The Treasurer was delighted to welcome more than 20 leading treasurers and finance directors to our inaugural Deals of the Year lunch, held in March at the offices of Cazenove. All those invited had been involved in the shortlisted deals covered in our November 2003 issue, and all the winning deals (covered in the January/February issue) were represented by those who were actively involved in their success. As you can see from page 17, the winners were more than happy to pick up their awards, safe in the knowledge that they did not have to match the Oscar® speeches from earlier that week. The lunch provided an ideal opportunity for treasurers to discuss the merits of each of the deals and pass on the benefit of their experience.
The awards lunch illustrated one of the strengths of the ACT, reinforced in this magazine, which is to be able to bring together treasurers in any environment and let them benefit from the knowledge and experience of their peers. Another prime example of this is The Treasurers’ Conference, which was held on 22-24 March at The Celtic Manor. More than 400 treasurers, bankers, suppliers and advisers attended and benefited from discussions across the whole range of treasury topics, in the main presented by their fellow treasurers.We feature the conference on page 30 of this edition. If you missed out this time, whether as a delegate or as an exhibitor, please make sure you know when next year’s conference is – details will be available at www.treasurersconference.com.
On the subject of ‘networks’, but those of a different kind, our two part special feature on Technology and Systems begins on page 39. This month’s feature provides a reminder of the key technologies treasurers should be aware of. Next month we will be examining some of the key issues in detail, the highlight being a series of interviews with treasurers who have recently been upgrading their own systems.
I am very pleased to welcome Liz Salecka, our new Editor, to the editorial team.With Liz on board, readers will see even more case studies and analysis coming from the treasurers themselves, although we will, of course, continue to be reliant on our external contributors for their advice on best practice. As ever, if you are aware of a topic which we should be covering, please let me or Liz know.
MIKE HENIGAN
Publisher