Multi-award winning SmartSearch looks to add to impressive prize haul after being shortlisted for six industry honours

Multi-award-winning anti-money laundering expert SmartSearch is looking to add to its impressive prize-winning record after being shortlisted for six top industry awards.

The Yorkshire-based firm has won 24 industry and business awards in the past five years, including Mortgage Finance Gazette’s Best Anti-Fraud Service for the past two years running and the prestigious Queen’s Enterprise Award for Innovation. The firm was also named as one of Europe’s fastest growing companies by the Financial Times’ highly-respected FT 1000 in 2020 and 2021.

In the past 12 months alone, SmartSearch has won six awards, including Credit Connect’s Compliance & Regulatory Technology Solution of the year, and has now made the shortlist for six more. These are the Broker Innovation Awards, the Yorkshire Business Masters Awards, Compliance Innovator of the Year at the Global Regulatory Awards, Technology Provider of the Year at the Money Age Awards, and the Credit & Collections Technology Awards, where SmartSearch is hoping to retain its title of best Compliance & Regulatory Technology solution. Most recently, SmartSearch’s own Chief Operating Officer, Collette Allen, has been named as a finalist in the Great British Businesswoman Awards 2022.

In the nine years that she has worked at SmartSearch, Colette has worked her way up from an entry-level position to Chief Operating Officer, becoming the youngest board member and the first female on the board in the process. She is one of eight women shortlisted for the Technology Businesswoman of the Year Award – the winner will be announced on November 29th.

Speaking about making the final of the Great British Businesswoman Awards 2022, Collette said: “When I joined the company in 2013, it only had 12 employees and five were the directors. Very quickly though, it became clear that this was going to be a fast-growing successful business and as a driven person, I knew I wanted to be a key contributor in pushing it forward.

“A lot of companies talk about gender equality and diversity, but this isn’t reflected in their actions. The proof of a company’s commitment is in the reality of how diverse their leadership and executive teams are – the combined gender split is now 52% female (33% on the board) and across the entire business, our team is 45% female. Being shortlisted for this award is not just testament to my hard work, but to the type of business SmartSearch is, so I am delighted to have made the final – winning would be the icing on the cake!”

James Dobson, Marketing Director at SmartSearch added: “At SmartSearch, we work really hard to ensure we are providing our customers with market-leading AML solutions, but also, market-leading expertise and advice with the very best customer services in the industry, and we are delighted that this continues to be recognised through industry and business awards.

“We are also really proud of our commitment to gender equality and diversity and feel Collette’s nomination for Technology Businesswoman of the Year is testament to this.

“Across nine years at SmartSearch, Collette Allen has flouted the notion of the glass ceiling. Her tenure is an inspiring story of success and rapid promotion, not only becoming the youngest board member at 30, but the first female in the boardroom, and we are really proud that her achievements have been recognised by the Great British Businesswoman Awards 2022.”