As the industry began to stabilise and lenders started to gather confidence following the financial crisis, the Financial Reporter awards helped to provide a much needed boost to the financial services industry's image - focusing on excellence, quality, and integrity.
We led the way for unbiased awards programmes, relying on you – our readers, the people who use these firms every day – to cast your votes and let us know who deserved recognition.
This approach was well-received by the industry, with Richard Basso of Short Term Lender of the Year winner Lowry Capital commenting that their win was "particularly meaningful as this award is decided by the industry’s vote only".
The Financial Reporter Industry Awards continued to get bigger and better each year as more of you voted, and competition began to hot up between companies who took part in various campaigns to secure a coveted Financial Reporter award. In 2013 we took our awards programme to the next level, and launched the first Award Winners’ party.
Rather than the traditional dinner-and-ceremony affair, Financial Reporter opted for an informal event that would celebrate our industry winners as well as allow our guests to mingle, enjoy themselves, and connect with their peers.
Two years on, and the awards continue to act as a recognised benchmark of industry quality – and more of you vote each year, meaning you contribute to the recognition of good practice in an ever changing industry.
The Financial Reporter Industry Awards is the most transparent, definitive awards programme in the industry as we allow our peers to vote for any candidates they see fit, without a panel or shortlist.
Our awards truly represent the industry's opinion on who deserves praise for their work, and this year we expect more voters than ever before to turn out in recognition of the people who make our industry great through innovation and hard work.
James Lucas, Director of Barcadia Media, said:
“We’re incredibly proud of the level of involvement and enthusiasm the Financial Reporter Industry Awards receives every year from the industry. We’ve had five highly successful years showing that our voters appreciate being given the freedom to vote for whoever they want, and the number of voters proves that.
“As our awards programme continues to grow, we hope that 2015 will once again see a fantastic number of votes and a healthy dose of competition as firms strive to get their hands on a coveted Financial Reporter Industry Award.”
Matt Tristram, of previous winners Loan Warehouse, said:
"We look forward to the Financial Reporter awards every year - no judges (well not strictly true - 50,000 finance professionals all with one equal vote), no agendas, no favourites, no panels, just one vote per person.
"We’ve been extremely lucky to have been awarded a total of 10 Financial Reporter Industry Awards over the previous 5 years the awards have been running which is a great reflection of the industry feels about Loans Warehouse.
"We’re looking forward to this year’s bigger and better awards with anticipation."
