When uncertainty rules the hearts of investors, wise companies communicate. Amid all the nervousness over the scale of the developing economic slowdown, a trawl through the trading updates and other announcements of mid-market companies short-listed for this year’s award is a calming – and thought-provoking – experience.

An Asian oil and gas producer and explorer still has plenty to cheer about. If people do not move house, they may replace those worn-out carpets. Parents may cancel the family fortnight in a Spanish luxury villa, but they will not pull the plug on their children’s educational trips. Nor will local authorities, and other organisations, drop capital projects they have spent years developing.