This is my third year as chair of the ACT’s Deals of the Year Awards judges’ panel, and once again I have been deeply impressed with the quality of entries! As always, choosing between the entries has been tough, but a real honour as well. The incredibly high standard meant that we were faced with some difficult 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.
The treasury community continues to demonstrate its resilience
The year saw continuing economic volatility and geopolitical uncertainty, but against this background, organisations were still able to complete deals, whether for financing and refinancing, securing improved terms or to support mergers and acquisitions. 2024 is set to be no different – the jury is definitely out on when we will see any significant reductions in interest rates while the spectre of inflation still hovers over us.
But despite this, the treasury community continues to demonstrate its resilience, and we were delighted to receive over 100 high-quality entries. From the largest of multinational companies to local housing associations and not-for profit organisations, they all showed why treasury plays such an important role in the financial wellbeing of their organisations. And of course, they demonstrated just how far along the collective sustainability journey we have come – for the second year, we have not included a specific ESG award as sustainability is firmly embedded in the fabric of financing and fund raising. It really is part of ‘business as usual’ now.
But what was remarkable was the level of innovation and resourcefulness demonstrated by our winners, showing how it is possible to negotiate financing arrangements in many different ways.
Treasurers will find their skills will continue to be in demand
This year, the judges commented in particular on how many of the winning entries demonstrated a clear understanding of the broader business strategy of their organisations – meaning that they were able to provide the best solutions for their businesses, which in turn promoted the profile of treasury, and strengthened the status of the treasury team as a true business partner. The crises of previous years may have cemented the view of treasury’s value to the business, but with 2024 set to show no let-up in geopolitical uncertainty – a third of the world is going to the polls this year – treasurers will find their skills will continue to be in demand.
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.
So, my congratulations go not just to the winners, but to all those who took the time and trouble to send in their nominations. And if you didn’t submit an entry this time, we will be doing it all again for 2024, so I look forward to being impressed once more!
Lynda Heywood is a non-executive director, and former group treasurer of Tesco plc
More about the judging process: 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.