Butterfield Bank has won the prestigious 2009 Gold Quill Award for excellence in communication, presented by the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC).

The bank received the award in the category of publication design for its 2007 annual report, commemorating its 150th anniversary.

For more than 36 years, IABC's annual Gold Quill Awards programme has honoured excellence in business communication, offering professional communicators an opportunity to have their work evaluated by expert judges and showcased among peers. The winners represent the best in organisational communication and their work plans serve as best practices for professional communicators.

This year's competition was sponsored by Towers Perrin and received almost 1,000 entries from 26 countries. Of these, 122 were selected to receive awards - 41 Awards of Excellence and 81 Awards of Merit. The winners will be honoured at the Gold Quill Awards gala on June 8 at IABC's World Conference in San Francisco.

Butterfield's 2007 annual report, which was delivered to shareholders in 2008, was written by the bank's marketing and corporate communications department, with creative services and project management provided by Aardvark Communications.

In addition to providing detailed financial results for the year, the report featured historical photographs and explained the bank's achievements in the context of its culture and the part it has played in the history of Bermuda and other jurisdictions in which it operates.

Dianne Brewer, senior vice-president of marketing and corporate communications at Butterfield Bank, said: "We were very pleased with the 2007 annual report. It is extremely gratifying to know that IABC has acknowledged it as being a world class publication, worthy of such a prestigious award."

Gold Quill entries were subject to two rigourous rounds of judging by a team of senior communicators from around the world. The final selection was made by the Gold Quill Blue Ribbon Panel of judges. To win the Gold Quill Award, Butterfield competed with peers from 26 countries including: Australia, Canada, China, Hong Kong, India, Italy, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Philippines, Russia, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, the UK and the US.