There were celebrations galore tonight as the IFP handed out a host of prestigious awards.

The gala dinner at the IFP annual conference featured a range of winners in various categories.

Read on for the details of each award winner....

{desktop}{/desktop}{mobile}{/mobile}

First Wealth wins 2015 David Norton Award

The winner of this year’s David Norton Building Excellence Award is First Wealth.

As winners, they will benefit from the spectacular package of prizes including business consultancy and mentoring provided by Brett Davidson and FP Advance as well as Bridget Greenwood at Financial Social Media UK. The IFP wishes to say a big thank you to Brett and Bridget for supporting this award.

This prestigious award is presented to the firm judged to have the most outstanding potential to develop as a successful Financial Planning firm. It is awarded in memory of David Norton FIFP CFPCM a former President of IFP and the significant contribution that he made to the profession prior to his premature death in 2005.

Ex-chief executive Steve Gazzard said: “First Wealth impressed the judges from the professionalism shown in their response, and the business performance to date, right through to the clear expression of their ambitions and potential to become a scalable Financial Planning business at interview.

“They have a clear goal: ‘To help clients identify, achieve and maintain their desired lifestyle, without the fear of running out of money, whatever happens”. They clearly deliver on it too. There is a huge investment in staff both in terms of developing graduate recruits and supporting existing staff in thei professional and personal development.

“The David Norton Building Excellence Award is all about recognising firms on a journey to be the best and the judges were happy to support the success of a new, young and dynamic business that is clearly going places.”

William Pratt wins 2015 CFP^CM Professional of the Year Award

William Pratt CFPCM of Paradigm Norton Financial Planning, has been awarded the CFP professional of the year award supported by Dimensional Fund Advisors reports judge Lucy Courtenay, CEO of FPSB UK.

Those individuals who are eligible to use the CFP mark have already reached the global standard of excellence in Financial Planning. There are over 1,000 CFP professionals in the UK who were eligible to enter the competition.

From the original entrants, three finalists were shortlisted for interview. They initially completed an online test and submitted an actual financial plan, which they had created for a client. At interview with the panel of judges they summarised their plan and talked about how they prepared it. The judges also asked about their approach to Financial Planning and how they felt they provided value to their clients.

The judges then drew up a shortlist of finalists based on the test results and the client plans. Ultimately, three entrants were invited to attend an interview in London with the judges. At interview each gave a short presentation about themselves, their journey in Financial Planning and why they believed they should win the award. The judges then took the opportunity to ask some probing questions.

The three finalists were:

• Gretchen Betts CFP^CM Broadway Financial Planning
• William Pratt CFP^CM Paradigm Norton
• Ewan Rosie CFP^CM Cooper Parry Wealth

Rebecca Taylor FIFP CFP^CM ex-IFP President and Chair of the Judges said: “The standard of entries was very high this year and the judges had a difficult job finding a winner. All three finalists had strengths and it is really encouraging to see such enthusiastic young Financial Planners doing such a great job for clients. All are great ambassadors for Financial Planning, having already achieved much in their careers. William was able to demonstrate how he has not only shaped Financial Planning for his clients but also helped develop a strong culture within his firm, which promotes the value of true Financial Planning. We recognise that Gretchen and Ewan are newer to the profession but are already making a difference and doing great work. They can each be very proud of reaching the final and I hope that they will both be encouraged to enter this award again in future. Our thanks go to Dimensional for their fantastic support of this prestigious award.”

David Jones, head of Financial Adviser Services EMEA and Vice President at Dimensional Fund Advisors, said: “At Dimensional, we work with some of best financial planners in the world and we believe that the IFP’s CFP^CM Professional of the year award recognises the best of the best. All the entries were good; the three finalists were excellent; and the winner was exceptional. In his entry, William Pratt demonstrated a perfect blend of technical knowledge and practical application. Our congratulations go to him and also to Gretchen and Ewan for outstanding work.”

Diane Weitz CFP^CM scoops IFP Branch Chairman of the Year award 2015

Diane Weitz CFP^CM, of Ashlea Financial Planning and chair of the IFP Cotswolds branch, is the winner of the 2015 Branch Chairman of the Year Award. She was presented with the award at the conference tonight.

This award is made each year to the IFP branch chairman whose contribution has been judged by the IFP as being particularly outstanding over the past year. In 2014, the award was won by Andrew Page CFP^CM chairman of IFP’s Bath Branch.

Diane Weitz CFP^CM said: “It was a great surprise to me and an enormous pleasure to be awarded ‘Branch Chairman of the Year’ by Becky, at the Chairman’s meeting in September. A large amount of the credit should go to my stalwart assistant Sue Wall who does all the paddling to keep the swan swimming smoothly. We will celebrate in the office with the Champagne! I would also like to extend the thanks to IFP Membership Manager Rachel Weihs whose untiring work keeps everyone on track.

“Branch meetings are the lifeblood of the IFP community. Despite some last minute changes to our programme when speakers couldn’t make it, our branch meetings have been relatively well attended this year. The move back to the George and the new time of 3pm to 5 pm seems to work well. It’s important that we listen to members to find out what works best for them and for 2016 I’ll be liaising with members to see if they would prefer the option of half day or full day meetings going forward. Thanks again to the IFP.”

Rebecca Taylor FIFP CFP^CM , ex-IFP President, said: “Our congratulations go to Diane for winning this award which is very well deserved. She’s done a great job at the Cotswold branch since taking over four years ago. We’re really grateful for everything she does for our profession. On behalf of everyone at the IFP in particular our members, I’d like to thank all our branch chairmen for the fantastic job they do in providing the key links between the membership and the IFP. As well as providing an excellent means of gaining relevant yet practical CPD, these meetings are the ideal way for Financial Planners and Paraplanners to share best practice and learn from peers and other experts from across the Financial Planning community.”

ARTHUR DAVIES WINS IFP’S TONY SELLON “GOOD EGG” AWARD 2015

Arthur Davies FIFP, CFP^CM of IFP Accredited Financial Planning firm Baigrie Davies is the winner of the 2015 Tony Sellon “Good Egg” Award.

Tony Sellon was a founder member of the IFP and a Past President who sadly died of cancer in 2001. He is remembered in particular for his great sense of fun – a real “good egg”. This prize is awarded in his memory. Known as the “good egg award”, it is awarded to the individual judged to have contributed most to the success of IFP over the last year. Individuals are nominated by IFP members and the winner is decided by the outgoing IFP President, Rebecca Taylor FIFP, CFPCM.

At the conference Arthur was proudly presented with the award by Tony’s son James Sellon CFPCM .

Ian Howe CFP^CM, IFP Board director and Managing Director of Baigrie Davies said: “Arthur, or The Wise Man, as he is known at Baigrie Davi7es, has been at the vanguard of financial planning in the UK for many, many years, most obviously as one of the earliest UK CFP^CM professionals and a long standing IFP Fellow. Perhaps more importantly though, and he’s too humble to admit it, he has acted as a guide and mentor to many, now accomplished, professional financial planners. He has been unwavering in his support of the IFP and supremely generous with his time and energy. Of late, he has been a member of the IFP’s Ethics committee, but even more impressively, Arthur is usually the last man standing in the bar at conference. There are few more deserving of the award ‘Good Egg’.”

Keith Butten wins Jonathon Timms Memorial Prize

Jon Timms was a graduate of University of the West of England, and was a highly promising Financial Planner. Following his tragic death in a motorbike accident, this prize is awarded each year to the candidate who has produced the best overall result in the FPSB UK Diploma in Financial Planning. This year's winner is Keith Butten from MDG Ltd.