.

    A mentor on the ICAEW's F-TEN programme, he mentors and coaches a strictly limited number of senior professionals. Tim studied English and Economics at Cambridge University, is a Chartered Accountant, has an MBA from Henley Business School and several coaching qualifications.

  • Paul Kavanagh

    Paul Kavanagh, Killik & Co.

    Paul Kavanagh is a partner at stockbroker Killik & Co and has been with the firm since 1993. Paul is responsible for the firm's Contracts for Difference and Spread Betting services and has a particular passion for smaller companies and spotting early trading opportunities. Paul is a frequent media commentator providing analysis on markets and equities in both print and online media.

  • Paul Dyson

    Paul Dyson, Dyson Capital Management

    Paul has developed a wide range of experiences during his career in the financial sector industry, encompassing auditor, financial controller, market maker, proprietary trader and fund manager. Having obtained a mathematics degree from Imperial College, London, he trained as an auditor with KPMG specialising in the financial services sector, a specialism that lead him to become financial controller for UBS Warburg's equity and fixed interest divisions before moving to a front office trading role. After 11 years at UBS during which he worked on the LIFFE floor, worked as a FTSE 100 market maker and finally as a proprietary trader, Paul joined Clareville Capital to manage their $250m equity portfolio.

    Latterly, he has used his breadth of skills to found Dyson Capital Management, a company which provides investment management for private clients and institutions using a value oriented investment approach to offer long-term capital gains. DCM prides itself on its sound investment principles, founded on the works of Benjamin Graham, and its uniquely transparent and fair fee structure.

  • Matthew Doughty

    Matthew Doughty, Dorsey & Whitney LLP

    Matthew Doughty practices in the London office of Dorsey & Whitney as a partner in the Corporate Group. He has broad experience in IPOs, follow-on equity offerings, public and private mergers and acquisitions, investment funds, re-organizations, de-mergers, and joint ventures. Mr. Doughty has advised on national and international public equity transactions, including public offerings and listings on the London, New York, Amsterdam, Frankfurt and Hong Kong Stock Exchanges.

  • Polly Fergusson

    Polly Fergusson, Pelham Bell Pottinger

    Polly Fergusson has extensive City experience as a communications specialist, financial journalist, equity analyst and broadcast commentator on financial and business issues. Her journalistic career has included writing for national newspapers, investment magazines and business comment for Sky, Bloomberg and the BBC.

  • Linda Main

    Linda Main, KPMG

    Linda is the head of KPMG's UK Capital Markets Group which provides services to companies of all sizes from all over the world which are considering an IPO in London. She advises clients on all stages of the IPO process from initial planning through to preparation for life as a public company. Her clients include companies of all sizes from the UK and overseas seeking admission to either AIM or the Main Market.

    Linda is a member of the UKLA's Listing Authority Advisory Committee and the LSE's AIM Advisory Group. She is a regular speaker at conferences about the Listing Rules and the AIM Rules and contributes to various technical publications on the subject.

  • Chris Fielding

    Chris Fielding, WH Ireland

    Chris, a chartered accountant, joined WH Ireland in April 2010 after over 20 years advising small and mid-cap companies with BZW, Hoare Govett and Arden Partners and is Head of Corporate Finance. He has extensive experience in advising companies, both domestic and overseas, in IPOs, secondary fund raisings, public offers and M&A transactions on both the Official List and AIM.