The IFT Annual Awards, the UK’s prestigious awards celebrating business recognises individuals and organisations for turnaround excellence.

The winners are as follows:

Large Company Turnaround of the Year – Alix Partners for Four Seasons Health Care.  This was a case demonstrating long-term commitment to a holistic turnaround. The commitment to quality, operational delivery and engagement with the regulator as recognised in the trade stood out, with the scale and depth of this case and impact for care clients making it the winner.

Mid-market Turnaround of the Year – Grainger & Worrall. The judges commented that this operational turnaround submission demonstrated clearly how the business had been taken back to profitability and growth, with high-quality jobs being preserved. The case leaned on the skills of independent IFT members and other members of the turnaround community, and there was an array of stakeholder work, including with the family owners, customers and the local media.

SME Turnaround of the Year – Barclays and Kroll for OFP Timber Framed Homes Ltd. This winning case showed the business’ journey following the pressure of Covid-19, and the long-term commitment from the turnaround teams. Stakeholders at the customer end were deeply involved in the process and it provides a prime example of joined-up thinking and a good, solid commercial turnaround plan.

Community Impact Turnaround of the Year – FRP for Specialist Aviation Services Limited, a business providing an essential service supporting crucial air ambulance and police aviation functions. The case study showed a journey s, managing multiple stakeholders with great strategic consideration and technical expertise demonstrated. This lifesaving turnaround really stood out to the judges and delivered a great result for the general public.

The IFT’s legal adviser award category is always highly competitive, but over the recent period the scale, complexity and impact of activity, particularly with new UK based tools and cross border work has meant that this year we have recognised two firms that presented exceptional submissions in both UK based innovation and delivery, and in international work which is crucial to the success of UK turnaround professions.

The first winner of Legal Adviser of the Year was Freshfields.  As a firm they displayed strong case studies and a commitment to supporting London’s position as a restructuring centre, including cases such as Cazoo, Casion and the McDermott Restructuring Plan, combining capability and presence across large and international cases, combined with a strong domestic footprint. The judges also highlighted their clear commitment to D&I and their leadership and support for colleagues’ wellbeing, as well as a diverse thought leadership portfolio.

The second award for Legal Adviser of the Year went to DLA Piper. This is the second year in a row that this firm has been recognised by the judges, reflecting continued excellent case studies demonstrating a breadth of expertise across cases such as THG, the Furst/Aggregate Restructuring Plan, and YMU Group. They also showed how they prioritise workforce support and champion D&I both within the firm and across the wider sector, as well as their strong regional presence. They are strongly supportive of the work and messages of the wider community in promoting turnaround excellence.

FTI Consulting was a standout submission to win Turnaround Adviser of the Year. Their quality and commitment is recognised in their profile in the market, including flagship cases such as Adler, Aggregate, Yunlin, Revolution Bars and more. They also contribute greatly to the turnaround community and support the IFT’s ethos of Adapt, Transform, Succeed.

A key turnaround and transformation investor for the UK market, RCapital wins Special Situations Private Equity Provider of the Year. They explore all rescue routes, promote innovative practice and have been on the front foot win exploring different avenues, including Restructuring Plans. They demonstrate strong commitment to supporting turnaround culture and engaging across the marketplace, including deploying independent turnaround directors.

Special Situations Debt Provider of the Year was BZ. They bring in money, often at short notice, to provide solutions in situations where businesses typically find it hard to source capital, adding to the choices and opportunities for companies. They were recognised for being highly commercial and fast acting in their work, with innovative deal structures and examples of where their support has saved lots of jobs.

Finally, our rising star category was once again the most difficult decision for the judging panel, with a long list of brilliant candidates. Given such a high number of excellent submissions this year the judges decided to make two awards, recognising  different categories of skills – in this case legal and advisory – that contribute to turnaround success.

Our first Rising Star Award went to Tom Miller of Alix Partners. His submission showed very clearly that he was a trusted adviser, with external referees being passionate advocates for the quality of his work across a diverse range of sectors. He also demonstrated clear evidence of thought leadership and community activity.

Dan Stathis of Kirkland & Ellis was the second Rising Star of the evening, already demonstrating a level of skill and gravitas that you would expect at a partner level, whilst bringing his “whole self to work”. The judges particularly emphasised his empathy for clients and effort to make complex processes understandable for clients to enable effective decision and deal making.

Claire Burden, Chair of The IFT said:

“It is a privilege to be able to recognise the excellent work of our members and partners over the past year.  They do incredibly important work in often difficult and stressful situations, and we can see the quality of the work and innovative practice in this year’s awards submissions.

Milly Camley, CEO of The IFT said:

“Congratulations to all the 2024 winners, and I’d like to express gratitude to our independent judging panel who had such a difficult task as usual differentiating between such universally high-quality submissions. 

The IFT is centred around the incredible work of our members and partners and the value and impact they demonstrate. This is only increasing, as this year’s figures for jobs saved and value created in our upcoming annual Societal Impact Report demonstrate.

We will continue to recognise and champion this work through our awards, with some changes to the submissions process for next year to ensure that organisations can highlight the brilliant independent turnaround practitioners they work with”. 

Full list of winners:

Special Situations Debt Provider of the Year

• Winner: BZ

Special Situations Private Equity Provider of the Year

• Winner: Rcapital

Community Impact Turnaround of the Year

• Winner: FRP for Specialist Aviation Services Ltd

Large Company Turnaround of the Year

• Winner: Alix Partners for Four Seasons Health Care

Mid-market Turnaround of the Year

• Winner: Grainger & Worrall

SME Turnaround of the Year

• Winner: Barclays and Kroll for OFP Timber Framed Homes Ltd

Legal Adviser of the Year

• Winner:  Freshfields

Legal Adviser of the Year

• Winner: DLA Piper

Turnaround Adviser of the Year

• Winner: FTI Consulting

Rising Star 2024

Winner: Tom Miller, Alix Partners

Rising Star 2024

Winner: Dan Stathis, Kirkland & Ellis