The 14th annual Grant Thornton Quoted Company Awards recognised the key achievements of the UK’s leading smaller companies, as well as the service providers and advisers that support them.
The awards were open to the 1,000 plus companies which are quoted on the Main Market (below the FTSE350), on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) or which are traded on the NEX Exchange.
Some 650 people attended the celebration last week, which was organised by Growth Company Investor and hosted by broadcaster and newspaper columnist Julia Hartley-Brewer. Twelve companies won the top prize in their category.
Our CFO Richard Hope was awarded Finance Director of the Year having met the criteria of the award which was to demonstrate control over Treatt’s finances, with clear evidence of cost control, proactive management of debt and equity funding and the production of transparent accounts.
Last year was an outstanding year for Treatt with significant milestones achieved in both sales and profits. For the first time in the company’s history, sales exceeded £100m at £109.6m with profit before tax reaching £12.9m. Adjusted profit before tax of £12.9m grew by 45.7% compared with £8.8m last year, resulting in adjusted basic earnings per share growth of 42.4% at 18.29p (2016: 12.84p).
Daemmon Reeve, Group CEO at Treatt, commented: “This award is a significant recognition of both the success of everyone at Treatt over the last five years as well as the important part that Richard has played in that journey - congratulations Richard.”
Lawrence Gosling, Editorial Director of Vitesse Media, said: “We are delighted to have celebrated, for the 14th year, the key achievements of the UK’s leading smaller companies. The winners of the Grant Thornton Quoted Company Awards go on to do great things. The 2016 IPO of the year, Fever-Tree Drinks, is now valued at almost £3 billion and has seen its shares rise 270 per cent since winning this accolade. Its successor in the 2017 Awards was Blue Prism, whose shares have risen 180 per cent following its win. We very much look forward to following the progress of this year’s IPO of the year, Alpha FX whose shares have already risen 165 per cent since listing in April 2017.”