Gyles Brandeth, Deb Conner and Stephen Wardell from KPMG, and Peter Anderson from Kaplan Law School pic: Accountancy Age

Accountancy firm KPMG received the Community Award at the British Accountancy Awards 2011 in recognition of its successful co-sponsorship of the new City Academy in Hackney.

The school was judged to be making “outstanding progress” in its first Ofsted inspection in January 2011, and their results so far are already exceeding the national average.

When announcing the award, the judges said: “This was an outstanding contribution in partnership with a public body [The City Corporation of London] to help those most disadvantaged in Hackney.”

John Griffith-Jones, chairman of KPMG, said: “Over a number of years, KPMG has demonstrated that it can make a real difference in the community, and so it is especially pleasing to receive an award which recognises our achievements with the City Academy in Hackney.”

The company won awards in four categories including Global Firm of the Year. It is the second year in a row that it has won the top award.

KPMG has its UK headquarters in Canary Wharf, and was acknowledged by the judges as having come further in the last 12 months than any of its competitors.

KPMG also won Audit Award of the Year and Training Manager of the Year.