Best managed firm

For the firm that demonstrated exceptional returns, strong growth and innovative strategies plus leadership in its chosen markets.

2002 WINNER

Nigel Knowles of DLA with Stephen Fielding of Coutts

This was an exceptionally difficult category to judge and the high quality of entrants demonstrated the very clear improvements that have occurred in the management of professional service firms over recent years.

The judges were looking for firms who could demonstrate that they had a comprehensive management process in place that linked up all parts of the firm and who could provide evidence of it helping to achieve exceptional returns.

All of the finalists met these criteria and it was difficult to separate them.

In the judges view, however, the winner is DLA. They demonstrated very sophisticated and comprehensive management processes and systems and they have achieved a high level of integration of these throughout the firm. They also demonstrated quite forcibly the effectiveness of their management approach across a wide range of measures. All aspects of the firm are shown to have made significant improvements demonstrating the overall effectiveness of management. In our mind, DLA came out top on all of our criteria.

RUNNER UP

In second place is Stevens & Bolton (another smaller non-London firm). The firm has developed a set of management processes and systems that are integrated and effective throughout the firm.

3RD PLACE

On balance the judges felt that Pannone & Partners deserved to be in the top three and we gave them third place. Clearly a significant amount of work has gone into developing management processes and systems and these appeared, from the evidence, to have been effective.

2005 FINALISTS

Runner up

Third place

Shortlisted

2005 SPONSOR

The Royal Bank of Scotland Group is the fifth largest financial services group in the world by market capitalisation and are bankers to 85% of the world’s Top 100 professional services firms drawn from the legal, accounting and surveying professions.