This is my second year as chair of the Deals of the Year Awards judges’ panel, and I have to say it doesn’t get any easier! What has helped, though, was the ability for the judges to all come together in one room to discuss the shortlisted entries – the incredibly high standard of the entries meant that we were faced with some tough choices, and I must thank all the judges for their hard work and honest appraisals of the contenders. Without the support of the judges, these awards would not happen – they commit considerable effort to reviewing every one of the entries, and represent what is best about our treasury community, providing generous support and professional insight throughout the process.
Despite the difficult times that many organisations have endured over the last year, we were delighted to receive 80 high quality entries. We are only too aware of the volatile background against which many of these deals were taking place. Having come through the COVID pandemic, treasury teams then faced another set of challenges: higher energy prices, rising inflation, increasing interest rates, exchange rate volatility and the disruption caused by the war in Ukraine, to say nothing of the looming spectre of recession. This uncertainty led to periods during the year when the capital markets were in effect closed, requiring a ‘be ready to go when you can’ approach by many corporates.
But what was remarkable was the levels of innovation and resourcefulness that were demonstrated by our winners, showing how it was possible to negotiate financing arrangements in many different ways. Alongside this, we saw how sustainability has now become mainstream – we decided this year not to have a specific ESG award and this decision was borne out as so many entries had sustainability at their heart.
It was gratifying also to see how many treasury teams are playing a lead role in such a wide range of strategic initiatives, raising the profile of the Treasury function and being a driving force behind delivery of their corporates’ broader strategy. The crises of previous years may have cemented the view of treasury’s value to the business, but these teams are now building on this to become a powerhouse within the organisation.
This is why the judges were also pleased to see so many treasurers self-nominating their own teams and deals for these awards – they alone have a full perspective of the deals and helped us get a clear understanding of the whole corporate picture. These awards, judged by their peers, give treasurers a great opportunity to showcase their work.
We received a wide range of deal and team entries, from the smallest of teams to the largest of corporates, from global mega deals to more local fund raisings in the not-for-profit sectors, but they all demonstrated the skills, understanding and determination to get the deal done.
I’m sure that 2023 will be no less of a challenge for treasurers than 2022, but if this year’s entries are anything to go by, I don’t think the judges’ job will be any easier next year.
Lynda Heywood is group treasurer at Tesco
The ACT Deals of the Year Awards are run by treasurers for treasurers. As such, some judges represent organisations that have entries in the awards. Integrity in the judging process is paramount for the ACT and to avoid any conflict of interest, any judge with a potential conflict abstains from the process in the relevant category/ies. You can read more about the judges here.