Insight - Be in it to win it.

(From Financial Director)

This year marks the 10th anniversary of the Accountancy Age Awards, which recognise excellence in accountancy practice, financial management in business and technology. The awards will be presented on Wednesday, 10 November 2004, at Battersea Park Arena, Battersea, London.

The presentation evening is always spectacular, attracting nearly 1,000 senior executives from the practice, IT and business communities, including senior partners and FDs from some of the largest companies in the UK.

Awards are spilt into four main categories: practice, business (including Finance Team of the Year, Annual Report and Accounts and Corporate Finance Deal of the Year), software and individual awards (including the Financial Director of the Year categories).

Last year's winner of the Financial Director of the Year Award came from the public sector. Philip Lloyd of the Learning and Skills Council won the accolade after convincing the judges he had delivered substantial financial achievement, along with effective communication, efficiency and high-quality service to customers both internal and external. In the judges' words, Lloyd's achievements were simply "fantastic".

But Lloyd had to see off stiff competition from a strong shortlist of FDs. John Rishton of British Airways was a finalist after playing a crucial role in keeping the company airborne during a testing period. Eric Tracey, the Deloitte partner who helped turn round support group Amey, was also in the final five. From the smaller end of the corporate scale, Rick Bloomfield of Don-Bur Holdings was shortlisted for his success in saving the company from bankruptcy.

This year, the Financial Director of the Year award, sponsored by Financial Director, is split to reward the excellent work of FDs from different types of organisations: