Law firm Gordons to sponsor awards for rising stars of Yorkshire accountancy

Thursday 6th March 2014

Yorkshire law firm Gordons is to help recognise promising practitioners in another profession by sponsoring a major award scheme for budding accountants.

The firm is backing this year’s Yorkshire Rising Star Awards, which celebrate the next generation of in-house finance professionals across the region. The awards recognise outstanding qualified or part-qualified accountants, who have made significant contributions to the running of their functions and may be the finance directors of tomorrow.

Award categories include four based on the annual turnover bands of entrants’ organisations – ranging from under £25m to over £150m. There are also sections for employees of PLCs and not-for-profit organisations, with the overall Rising Star of the Year being selected from the winners of the other categories.

Nominations for the awards must be made by Friday 6 June. A panel comprising representatives of the sponsors – finance and accounting recruitment experts Sharp Consultancy, financial services giant Royal Bank of Scotland and major global accounting group Grant Thornton, as well as Gordons – will then interview all nominees. The sponsors’ representatives will then decide on the winner of each category and Rising Star of the Year, in conjunction with an independent adjudicator, with whom they will discuss each candidate.

Results will be announced at a black tie gala dinner on 16 October at Oulton Hall Hotel, Leeds, to which all nominators and nominees will be invited.

Outlining the reasons for Gordons’ sponsorship, managing partner Paul Ayre said: “Our strong links with the accountancy profession are a very important feature of our business and we’re therefore delighted to be sponsoring the Yorkshire Rising Stars Awards. This is a fantastic scheme and we’d urge anyone who knows a promising finance professional in the region to nominate them.

“Apart from recognising winners’ contributions and generating positive media coverage for successful candidates, the scheme provides networking opportunities and involves attending a lavish awards ceremony, so the benefits for nominees and their employers can be considerable.”

Previous entrants to the Yorkshire Rising Stars of the Year Awards have included people from many leading organisations, including ASDA Stores, Seabrook Crisps, Mamas and Papas, ghd, Hallmark Cards, Siemens, Sheffield Hallam University and the University of Bradford.

To nominate an entrant or find further information on the nomination process, please visit www.yorkshirerisingstars.co.uk or email nominations@yorkshirerisingstars.co.uk