The awards are flowing for Knight Transaction Services – and yet more could be on the way.
KNIGHT’S COLLECTION OF HONOURS CONTINUES TO GROW
By Jonathan Wilde, KBS Corporate
In less than two years since the company was founded, the Knight TS team have become serial award winners – and the success is showing no signs of stopping.
Following a spree of individual and collective honours since Knight Transaction Services was launched in the summer of 2021, more acceptance speeches may need to be prepped and delivered as the company’s professional reputation continues to burgeon.
Named the Young Professional Team of the Year for 2023 at Insider’s North West Young Professional Awards ceremony, the judges admired Knight TS as “a female-led team in a male-dominated industry and commended their impressive KPIs”. In addition, “the success of the team is demonstrated by strong Year One results which exceeded targets by 100 per cent”.
The next nomination is for Transaction Services Team of the Year at the North West Rainmaker Awards in Manchester’s famous Midland Hotel on June 15 – when Hayley Brightmore Cox, Managing Director and a founder of Knight TS, has also been shortlisted in the individual Changemaker category.
Hayley has already been voted Entrepreneur of the Year at the 2021 Manchester Young Talent Awards and Young Accountant of the Year at the 2022 Insider North West Young Professional Awards, when the judges were impressed with her “ambitious move away from Grant Thornton to become founder and director of Knight TS alongside associate directors Jennifer Serridge and Erin Berry”.
What made Hayley stand out to the judges compared to her fellow nominees was a “high client retention and strong reputation”.
However, for both Hayley and Erin – who was also an award winner when named Finance Professional of the Year at the 2022 Manchester Young Talent Awards – there is just as much, if not more, satisfaction when the recognition is generated by their industry competitors.
For example, the nominations for the North West Rainmaker Awards are drawn from a one-firm one-vote process among peers in the market – which gives the Knight TS team even greater pride in their accomplishments.
“To get the recognition of winning awards, and being shortlisted for awards, that are voted for by your peers in the professional community is like a seal of approval,” said Hayley.
“It feels like you’re being welcomed into the community. It’s blown our minds at times.”
Hayley has also been named in Insider’s 2022 North West Professional Power List, Emerging Entrepreneur Leader at BusinessDesk.com’s Northern Leadership Awards and shortlisted for Business Owner/Entrepreneur of the Year at the 2023 Made in Manchester Awards – a ceremony where Jennifer Serridge was also nominated for Finance Professional of the Year.
Asked if any piece of recognition particularly stood out, Hayley said: “The team award, which was the latest one we won, was huge. That was the one we had been waiting for and it meant a lot.
“And for me personally, the Rainmaker award. You can’t nominate yourself for those, so the only way you can be shortlisted is to be spoken about in a room full of your peers. That’s huge because it’s not self-certification.
“There’s something quite special about knowing a room full of people, for one reason or another, have chosen you as the recipient.”
To complement the success they are achieving, Knight TS are also striving to illustrate the lighter, more personal approach they bring to a profession which can be perceived from outside as being dry, perhaps even mundane.
Social media activity on both company and individual levels is thoughtfully executed. While professional services can be a cut-throat industry, Knight TS like to keep their jousting friendly and Erin produces a monthly Recognition Exhibition post on LinkedIn, paying tribute to an individual deserving of a special mention.
Amanda Brown from The Leading Ladies Company, which specialises in female personal development and has been a great source of encouragement and coaching to the Knight TS team, was the subject of one such post.
And Erin is also not afraid of hailing a competitor’s contribution to the industry when they have gone above and beyond in providing help.
“Positivity is a huge thing for us,” said Erin. “We’ve been surprised by how much people congratulate us on the recognition we’ve received. Everyone has been so supportive.”
Hayley added: “We are doing things differently and challenging the norm and I think people love that.
“When we launched, it was all about the fact we are female-led, which was unheard of in the marketplace, and that was massive for us.
“But now we’ve got Joe Donnelly (assistant manager) on board, so it’s about us being dynamic and different and flexible in the way we work. It’s a culture shift we are constantly showing.
“I hope we are bringing a new angle to it. That’s the direction we are trying to go in.”