Gerard Keenan, of Dunedin backed CitySprint, has won the coveted Private Equity backed FD of the Year Award at the 2015 FD’s Excellence Awards. The awards, created by Real Business magazine are held in association with ICAEW and the CBI.
Announced at a ceremony at the Marriot Hotel in London on 14 May, the awards celebrate the outstanding contribution made by finance directors of UK based businesses.
Gerard Keenan has been the Finance Director of CitySprint since October 2004 and has been instrumental in driving the growth of the business, which has accelerated dramatically over the last three years with turnover almost doubling from £61m in 2010 to £112.7m in 2013.
CitySprint is the largest privately owned same day distribution company in the UK and amongst the top five same day distribution companies in the world. Dunedin, the UK mid market buyout house, backed CitySprint in 2010 and since then the business has made nineteen acquisitions in line with its ambitious buy and build growth strategy.
Patrick Gallagher, CEO of CitySprint commented: “I’m thrilled that Gerard’s contribution has been recognised at the highest level. He has provided an invaluable contribution to the business at a time of great activity, with considerable internal growth as well as profound changes in the broader industry. We are very grateful for Gerard’s continued contribution and well-deserved award. We’ll certainly be helping him celebrate."
Nicol Fraser, the Dunedin partner that sits on the board of CitySprint commented: “Gerard thoroughly deserves this award in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the growth of CitySprint. He is a truly strategic finance director and forms a very effective partnership with CEO, Patrick Gallagher. At Dunedin, we seek to back strong management teams that work in partnership with us to enable our investee companies to reach their full potential. CitySprint perfectly typifies this relationship.”