The winners of this year’s NACFB Commercial Broker Awards have been announced at a ceremony held at Edgbaston Cricket Ground.
Hosted by World Cup winning rugby legend, and former BBC Question of Sport presenter, Matt Dawson, the awards recognise excellence within the commercial finance broking community and present the NACFB with an opportunity to thank its Members for their ongoing commitment to supporting UK SMEs in their quest for finance and growth.
Sponsored by Shawbrook Bank, the ceremony included a drinks reception, a three-course meal and a game of Heads & Tails to raise funds for the NACFB’s chosen charity, Young Lives vs Cancer.
Inundated with entries from sole-traders, regional players and national brokerages, this year the 14 awards categories were hotly contested which made for a lively discussion and heated debate amongst the independent panel of judges who agreed that the standard of submissions was exceptionally high.
Commenting on the judging process, Norman Chambers, managing director at the NACFB said: “It was an extremely difficult task, despite having clear criteria against which to measure the entries.
“I’m very grateful to the judges for their commitment and dedication to the job and would like to congratulate not just the winners and those who were highly commended but all the firms who took the time to enter.”
The winners and highly commended are:
Asset Broker of the Year
Winner: PMD Business Finance
Highly Commended: Alpha Asset Finance
Bridging Broker of the Year
Winner: Finance 4 Business
Highly Commended: Mantra Capital Group
Broker Innovation Award
Winner: Synergi Partner Finance
Highly Commended: Lime Consultancy
Buy-to-Let Broker of the Year
Winner: Mortgages for Business
Highly Commended: Vantage Finance
Cashflow Broker of the Year
Winner: Reach Commercial Finance
Highly Commended: Go-Factor
CBILS Broker of the Year
Winner: Halo Corporate Finance
Highly Commended: Bathgate Business Finance & Christie Finance
Commercial Mortgage Broker of the Year
Winner: Watts Commercial Finance
Highly Commended: Mantra Capital Group
Deal of the Year
Winner: South West Business Finance
Highly Commended: Zoom Finance
Development Broker of the Year
Winner: Sirius Property Finance
Highly Commended: Finance 4 Business
Factoring & Invoice Discounting Broker of the Year
Winner: TSF Finance
Highly Commended: Hilton-Baird Financial Solutions
Leasing Broker of the Year
Winner: Lease UK
Highly Commended: Synergi Partner Finance
Rising Star of the Year
Winner: James Danks, Finance 4 Business
Highly Commended:
Jake Batham, Crown Business Finance,
James Wood, Charles & Dean,
Claudine Reynolds, Blaise Commercial Finance
SME Champion Award
Winner: Approved Business Finance
Highly Commended: PMD Business Finance
Sole Trader of the Year
Winner: Icthus Consultants
Highly Commended: Bridgedevelopment Property Finance
The judging process
Each judge was assigned up to three categories and asked to choose their top three entries for each based on strict criteria. Brokers had to provide clear evidence of adding value to clients. In particular, the judges looked at where a broker had applied innovative structuring on a complex or difficult deal alongside taking into consideration the impact on the client’s business, the lender-broker dynamic, and the ability to get a deal over the line. The same criteria were given to Members who chose to submit an entry.
To determine the winners and the highly commended, the judges’ selections were combined with the votes from NACFB lender Patrons. To ensure fairness, a maximum of five representatives from each Patron was entitled to vote in each category.
The external judging panel included:
- Ryan Fowler, Publishing Editor, Mortgage Introducer
- Lee Tillcock, Editor, Moneyfacts Group Plc
- Bob Lefroy, CEO & Group Editor, Business Money
- David Newborough, Head of Audit and Business Services, Ashgates Corporate Services Ltd
- Russ Lewis, Specialist Director, NACFB
- Simon Goldie, Director of Advocacy, Finance & Leasing Association
- Alex Waterman, Principal, Invoice Finance & Asset Based Lending, UK Finance
- Alicia Pattihis, Partner, Philip Ross Solicitors
- Robin Skuse, Editor, Broker World
- Vic Jannels, CEO, The Association of Short Term Lenders Limited
- Ray Cohen, Director, Jackson Cohen Associates
The NACFB wishes to thank both Member and Patrons for their support and participation in this prestigious event.