After an extraordinary year of crisis and upheaval, it has again been my privilege, along with my fellow judges, to review dozens of examples of our profession showing outstanding dedication and innovation while navigating their companies through these difficult times.
Every year the panel comments on the professionalism exhibited across the nominations, but there is no doubt that this year we have seen many more instances of teams going above and beyond to cope with unprecedented events.
Last year will undoubtably be considered a turning point in history because of the pandemic. For those of our readers who have been in the profession for many years, there were some parallels with the financial crisis of 2008/09 in terms of the immediate focus on maintaining liquidity – the treasurer’s primary role – as many of our assumptions about the business environment were torn up.
However, this time, the impact was so much wider. The pandemic put extraordinary pressure on health systems around the world, and many sectors of the economy were effectively shut down. Combined with the necessary restrictions on the working environment, 2020 produced the toughest circumstances that many treasurers will ever face in their careers.
Thankfully the path to a more normalised world – albeit one where we live with COVID-19 for the foreseeable future – has become clearer. Hopefully, the amazing progress on developing and distributing vaccines will roll out around the whole world over the course of the coming months.
Treasurers will always have to deal with volatility and a changing environment as a core facet of their roles. Occasionally we will see a step-change that affects every area of the profession. I have no doubt that the past year has been one of those occasions. The enabling benefits, and the risks, of technology will be ever more central to our profession. It will be fascinating to see how these changes play out over the coming years – not least the old ‘five days in the office’ assumption.
Unsurprisingly, a large proportion of the nominations this year centred on companies coping with urgent refinancings and balance sheet support as their business models were torn up.
What particularly impressed the panel across a number of nominations was not only the impressive speed and scale of individual transactions, with nominees often managing multiple external parties under highly stressed timeframes, but how many teams managed to continue to push forward, innovating in the day job – all while having to collaborate virtually. Some remarkable achievements were showcased. Undoubtedly, in a ‘normal’ year, several nominations that did not win this year would have been in strong contention for an award.
Another key theme was how ESG-linked financing has moved ever more firmly into the mainstream. As we gradually move away from the immediate effects of the pandemic and focus ever more on the climate crisis, it is reasonable to assume that this trend will continue and that ESG-linked financing will become the rule rather than the exception.
With around 150 nominations across the categories the judges had the daunting task of choosing individual winners from the strongest field I have seen in my time on the panel. I would like to express my thanks to all my fellow judges for their thorough review of the nominations, and lively debate through the virtual judging session.
A word on the judging panel: we have been through some change this year and I would like to express my sincere appreciation to Henryk Wuppermann, head of corporate finance and structured finance at E.ON, who retired from the panel this year. Henryk has been a member of the panel for more than 10 years and has been a strong contributor throughout that time. His insights, contributions and good humour have been a constant, and I would like to express my thanks for his long service. Joanna Hawkes, director of corporate finance at Transport for London, has taken a temporary absence from the panel for a year, and we look forward to seeing her again next year.
This year, we also welcomed four new members to the judging panel: Lynda Heywood, group treasurer at Tesco; Alexandra Lewis, group treasurer at National Grid; Alan Chitty, director of group treasury, tax and risk at Pepco and Tom Bindloss, head of treasury at Senior. I would like to thank them all for their active and constructive engagement as soon as they stepped into the breach. It has been a pleasure having some fresh faces and strong opinions added to the panel.
In addition, we remain immensely grateful to our sponsors Lloyds Bank and SMBC for their long-standing sponsorship and support of the awards, as well as to the whole team at the Association of Corporate Treasurers.
I take great pleasure in presenting the winners of the ACT Deals of the Year Awards 2020.
Philip Learoyd is group treasurer at OCI and chair of the Deals of the Year Awards judging panel
Head judge
Philip Learoyd, group treasurer, OCI
Tom Bindloss
Head of treasury, Senior
Alan Chitty
Director of group treasury, tax and risk, Pepco
Lynda Heywood
Group treasurer, Tesco
Alexandra Lewis
Group treasurer, National Grid
Mona Lockett
General manager, automotive group treasurer, Al-Futtaim
Bente Salt
Group treasurer, Rentokil Initial
Richard Sedlacek
Managing director, debt advisory and co-head, corporate debt advisory, Rothschild & Co
Martyn Smith
Director, Metal Choirs
Mark Venner
Treasurer operations, BAE Systems
Paul Watters
Head of EMEA credit research, S&P Global Ratings
