From Aldi to PwC: the year’s heroes revealed
The 2014 CityAM awards were as glamorous and entertaining as ever with guest speaker Sir Martin Sorrell kicking off an exciting ceremony with 14 awards given
THE GRANGE St Paul’s Hotel was packed to the rafters last night with some of the City’s favourite faces as the CityAM awards took its annual place in the heart of the Square Mile. There were 14 gongs but a room full of winners, as we celebrated a great year of business.
Before the shortlisted names could hear their fate, advertising’s tour de force Sir Martin Sorrell took to the stage. “Before coming here tonight I asked our research firm Kantar to do some digging into audience attention spans,” he told the crowd. “I found that after twenty five minutes, ninety per cent are no longer listening, instead, they’re thinking about sexual fantasies – so I make no apologies for the pleasure I’m about to bring you.” Naturally, the audience loved it.
He went on to mention politics and discussed the future of newspapers and of course, some grey and black swans. “That’s known unknowns for those giggling at the back,” he said.
Legal & General’s Nigel Wilson took the top award for personality of the year – celebrated by the judges for his brave public stance on controversial issues. “The last few years have been good but the next few could be even better,” he told the crowd.
The award for best accountancy firm drew the biggest buzz from the crowd, as all of the shortlisted firms garnered huge cheers, except for Deloitte, who clearly had a much smaller rabble than the rest. Of course it was PwC who won in the end, with judges granting victory for its retendering record.
Entrepreneur of the year went to Zoopla’s Alex Chesterman, who was sadly unable to collect the award himself. Judge and fellow entrepreneur nominee Nick Hungerford of Nutmeg made his play for next year’s title when he awarded Shearman & Sterling with Nutmeg-sponsored Law Firm of the Year. “Next year we’ll be doubling our sponsorship,” he winked.
Company of the year however went to German discounter Aldi – whose media-shy representatives made a very rare public appearance. “We’re a private company and we’re not that London centric,” marketing director Adam Zavalis explained. Well, with the way they’re shaking up the supermarket industry we suspect we’ll be seeing a lot more of them, whether they like it or not.
Once the awards were handed out and the congratulations had been exchanged, it was time to head to the bar to carry on the party. Jo Bertram, UK manager of Uber, the innovative company of the year, was headed for the door, and predictably an Uber. Has she ever thought of doing Uber private jets in the UK? “Well, I do have a private pilot licence as it happens, so I’d absolutely love to,” she told us. You heard it here first folks.