The panel of judges, comprising leading benefits and reward professionals, considered more than 20 categories filled with high-quality entries.

“I was impressed with the quality of the entries,” said one judge. “The innovation of strategy, not only to the business objectives, but the needs of their employees, was strongly shown.”

Another judge added: “This year there was a really high standard and diverse set of entries, as employers are clearly being more creative with their budgets and approaches.

“There are emerging themes in terms of ways to acknowledge excellent performance, managing long-term absence through health awareness, and education around savings and retirement planning. It is great to see how responsive we can be as a profession to the current business climate.”

Asda and BMW both made the shortlist in four categories. including ‘Best car and travel benefits’.

This year’s shortlist for ‘Employee benefits professional of the year’, which shines a light on influential benefits professionals, includes: Adam Brooke, employee benefits manager at JP Morgan; Jim Cowan, head of benefits at Royal Bank of Scotland Group; Chris Coyne, group head of reward and HR services at City and Guilds; Gary Dewin, director of pensions at the Co-operative Group; Breckon Jones, director of global benefits and strategic health at American Express Services; and Janine Sparks, senior reward manager at British Airways.

See the full list of finalists for the Employee Benefits Awards 2013.

Book a table at the summer party and awards on 7 June 2013 at the Artillery Gardens at the HAC, London.