THE region's financial community gathered to celebrate another year of fantastic achievements at the Western Daily Press South West Deals Awards.

The teams and individuals who shape corporate finance in the West have put together an impressive string of major deals over the last 12 months despite the tough economic conditions.

And they were recognised in 11 categories honouring the top bankers, lawyers, accountants and other individuals who, along with their firms, have been behind the big transactions over the past year.

The panel of judges, chaired by Steve Anderson-Dixon, managing director of Western Daily Press publisher Bristol News and Media, had a tough time picking winners due to the high quality of the entries.

But they were spared the task in the Deal of the Year category, which was decided on the night by guests voting on electronic pads.

The award went to the management buyout of Bath IT services group IPL, which was funded by a £19 million package put together by Barclays Commercial.

Director of leveraged finance at Barclays, Phil Rouse, said: "This was a great local deal for us." He was quick to praise the other West advisers involved in the deal from Osborne Clarke, Burges Salmon, Roxburgh Milkins and Bond Pearce. Involvement in the IPL deal was also one of the achievements that won Julian Kinsey, a partner in the corporate team at Bond Pearce, the Individual Corporate Lawyer award this year.

Julian said: "Being involved in the IPL deal was the highlight of the year. The numbers involved were big, it was a complex deal and to get it through was very satisfying.

The awards dinner, which was held this year at the Passenger Shed at Bristol Temple Meads, brought together the cream of the South West's dealmaking talent in what has become a key date in the business calendar.

A double winner on the night, Martyn Gregory, corporate partner at Deloitte, said: "There are only two or three events like this a year that bring the financial community together, and they are so important. While we have targeted marketing programmes, we actually win a lot of business at these events by making contact with people face-to-face."

Martyn picked up the Dealmaker of the Year award and retained the Individual Corporate Finance Adviser title he won last year.

The high calibre of the field is what makes winning a South West Deals award so special according to another of the night's successes, Young Dealmaker of the Year Andrew Webber from law firm TLT.

The Western Daily Press South West Deals Awards 2008 would not have been possible without the sponsorship by Lufthansa, Smith & Williamson and Barclays Commercial.