Last week, Loan Talk invited key figures of the secured loans industry to collectively decide which individuals deserved market wide recognition at January’s Secured Loans Awards.

The judging panels came together on the 10th of December to debate which of the shortlisted candidates should claim the 13 titles up for grabs.

The Secured Loans Awards 2014 shortlist can be viewed here.

After meeting for an informal lunch, the brokers and lenders split off into two panels ready to commence the judging of the opposing categories in their respective boardrooms.

Each panel got involved in interesting discussions and sparked debates after looking through testimonials for each shortlisted nominee.

Each panel member voted their favourite depending on the performance exhibited within 2014, a majority vote was taken for each round. Candidates could either win an Award title itself or be dubbed as Highly Commended for a category.

The broker panel, chaired by John Malone, included Beth Fisher of Loan Talk, Bradley Moore of Brightstar Financial, Mark Fry of CSC Loans, Matt Cottle of Y3S Group, John Webb of The Loan Partnership, Malcolm Scanlon of Niche Financial Solutions, Marie Grundy of V Loans, Simon Juniper of Only Loans and Matt Tristram of Loans Warehouse.

The lender panel, chaired by AMI Chief Executive Robert Sinclair, saw votes cast by Simon Stern of Prestige Finance, Stuart Aitken of Masthaven Secured Loans, Maeve Ward of Shawbrook Bank, Richard Keen (in replacement of Simon Carr) of Precise Mortgages, Mat Beaver of Evolution Money, Joanne Edwards of Nemo Personal Finance and Gary Bailey of Blemain Finance.

The awards ceremony will be held on the 15th January next year at 8 Northumberland Avenue in London, where the winners will be announced and handed their respective awards.