Evening Standard Business Awards From banking to land banks ... our candidates in worlds of property and financial services

As the Evening Standard Business Awards approach, it’s time to examine the short-listed firms from London’s world-renowned property and financial services sectors. The capital continues to be one of the most sought-after investment opportunities and the financial services industry provides the Square Mile’s backbone. These stellar performers will be pored over by our judges, including advertising guru Sir Martin Sorrell, retail veteran Sir Ian Cheshire and Harvey Nichols boss Stacey Cartwright.

Property company of the Year

Battersea Power Station Development Company: It’s as familiar a sight to Londoners as Big Ben or Tower Bridge, yet for 33 years it has crumbled on the south bank of the Thames. This month the first 100 residents moved into apartments on the site: Londoners have been able to revel in the public square and riverside walk and this summer the rebuild of its four chimneys will be completed. These mark the first tangible signs of the power station’s regeneration, more than three decades after its vast boilers went cold.

The next phase includes the first major extension to a Tube line in decades, four million square feet of office space and 20,000 new homes. After landing tech giant Apple as a tenant, a flood of prestigious media and arts companies are expected to take residence there. The Malaysian backers say it will create 20,000 jobs and put £20 billion into London’s economy.

Land Securities: One of the UK’s biggest developers and landlords, Land Securities owns 6.2 million square feet of office, retail and restaurant space in London and is behind some of the capital’s landmark buildings, including the Walkie Talkie in the City. Eleven years ago, it began transforming Victoria, the forgotten gateway to London, and has just completed its newest foodie quarter and home to 480,000 square feet of new offices, dubbed Nova.

Land Securities, like other developers, has sounded a note of caution while it readjusts to the realities of London post-Brexit. But, with 2800 acres of land in the capital ripe for regeneration, it will not be long before it resumes what it does best: building innovative places for Londoners to live, work and shop.

Berkeley Group: Berkeley has done more than most rivals to transform the face of London in the past decade, in particular at its giant community developments around Battersea, Woodberry Down and Kidbrooke, near Greenwich. Although the London market has suffered in the past year, Berkeley has managed to outperform rivals, even with a 16% fall in reservations.

A model employer, started 41 years ago by ex-Barnado’s boy Tony Pidgley, Berkeley is committed to training a new generation of construction workers. Its educational foundation has also committed more than £7 million to inspire and train disadvantaged children in the communities where it works, inspiring them to aim for the top.

Grainger: Run by chief executive Helen Gordon, Grainger traces its roots back 105 years to the North-East. It is Britain’s biggest private landlord, providing homes for 18,000 people. The London-based company began reinventing itself when Gordon joined in late 2015, as the new chief executive reset the firm’s sights on being a leader in the UK’s emerging build-to-rent and private rented sectors. Grainger is on track to build a private-rented portfolio worth more than £3 billion, with £850 million of new investment, funded in part by sales of its older portfolio. With demand for private rentals expected to increase by 1.8 million by 2025, Grainger has reawakened at just the right time.

Financial Services company of the Year

Virgin Money: The challenger bank prides itself on great customer service, with no distractions from business banking. Its name is as familiar as some of the banks it was set up to compete with but it prides itself on doing things differently, particularly with its strong commitment to charitable giving and its role in events such as the London Marathon. Headed by Jayne-Anne Gadhia, the bank floated two years ago and has 75 branches across the country and seven lounges, which customers can use for free. Gadhia recently lived up to her straight-talking reputation by sharing frank details about her own mental health struggles and the challenges she faced to become one of the most powerful women in banking. Her candour has merely underlined her achievements.

First Direct: The first bank to offer 24-hour services, before we’d even heard of the internet, this online and phone bank from Leeds launched in 1989. Year after year, it tops polls for customer service, and is Britain’s most-recommended bank with 1.3 million customers. First Direct continues to be an early adopter of technology and last year was one of the first banks to use voice-recognition to prevent fraud.

Its former chief executive Tracy Garrad once argued that corporate giants from outside the sector, such as Apple, would pose the greatest challenge to banks. But First Direct, owned by HSBC, continues to innovate to keep ahead of those possible disruptors.

Metro Bank: Launched in 2010, Metro Bank was the first High Street bank to open in more than 150 years. That it did so in the wake of the banking crisis and the nationalisation of two of our biggest lenders shows what a mountain it had to climb.

This year, its profits topped £1 million for the first time, finally putting years of losses to an end. It continues to make bold moves, expanding its branch network where others are retreating. Metro Bank recently reported net deposit growth of more than £1 billion in three months, a quarterly record, and customers have opened almost one million accounts.

JPMorgan: The Wall Street bank’s UK arm is having a good time of it of late, winning roles on the three largest deals so far this year: Wood Group’s takeover of Amec Foster Wheeler, Aberdeen Asset Management’s merger with Standard Life, and Booker’s £3.7 billion tie-up with Tesco.

The bank may be preparing to move between 500 and 1000 jobs to its existing European bases or a new office in Dublin but that still leaves 11,000 staff in the capital and 4000 in Bournemouth.

This year, Stonewall named the bank in London’s top three most inclusive firms. Its Aspiring Professionals Programme, which aims to open the world of financial services to students from poor backgrounds, has also won JPMorgan a Queen’s Enterprise award.

The Evening Standard Business Awards, in association with HSBC and supported by Ballymore, will be held at Banqueting House, Whitehall, on June 29. For more information visit: standard.co.uk/businessawards #ESBusinessAwards