Nominations for Autocar Great Women: Rising Stars 2023 now open

Award recognises the motoring industry’s best female rising stars with updated categories for the new year

Entries are now open for Autocar’s Great Women Rising Stars 2023 initiative, recognising the motoring industry’s best female talents who are on the fast track in successful careers. 

Run by Autocar in association with the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), Great Women is a celebration of the incredible people and skills within the automotive industry, with the winners named at a prestigious awards ceremony in June that's proudly supported by some of the biggest names in the industry.

To reflect eight years of Autocar’s Great Women initiative and the ever-changing nature of the industry, several new categories have been introduced that will recognise winners from an extensive cross-section of the automotive world. 

This includes an all-new Diversity, Equality and Inclusion category that recognises all those who demonstrate exemplary performance in making the motoring industry a more appealing prospect to people from wider sections of society. If you feel like you’ve moved the game on with an inclusive policy, whether that be in a small business or multinational corporation, this is the category for you.

Another category, Customer Aftercare, replaces last year’s Aftersales and Workshop category and is aimed at entries from people who are the very best performers at helping and assisting in this vital area of the industry. 

Sales has also been split this year, to allow both retail and OEM personnel to apply for separate awards. A comprehensive list of categories can be found below.

Full details on how to enter are on Autocar Great Women 2023. People can either nominate themselves or colleagues can enter on their behalf, before a panel of industry experts reviews all the entries to determine the category and overall winners. 

Haymarket Automotive managing director Rachael Prasher said, “Every year we look forward to celebrating the many and varied achievements of women in our industry, and this year's Rising Stars awards will be no exception.

"As Great Women celebrates its eighth year, the number and quality of entrants keeps getting bigger and better. It’s a privilege to be a part of this initiative.

“The judging gets ever harder as more and more women are recognised for their achievements by industry leaders, peers and colleagues. What's great about that is it demonstrates how passionate they are about their careers and their commitment to making a difference.”

Joining Prasher on the judging panel are her Haymarket colleagues from Autocar’s editorial team: Jim Holder, Rachel Burgess, Mark Tisshaw and Piers Ward. Mike Hawes, chief executive of the SMMT, and Emma Butcher, head of communications at the SMMT, are also judges. The judging team is also ably assisted by executive search specialists from Ennis and Co, who use their expertise and contacts to ensure the very best Rising Stars are recognised.

Hawes said: “We're proud to join Autocar once again to celebrate the rising female stars who are channelling their passion into the automotive industry.

"As the Great Women initiative continues to develop, championing both the dedication and an ever-widening skill set of women within the industry, the awards can only help encourage the brightest and best talent – inclusive of all diversities and genders – into what is one of the most exciting and fast moving of industries and one which has a tremendous future in the UK.”

The 2021 Rising Stars award was won by Hannah Denton, then area fleet manager for Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles, beating tough competitors with her drive and determination, recording as she did the second-most successful fleet manager by volume in the whole of Volkswagen Group UK in 2018.

Our categories for the 2023 awards extend to: Customer Aftercare; Diversity, Equality and Inclusion; Marketing; Manufacturing; Mobility and Digital; Operations; PR and Communications; Purchasing; Sales - Retail; Sales - OEM; Vehicle Development and Apprentice. 

Autocar’s Great Women 2023 is proudly sponsored by APC UK, Aston Martin, BMW, Bosch, CitNow, Horiba MIRA, Inchcape, Jardine Motors, LEVC, Lookers, McLaren Automotive, Nissan, Pendragon, Stellantis and Toyota. 

Nominations for this year’s awards must be registered by Friday 21 April and can be done so here. Entrants must submit a headshot photograph of themselves, with a minimum file size of 3MB.

Winners will be invited to the prestigious awards ceremony on 27 June.

Spaces at the ceremony are limited, but it's open to wider members of the industry on a first-come, first-serve basis. Anyone interested in applying for tickets should contact Lydia Curtis via lydia.curtis@haymarket.com.