Date: Thu 28th January, 2010
Venue: The Copthorne Hotel, Effingham Park, West Park Road, Crawley, RH10 3EU
Number of Guests Attended: 250
Click here for Sponsors & Winners
More than 250 financiers from across the southern Home Counties gathered at Gatwick's Effingham Park Hotel on the 28th of January to congratulate the cream of their industry at Insider's fourth annual South East Dealmakers Awards, compèred by broadcaster Adrienne Lawler.
While 2009 was undoubtedly a tough year for everyone in the dealmaking community, the awards provided a chance to celebrate the deals that got away and the people that made them happen.
Grant Thornton director Rupert Rawcliffe was the big winner of the night, winning Corporate Finance Adviser of the Year and the coveted Dealmaker of the Year award for a second year running. Collecting his prizes, he urged the corporate finance community around Surrey, Kent and Sussex to continue their hard work: "The advisers and funders around here can do any kind of deal, it doesn’t have to drift up to London."
Rawcliffe's highlights in a tough year included a buyout for east London plant hire business Quattro, which made the shortlist in the Deal of the Year category. Interviewed on stage with his award he said: "It's not rocket science, it's about team work; there's a huge energy in the team at Grant Thornton, but we couldn’t have done any of our deals without the support of the lawyers and funders in this market."
The winner of Deal of the Year was the £28m management buyout (MBO) of air charter and aviation support company Chapman Freeborn.
The Royal Bank of Scotland's Mathew Glentworth was named Young Dealmaker of the Year.
Insider's editorial director Michael Taylor praised the winners, saying: "Not only do you put businesses together with funders, purchasers and potential acquisition targets, but you also recognise the value of a functioning business community."