Investors Chronicle/FT Investment Awards 2015
Editor's Award for Services to Private Investors
WINNER Martin Stamp

John Hughman, Editor of Investors Chronicle, gave this speech in announcing the award:

We ask for, and receive many comments from readers when they are scoring providers.

Generally the comments are a mixed lot. Praise, when it is given, is often qualified with a criticism - it is restrained rather than effusive.

But there is one company whose products and service are so outstandingly good that our readers cannot contain themselves. Not only do they score it highly year after year, they also sing its praises.

Here are some examples - I warn you, it will make some of you very jealous:

"I would love to wish them well, a happy Christmas for example, but I can't because I have absolutely no need EVER to phone them, everything works so well."

"I've been using them for years and I couldn't live without them."

"I couldn't, and wouldn't trade without them."

"What a brilliant lot. If this isn't perfection, it's not far off."

"The support staff are unbelievably fantastic."

"Brilliant" businesses are often created when their founders discover that the market doesn't offer what they are looking for and they set up their own company to fill that gap.

That's what happened when our winner discovered an information void when he began investing in the stock market.

To close that gap, and help other investors, he set up his own company. That was 18 years ago, and he had, to begin with, just one employee to help in his quest to change the world for private investors.

He used his computer programming skills and background as a Cambridge maths graduate to build a system that gave investors the ability to instantly sift through a mountain of data whether for stock screening, creating and analysing charts, or building trading strategies.

Those skills had previously been put to use at Psion, and before that in the fisheries protection industry where his tailing device - completely unknown to him at the time - was also being used to track the Argentine navy.

He may have changed the world in more ways than one.

His product - backed up with superb customer service - proved to be a hugely winning formula. The product is an investor favourite and has picked up numerous awards.

The company is Ionic Information, the product is ShareScope.

The driving force behind both, and, I am delighted to announce, the winner of this year's Editor's Award for Services to Private Investors, is...Martin Stamp.

ShareScope/SharePad won the award for Best Investment Data Provider for the 13th year. We would like to extend our sincere thanks to all our customers for their continued support.