Russell Bedford scoops top honours at prestigious International Accountancy Awards

October 2019

Global accounting network, Russell Bedford International was awarded the title of ‘Network of the Year’ at the 2019 International Accounting Bulletin Awards ceremony which took place at the iconic Waldorf Hilton in London on Thursday, 3 October.

Additionally, the network’s CEO, Stephen Hamlet took the individual award for ‘Personality of the Year’, gaining recognition for his leadership and contribution to the profession.

As winners of the award for ‘Network of the Year’, Russell Bedford demonstrated the successful execution of profitable growth strategies and was recognised by the industry as a reputable brand that consistently delivers high quality professional services. The network also excelled in a number of key strategic and operational areas over the past 12 months and is compliant with the IFAC definition of a network.

In his capacity for the award of ‘Personality of the Year’, Stephen Hamlet demonstrated his passion as an ambassador for addressing the issues that are affecting the profession, with a vested interest in working through the challenges that affect the member firms in the network. He also showed a vibrant and positively fresh personality, opening dialogue on key issues and maintaining a progressive and solution-based attitude, keeping Russell Bedford firmly on the path of continuous development.

The judges’ comments included:

Network of the Year

“This year’s winner raised and refreshed its profile and delivered growth. Not only did this network grow its revenue, but it also recruited new members in new territories outside its long-standing comfort zones.”

Personality of the Year

“The winner of this award is someone who has developed a strong presence within the industry over the last year and has worked tirelessly to build the brand and profile of their network. Tonight’s winner must have very good miles as he has travelled extensively to various member firms across the world to build greater relationships between member firms. He also took a special interest in appealing to younger people in its member firms, meeting as many face to face as well as building a good online presence.”

Speaking of the awards, Russell Bedford CEO, Stephen Hamlet said: “I am absolutely ecstatic! Although I have always wholeheartedly believed in Russell Bedford and our network’s capabilities, having become CEO in the middle of 2017, I couldn’t in my wildest of dreams have expected to see the network progress to such heights in such a short space of time. I have been truly overwhelmed by the phenomenal response to these acknowledgements and am so extremely proud to lead this incredible group of talented individuals. A huge thank you to everyone who was involved in receiving these awards – there are so many great people behind such magnificent achievement and I am forever grateful to everyone who has supported me and our network. We’ll be celebrating together for some time, I’m sure!”

Russell Bedford Chair, Bruce Saward, added: “I am overjoyed by this fantastic news. It is great recognition of the hard work and success of the last year especially, and a real endorsement of the strategy and the impact of the actions taken over the last few years. This will be another element that assists in further growth and recruiting like-minded firms. I thank the entire team for their great efforts and constant dedication.”

See the official 2019 International Accounting Bulletin Digital Accountancy Awards winners here.