Corporate communications has never been more important. Never before have so many groups of stakeholders had access to corporate information or the ability to influence that company’s brand. The Corporate & Financial Awards celebrates excellence in all aspects of City communication.

Protecting companies in times of crisis, communicating corporate messaging to investors and shareholders and developing a strong relationship with the media require skill, strategic thought and creative processes. Excellence in these areas of communications is exemplified by the winners of the 2019 Corporate & Financial Awards.

The ‘Best annual report of the year’ award goes to Coca-Cola HBC this year as judges recognised the expert integration of business strategy, sustainability storytelling and engaging design, making the report a showpiece in best practice. Ageas takes home the ‘Best in-house team of the year’ award for its strategic advice during a period of business transformation and Bladonmore nabs the ‘Best PR consultancy of the year’ prize after a year of improvements and updates to the business’ operations and structure.

“Congratulations to all of the winners at the 2019 Corporate & Financial Awards. This year’s entrants have exemplified the best in class in corporate communications and it has been a fantastic year for the awards. With over 50% of the FTSE 100 entering the awards, it is truly the benchmark for excellence in city communications.”

Other winners include Coca-Cola Hellenic’s colleague, Coca-Cola European Partners, which wowed judges for its sustainability approach. DS Smith won the prize for its acquisition of a rival, throughout which its communications were transparent and proactive, leading to a positive response from stakeholders. The Post Office took a gold for its campaign focusing on financial products for young people, while its Italian counterpart, Poste Italiano, nabbed the ‘Best meeting’ gold. 

The full list of winners is below:

Best corporate website: FTSE 100

Gold – WPP and Superunion

Silver – Burberry and Black Sun plc

Silver – Direct Line Group and Black Sun plc

Bronze – Legal & General and Superunion

 

Best corporate website: FTSE 250

Gold – Dairy Crest and Luminous

Silver - Halfords Group plc and Jones and Palmer

 

Best corporate website: AIM or Small Cap

Gold – U and I Group plc and Gather London 

Silver – Sound Energy plc and Jones and Palmer

Bronze – Superdry plc and Jones and Palmer

 

Best corporate website: International or Unlisted

Gold – Frontier Economics and MerchantCantos

Silver – Nomad Foods and MerchantCantos

 

Best printed report: FTSE 100

Gold – Coca-Cola HBC and Black Sun plc 

Gold – Mondi and Radley Yeldar

Silver – Legal & General and Superunion

Bronze – WPP and Superunion

Highly commended – Anglo American plc and Salterbaxter

Highly commended – AstraZeneca and Superunion

Highly commended – Taylor Wimpey plc and Black Sun plc

 

Best printed report: FTSE 250

Gold – Howden Joinery Group plc and Emperor

Silver – Electrocomponents plc and Conran Design Group

Silver – Workspace Group plc and Gather London 

Bronze – Derwent London and MerchantCantos

Bronze – St. Modwen Properties plc and Gather London 

Highly commended – Drax Group plc and Conran Design Group

Highly commended – Marshalls plc and Design Portfolio

Highly commended – Unite Group and Luminous 

 

Best printed report: AIM or small cap

Gold – GCP Student Living plc and lyonsbennett

Silver – TT Electronics plc and Conran Design Group

Silver – U and I Group plc and Gather London 

Bronze – Petra Diamonds Ltd and Design Portfolio

Highly commended – discoverIE Group and Jones and Palmer

Highly commended – Numis Corporation and MerchantCantos

Highly commended – Stock Spirits Group plc and Emperor

 

Best printed report: International

Gold – Coca-Cola European Partners and Salterbaxter

Silver – Octapharma and Luminous 

Bronze – Adecco Group and Black Sun plc

Bronze – En+ Group and Zebra Corporate Communications

Bronze – Nornickel and Zebra Corporate Communications

Highly commended – Gazprom Neft and Zebra Corporate Communications

Highly commended – Swiss Re and MerchantCantos

 

Best printed report: Unlisted

Gold – Channel 4 and Emperor

Silver – Virgin Atlantic and Black Sun plc

Bronze – Lloyd's of London and MerchantCantos

Bronze – SUEK and Black Sun plc

Highly commended – Neptune Energy and FleishmanHillard Fishburn

Highly commended – Reclaim Fund and Instinctif 

Highly commended – UK Power Networks and Instinctif 

 

Best online report: FTSE 100

Gold – Burberry and Black Sun plc

Silver – Ocado Group plc and Jones and Palmer

Bronze – EVRAZ plc and Zebra Corporate Communications

Bronze – United Utilities Group plc and Jones and Palmer 

Highly commended – Schroders and Black Sun plc

Highly commended – Taylor Wimpey plc and Black Sun plc

 

Best online report: FTSE 250

Gold – G4S plc and Black Sun plc

Bronze – Dechra Pharmaceuticals plc and Jones and Palmer

Bronze – Halfords Group plc and Jones and Palmer

 

Best online report: AIM or small cap

Gold – Henry Boot plc and Jones and Palmer

Silver – Trifast plc and Jones and Palmer

Bronze – Inland Homes plc and Jones and Palmer

Highly commended – Arix Bioscience plc and Jones and Palmer

Highly commended – Severfield plc and Jones and Palmer

 

Best online report: International

Gold – SIG Combibloc and MerchantCantos

Silver – Pfizer and Superunion

Bronze – Adecco Group and Black Sun plc

Bronze – SUEK and Zebra Corporate Communications

Highly commended – Alibaba and MerchantCantos

Highly commended – Gazprom Neft and Zebra Corporate Communications

Highly commended – RusHydro and Zebra Corporate Communications

 

Best online report: Unlisted

Gold – Deloitte and Pepper Digital

Silver – UK Power Networks and Instinctif 

 

Best CSR or ESG report

Gold – HSBC and Superunion

Gold – Rentokil Initial plc and Carr Kamasa Design

Silver – Mondi and Radley Yeldar

Bronze – Kier Group plc and CPL (Cambridge Publishers Ltd)

Bronze – Rio Tinto and Black Sun plc

Highly commended – Alibaba and MerchantCantos

Highly commended – Taylor Wimpey plc and Black Sun plc

 

Best meeting

Gold – Poste Italiane and Bladonmore

Bronze – Schroders and MerchantCantos

 

Best M&A communications

Gold – DS Smith and MerchantCantos

Silver – Uber-Careem and Bladonmore

 

Best IPO communications

Gold – Farfetch

Silver – AJ Bell and Instinctif 

 

Most effective crisis communications

Gold – En+ Group 

 

Best use of digital media

Gold – Post Office and Lansons

Silver – Hays and Posh Gecko

 

Annual report of the year 

Winner – Coca-Cola HBC and Black Sun plc

 

Best in–house corporate & financial communications team

Winner – Ageas 

 

Best IR agency or PR consultancy

Winner – Bladonmore