Treasury teams from around the world celebrated their success at last week’s Treasury Today Adam Smith Awards Gala Presentation Lunch.

Since the first Adam Smith Awards in 2008, the world of treasury has changed beyond recognition. Few would have predicted the seismic impact the gathering global financial crisis would eventually have on the profession, thrusting it into the spotlight to guide corporations through choppy waters. Today, treasury remains at the forefront of many organisations. Its strategic mandate continues to grow as another tide of geopolitical and economic uncertainty approaches.

Throughout these ten years, the Treasury Today Adam Smith Awards has emerged as an industry benchmark; shining a spotlight on the very best and brightest teams and individuals in the industry.

This year was no different and last week over 250 corporates and their banking, service and technology providers braved the heatwave and came together to celebrate each other’s success at the tenth anniversary of Treasury Today’s Adam Smith Awards.

A day of celebration

The Gala Presentation Lunch, held in the spectacular surroundings of Plaisterers’ Hall in the City of London saw Angela Berry, Founder, Director and Group Publisher at the Treasury Today Group open the event by welcoming all attendees and commenting on the great work of the corporate winners. She reflected on the changes that we have all witnessed over the past decade.

“This year’s nominations are fantastic examples of how corporate treasurers are responding to the evolving challenges they face,” she said. “The submissions reflect the position of importance the treasury profession now occupies around the world and how treasury professionals are stepping up to support business growth in challenging times.” Treasurers, she commented, have shown “remarkable creativity, determination and innovation”.

Richard Parkinson, Managing Director and Meg Coates, Associate Publisher EMEA and Americas, presided over the presentation ceremony.

Herc Rentals collected the highly coveted Treasury Today’s Top Treasury Team Award. The spin-off from Hertz Holdings created a unique challenge for the newly formed Herc Rentals treasury team which had to quickly create a functioning treasury organisation while transitioning and optimising the work streams within six months of the separation. Herc Rentals met this challenge head-on. The speed at which this department mobilised itself and tackled a host of challenges after a transformational spin-off event is, as the award testifies, remarkable.

Speed was also a priority for the winners of the ultra-competitive Harnessing the Power of Technology category. The overall winner here was Goshawk Aviation. The Dublin-based aircraft leasing company implemented an entirely new IT platform and integrated system infrastructure in less than 12 months. It achieved this without causing any business disruption through a phase of growth for the company.

Serial Adam Smith Awards winners, Microsoft, were well represented, winning six awards overall. Once again, the team are at the forefront of innovation, applying a host of up-and-coming solutions such as blockchain and AI into its day-to-day treasury operations.

The Adam Smith Awards also highlights the work of individuals. Luca Hammel, Global Treasury Front Office Head at Dufry was this year’s Rising Star. Commenting on receiving the award, Luca said: “The Adam Smith Award will open up new opportunities for me and act as a springboard for me to continue moving forward in my treasury career.”

Stamp of excellence

Mark Baker, ‎Executive Vice President, CFO & Information Officer EMEA at NTT DATA Corporation also recognised the power of the award in promoting treasury within the organisation. “Our Adam Smith Award win has already been internally recognised, not only within NTT Corporation in Tokyo but within the NTT Group,” he said. “It has increased our profile as a centre of excellence and a trusted business partner to NTT globally.”

Maria Loria, Corporate Treasury Director at Jose Cuervo is also planning to use the award to push her treasury team forward. “It is an honour to be recognised by receiving such an important award,” she said. “It not only recognises what we have achieved but also gives us the motivation to push on and do even more.”

Marco Brähler, Head of Treasury Back Office at F. Hoffmann-La Roche mirrored these comments. He hopes that the award will inspire other companies to push the boundaries of treasury excellence. “Giving the high standard of applications handed in this year it is a great honour for us to receive an Adam Smith Award, it is a label of quality,” he said. “We already receive a lot of questions from our peers about our treasury management processes. I hope to receive more as we are keen to share our experiences with the treasury community and continue to elevate the profession around the world.”

Read all about it…

A full write up of the day will be published in the July/August edition of Treasury Today. All the Winning and Highly Commended case studies will be published in our Adam Smith Awards 2017 Yearbook early next month.