2021 Awards shortlist reflects the good work going on in the governance space

We are now just weeks away from announcing the winners of The Chartered Governance Institute UK & Ireland’s Awards for 2021 and the excitement has been mounting since we published the first of two blogs with details of the shortlists for this year’s Awards. Last time we announced the individuals and teams shortlisted for an award and were delighted to see nominees from a really wide cross section of the governance community singled out for praise. In our second of two blogs, we turn our attention to some of the very good work going on in the governance space over the last 12 months.

The award for Service Provider of the Year is one of our “hardy perennial” awards and recognises those individuals or companies that provide company secretarial or governance services to other organisations and have gone significantly beyond basic service levels. Last year, we saw in this category a lot of work being done to support clients with the challenge of keeping the show on the road in the wake of seismic changes as a result of COVID-19. This year, the impact of that continues to resonate. The contenders are:

• Beyond Governance
• Company Matters, Link Group
• Elemental Co Sec Ltd
• Indigo Independent Governance Ltd.

“This nomination for Service Provider of the Year tops off a special 2021 for Elemental”, says Tobias Latham FCG. “It's a year in which we have seen a series of exciting new business wins, a number of new hires, and have celebrated our tenth birthday. And now we're delighted to have received such high-profile industry recognition too.”

Next up is the award for Governance Project of the Year. This award was first given two years ago and it recognises those governance projects that are of such significance strategically that they could be described as transformational. Last year’s winner was the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation (MOHRE), United Arab Emirates; this year, the following projects have been shortlisted:

• Aldermore Group Governance transformation project
• National Grid plc Governance refresh project
• Private Company Governance Group
• Rolls-Royce Holding plc Rights issue
• Unilever PLC Unifications of legal structure
• Wise PLC London Stock Exchange listing.

Eve Miko, Alexi Cawson, Ieva Miliauskaite and Megan Birtwistle of Private Company Governance told us: “We are celebrating our nomination, not just for the recognition by CGIUKI of the work PCG has been doing, but for the light it will shine on the unlisted company sector, now a significant proportion of the UK industrial base. It's more and more important that good governance professionals are attracted to join this sector and we hope that the award nomination will raise their profile. Of course it's also great to be able to join the awards ceremony and celebrate all our colleagues' successes!”

Another recent arrival on the list, making just its second appearance this year, is the award for Diversity & Inclusion Initiative of the Year. It’s a very timely award and one which recognises those initiatives which are designed to boost diversity and inclusion around an organisation and its work. Last year’s winner, North West Anglia NHS Foundation Trust, was a very worthy winner and set the bar high. This year, we had a healthy crop of nominations and making it to the shortlist are:

• Girls Friendly Society – Leadership and governance initiative
• Institute of Hospitality – Diversity Shield and Youth Council
• Notting Hill Genesis – Diversity and inclusion initiatives.

Andrew Nankivell, Director of Governance at Notting Hill Genesis, takes up the case: “Wonderful to take time to recognise and celebrate a huge amount of passion and hard work by people across Notting Hill Genesis supporting strong, inclusive decision making.”

Speaking of timely, we come to our final award in the list, and our newest. New for 2021, the award for ESG Initiative of the Year is designed to recognise those initiatives which are designed to address ESG issues around the organisation in a real and demonstrable way. This is not about green-washing; this is about how in the year of COP26, organisations are squaring up to the challenges of a changing climate. This year’s contenders are a truly international bunch, which seems entirely fitting. They are:

• Savannah Energy Sustainability Strategy
• The Red Sea Development Company The Red Sea Project
• Vodafone Group Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) Project
• World Business Council for Sustainable Development Governance and Internal Oversight project.

Some very worthy projects and we look forward to hearing more about them in the weeks and months to come.

And that’s it! Congratulations once again to all our nominees this year and we look forward to finding out who will be crowned victorious on 16 November. This year, we return to a glittering, in-person black tie affair at the London Hilton Park Lane. Our host for the evening is Dan Walker of BBC Breakfast and Strictly Come Dancing fame.

Regardless of who wins on the night, though, it is wonderful to see such a broad cross-section of the governance community recognised in this year’s shortlist. It truly reflects the fact that there is not one part of society that does not benefit from governance and the expertise of those working in the field.

Tickets are still available but places are filling up fast. To book go to www.cgi.org.uk/awards/bookings.