Sponsored by Barclays, the annual awards recognise the contribution of non-executive directors to UK corporate governance and boards of listed, non-listed and privately held companies.

This year’s Lifetime Achievement award was given to Sir Win Bischoff, 75, head of the accounting and audit regulator, the FRC, and former chairman of Lloyds Banking Group.

After a long career at the top of banking, he is now entrenched in the regulatory side of the financial world, but his background is strongly based in banking. In recent decades he was executive chairman of Schroders where he was instrumental in the sale of the investment bank to Citigroup in 2000. He then spent more than a decade at Citigroup, both running the European operation and then a difficult spell heading the bank’s global operatios out of New York during the financial crash of 2008.

Since joining the FRC as chairman in 2014, he has been a strong critic of poor governance standards and an outspoken witness at a number of contentious Treasury select committee hearings, particularly on banking standards.

There are five categories of awards including FTSE 100 and FTSE 250 listed companies; AIM companies, junior market, unquoted or private equity backed companies and public sector and not for profit.

Sir Roger Carr, chairman of the judges and chair of BAE Systems, said: There has been a fundamental shift in the awareness of boards and investors of the added value derived from a borader mix of board membership.

‘Diversity is acknowledged to be vital in adversity and valuable in calmer waters. Differences in gender, experience, nationality, ethnicity and sexuality have become accepted as key to a healthy mindset and skillset in good decision making.

‘Looking back over the past 10 years we have seen higher standards demanded by the Financial Reporting Council – but also willingness by the many who accept these challenges to take greater reputational risks than fees can ever reward.’

Although the winners list is predominantly male, a number of high profile women reached the runners up list this year with Fiona Clutterbuck, head of strategy and corprorate development at Phoenix Group singled out for mention in the quoted company official list. Heather Love, chairman of Battersea Dogs & Cats Home, was also runner-up on the not-for-profit sector.

2016 winners

• FTSE 100 – Sir Peter Gershon CBE, chairman, National Grid
• Quoted Company – Official List – Andrew Allner, chairman, Marshalls
• Quoted company– AIM – Peter Allen, chairman of Clinigen
• Unquoted/private equity backed – Helen King, non executive director, Vanarama
• Not-for-profit /public service organisation – David Croisdale-Appleby OBE, chairman of Dementia UK

Read the full details of the winners of the Sunday Times Non-Executive Director Awards here