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

As the world celebrates International Women’s Day (IWD) 2023, entries remain open for Autocar’s Great Women Rising Stars initiative, recognising the motoring industry’s best female talents who show great potential in their fast-developing careers. 

Run by Autocar in association with the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), Great Women is a celebration of the incredible talent and skills within the automotive industry and is proud to be positioned alongside IWD to celebrate the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women around the world. 

Held for the first time 112 years ago on 19 March 1911, the first IWD was a march of over one million people in Austria, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland. Across Europe, women paraded for their right to vote, hold public office and protest against employment discrimination. Fast forward to 2023 and the campaign is observed in countries from Afghanistan to Zambia.

Each year, IWD has a theme, with 2022 covering ‘gender equality today for a sustainable tomorrow’. This year, ‘embrace equity’ is taking centre stage to celebrate and embrace womens’ achievements in a world where difference is valued and not hidden. 

This ties in with Autocar’s Great Women initiative as an all-new Diversity, Equality and Inclusion category is introduced for 2023, which recognises all those who demonstrate exemplary performance in making the motoring industry a more appealing prospect to people from wider sections of society. Whether you work in a small business or multinational organisation and feel like you’ve moved the game on with an inclusive policy, this could be the category for you.

Autocar’s initiative is now in its eighth year, and, to reflect the ever-changing nature of the motoring industry, several other new categories have been introduced to recognise winners from an extensive cross-section of society.

Another category, Customer Aftercare, replaces Aftersales and Workshop and is aimed at the very best performers in helping and assisting in this vital area of the industry.

Sales has also been split for 2023 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.

The winners of the award will be named at a prestigious awards ceremony in June, proudly sponsored by some of the industry’s most established names.

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.”

When the Rising Stars award was last run in 2021, Hannah Denton, then area fleet manager for Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles, took the prize and beat tough competitors with her drive and determination in the process. She was 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.