Digital has made investor relations, like many areas of communications, ever more integral to business operations. IR, however, is also now more interrelated with other areas of communications itself – from employee comms to media relations. The recent Tesco crisis alone has shown how an incident can impact  investment, internal, consumer and corporate stakeholders alike.

Thus, the Investor Relations Society, established in 1980, has run the Best Practice Awards for 14 years to recognise those companies that effectively communicate with the investment audience, while taking heed of the wider corporate context. This year's awards took place on 25 November at the Honourable Artillery Company in London.

Sue Scholes, chairman of the society, says, “This event celebrates one of the Society’s key reasons for existing – to promote best practice in investor relations and I would like to thank all those who put their work forward for an award. The standard was high and the judging decisions were often difficult – and that’s how it should be. Our winners – both voted and judged – all understand what differentiates their company and are able to communicate this clearly and consistently. Congratulations to them all.”

Winners include Coca-Cola Hellenic – the bottling arm of Coca-Cola Enterprises – for its sustainability communications. The company has been heavily involved in promoting efficient water and carbon usage and is on the forefront of the recycling and sustainable bottling movements. Premier Farnell took home the prize for 'Best digital reporting – FTSE 250' as it has turned its annual report into a digital-first document in recent years. It was also among the first to take up the strategic reporting guidelines offered by the Financial Reporting Council last year.

The full list of winners is as follows:

Best annual report: International

• Banco Santander
• BASF
• Federal Grid Company
• MegaFon - Winner
• Nordgold

Small Cap & AIM

• Costain Group
• Sepura
• Trifast
• TT Electronics - Winner
• Xchanging

FTSE 250

• African Barrick Gold
• Cairn Energy - Winner
• Go-Ahead Group
• Inchcape
• TelecityGroup

FTSE 100

• Barclays
• British Land - Highly Commended
• Centrica
• Fresnillo - Winner
• Vodafone

Most effective sustainability communications: International

• BASF
• FMC Corporation - Winner
• MegaFon

FTSE 100

• ARM Holdings - Highly Commended
• Barclays 
• British Land 
• Coca-Cola Hellenic - Winner
• WPP

Best digital reporting: International

• Banco Santander
• BASF - Winner
• CompuGroup Medical
• Uralkali

Small Cap & AIM

• Trifast
• Visa Europe - Winner
• Costain Group
• Next 15

FTSE 250

• Halfords 
• Ocado 
• Premier Farnell - Winner 
• Thomas Cook Group

FTSE 100 

• ARM Holdings 
• Barclays - Winner 
• Legal & General Group 
• Royal Dutch Shell 
• Vodafone

Best use of digital communications: International

• BASF - Winner
• Federal Grid Company

Small Cap & AIM 

• Hansa Trust 
• Shanks Group 
• Trifast - Winner

FTSE 250

• Atkins 
• Go-Ahead Group - Winner 
• Halma - Highly Commended
• Salamander Energy

FTSE 100

• Anglo American 
• Barclays - Winner 
• British Land 
• Legal & General Group 
• Prudential

Most effective communications of overall investment proposition: International

• BASF 
• The Linde Group - Winner

FTSE 250 

• Go-Ahead Group - Winner 
• Hays 
• Ocado 
• Taylor Wimpey

FTSE 100

• BP - Winner 
• British Land
• Coca-Cola Hellenic 
• Standard Life 
• Tullow Oil

Best newcomer to IR (individual)

• Vanisha Dhimer - Standard Life
• Jens Lindberg - AstraZeneca
• Neil Longair - Standard Life
• Ingeborg Oie - Smith & Nephew
• Rupert Taylor Rea - RSA - Winner

Best IRO (individual)

• Sarah Elton-Farr - Shire
• Karl Hard - AstraZeneca
• Alex Pike - BT Group
• Susan Ringdal - Hikma Pharmaceuticals
• David Walker - Hays - Winner

Best Overall Company IR (team)

• AstraZeneca
• BT Group
• Hays
• Prudential
• Shire - Winner