Deloitte celebrates winners of 2017 Top 200 business awards

Deloitte celebrated the winners of its 2017 Top 200 awards at a recent ceremony at Spark Arena in Auckland.

Overall, the awards acknowledge business excellence and outstanding leadership in New Zealand.

Deloitte chief executive Thomas Pippos comments, "Deloitte is inspired by the high calibre of this year's finalists and winners. These companies and individuals are leading in business by example.

"Through their inclusive leadership, courageous governance, bold financial management, superior strategy and commitment to diversity, they each truly embody this year's theme, 'the spirit of resilience'.

2degrees took home one of the night's big awards – Most Improved Performance. 2degrees' CEO Stewart Sherriff (pictured) says the award is a huge honour particularly given the calibre of competition in the category.

2degrees was a finalist alongside New Zealand's Xero and Datacom.

"2017 really has been a year of milestones for our business, this year we also turned nearly 10 years of investment into a maiden profit – so this award is a mark of the confidence the business community, but more so our customers have in 2degrees," adds Sherriff.

The Deloitte Top 200 Judges commented that 2degrees has turned a corner in terms of its performance.

"They are big numbers and 2degrees is no longer a small company.

"These guys are innovators and they have been challenging the incumbents. Some may have thought 2degrees were biting off more than they could chew, but the company changed market pricing and has shaken up the duopoly.

The 2017 Deloitte Top 200 Award winners are:

Company of the Year

WINNER: The a2 Milk Company

Finalists:

• Tourism Holdings Limited
• Briscoe Group

Chief Executive of the Year

WINNER: Simon Moutter – Spark

Finalists:

• Russel Creedy – Restaurant Brands
• Geoffrey Babidge – The a2 Milk Company

Chief Financial Officer of the Year

WINNER: Steve Gray – Port of Tauranga

Finalists:

• Grant Ellis – Restaurant Brands
• Paul Chambers – Meridian Energy

Chairperson of the Year Award WINNER: Rob Campbell – Tourism Holdings Limited/Summerset Group/

Finalists:

• Jan Dawson – Westpac New Zealand
• Peter McBride – Zespri International

Excellence in Governance

WINNER: Air New Zealand

Finalists:

• Sanford
• Abano Healthcare

Most Improved Performance

WINNER: 2degrees

Finalists:

• Xero
• Datacom

Best Growth Strategy

WINNER: Zespri International

Finalists:

• Tourism Holdings Limited
• The a2 Milk Company

Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment Diversity and Inclusion Leadership

WINNER – Fonterra

Finalists:

• Stuff – Fairfax Media
• Air New Zealand

Young Executive of the Year Award

WINNER: Komal Mistry – Fonterra Ventures

Finalists:

• Sasha Lockley – Avanti Finance
• Ed Hyde – Spark Ventures

Visionary Leader Award

WINNER: Rod Drury

The awards were established in 1990 to recognise outstanding individual, team and management performances in New Zealand's largest companies and trading organisations.