During her address to 600 people attending the IFP Annual Conference at Celtic Manor Resort, South Wales on Tuesday 1 October, IFP President Rebecca Taylor FIFP, CFP^CM presented the award to the firm.

As winners, KMD will benefit from a package of prizes including a total of five full days of business consultancy and mentoring provided by the following firms.

• FP Advance
• Pace Solutions
• A Business Innovation
• Holt PR

This basis for this award is to identify the firm with the most outstanding potential to develop as a successful Financial Planning firm. It is awarded in memory of David Norton FIFP CFP^CM a former President of IFP and the significant contribution that he made to the profession prior to his premature death in 2005.
The panel of judges who are responsible for assessing all applications is:

Brett Davidson CEO, FP Advance
Barry Horner CFPCM CEO, Paradigm Norton
Steve Gazzard CFPCM CEO, IFP

The judges met with all shortlisted candidates in September for the third and final part of the application process, the interview. The three shortlisted firms, KMD Private Wealth Management LLP, Old Mill Financial Planning LLP, and Proposito Financial Planning, had all shown the development of their Financial Planning proposition that the judges were looking for. The final decision was down to which firm showed the ideal combination of achievement with future potential, and a clear understanding of what was needed to fulfil that potential.

Steve Gazzard CFP^CM, interim chief executive of the IFP, said: "We had the highest number of entries since the award began, all were very accomplished firms, and therefore all three shortlisted firms deserve recognition for their achievements. The judges unanimous choice was KMD Private Wealth Management based on their focus on the client, the understanding of their business, and the quality of their service including an outstanding Financial Planning process and report. Our thanks go to all those firms who continue to support this award by providing such valuable consultancy days as a prize for the winning firm."

Barry Horner CFP^CM , managing director of Paradigm Norton and an IFP Past President, said: "The quality of the applications and firms this year was particularly strong. Since its launch back in 2008, this award is clearly establishing itself as the one to win for aspirational firms who see themselves being amongst the leaders in the profession in years to come. Whilst we hear anecdotal evidence that many firms are struggling post RDR, it's great to see evidence that so many Financial Planning firms are flourishing. I'm sure that if he were still with us today, David Norton would be incredibly proud of this legacy and would have enjoyed seeing the high calibre entries submitted for the award which so appropriately bears his name."

Brett Davidson, chief executive of FP Advance, said: "As usual, the standard of entry was high for this award and all the finalists were keen to win, not just for the kudos but also because of the free support package they receive as first prize. Our winner this year was almost the perfect firm for the David Norton Award in my opinion; committed to Financial Planning, doing very well, but still with loads of potential yet to be unleashed. I can't wait to get in there and help them do just that."

The former winners of the award are:

2012 Cooper Parry Wealth
2011 Fiscal Engineers
2010 BoulterBowen Wealthcare
2009 Capital Asset Management
2008 PageRussell