September 2011 sees the 2nd annual North West Finance Awards. The awards have been created to recognise excellence across the accounting and finance sector from purchase ledger and credit manager to financial controller and finance director.

Regardless of position, the North West Finance Awards aim to acknowledge that every individual within a finance team is crucial to the overall success of the department and ultimately the business.

The event has been set up by Steve Crohill who has worked in event management for over 12 years after he noticed a gap in the financial market.

Steve observed that some accounting bodies offer internal acknowledgements to their own members and a few private organisations have set up their own awards to recognise achievements of their clients. However these tend to be aimed at the top end of the management hierarchy. Everyone knows that a leader is only as good as the team behind them, so it was time something was created where the accolades could be shared.

After conducting the market research, Steve discovered there was an interest in this type of recognition within the accountancy sector. It was important to devise something that was independent of one particular institution, where anyone could nominate or be nominated and it was open to all qualifications and levels.

With this ethos in mind, when putting together the judging panel, it was vital to receive different perspectives from a variety of backgrounds and qualifications.

The last few years have seen some of the toughest times for over five decades. The awards will help the survivors share best practice throughout the region in order to see us through the times ahead. The awards present the chance for people to nominate staff and teams from the accountancy department and to recognise outstanding achievement and commitment within their particular companies.

The awards are a great PR prospect and an excellent opportunity to enhance your company's reputation. Some companies have been unable to increase salaries over the past few years therefore these awards allow the opportunity to recognise and reward the hard work and determination the accountancy profession deliver.

We hope you will get behind the awards as your support is critical to their success.  We aim to achieve maximum coverage which will allow us to reward the accounting community and its previously unsung heroes.