The awards are open to professionals and firms related to the UK protection and health industry.

Numerous roles and company types are represented among our shortlists, any restrictions that apply to individual and/or company type can be found within the category criteria. Nominees must be operating within the UK but may be based anywhere. Please note the awards ceremony takes place in London.

We encourage people to nominate themselves, as well as others.

Nomination rules:

• A person or firm may be nominated for any number of categories, though should not expect to be shortlisted for every nomination.
• Please do not nominate the same person and/or firm for the same category – the number of nominations they receive does not contribute to their success.
• Please note the judges will focus on the impact entrants have made in the past 12 months in particular, with exceptions made for our two Rising Star awards and our Outstanding Contribution to the industry award.
• Please note, nominees to the Rising Star categories must have been in the industry for less than three years (as of 31 December 2026).

How it works:

Step 1 – Nominations

• You can either nominate yourself (which we strongly encourage) or you can nominate someone else. It doesn't have to be someone you work with in the same company.
• Men can be nominated in the category for Mentor of the Year and the Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Champion of the Year.
• The nomination form will just ask you for simple details about the person you are nominating so that we can reach out to them once nominations have finished. We also provide a box for you to tell us why you are nominating yourself/another person.
• Only nominations received using the online form will be counted. We will not accept any nominations received by email.
• Please double check you have spelt the nominee’s name and company name correctly as we use these details for the nominee lists.

Stage 2 - Entry questionnaires

• Once nominations have closed, all nominees will be contacted to inform them that they have been nominated (this is why it’s important to get their contact details correct)
• They will be asked to complete an online questionnaire that they will be required to complete in order to progress to the next round of judging.
• Each questionnaire will ask different questions depending on the category being entered.
• Once the entry questionnaires have closed, they will be judged by the judging panel and a shortlist will be decided.

Stage 3 – Shortlist announced

• A shortlist for all categories will be announced online.
• All successful entrants will be contacted regarding next stages and provided with a finalist logo

Stage 4 - Winners announced

• The winners will be announced live at the awards ceremony on Thursday 22nd April 2027 | Marriott Grosvenor Square, London 

Judges will take into account:

• Outstanding achievements in the workplace or a particular role, especially over the past 12 months
• Challenges faced and how they were tackled
• Evidence of contributions to support and inspire women and improve diversity & inclusion within the sector
• Testimonial to support the entry
• Impact over the past 12 months at company and/or industry-wide level
• Overall quality of submission

Please note: Only entries via the nomination system will be considered. It is up to the nominators to ensure the contact details of those being nominated are correct. The panel reserves the right to close a category should the quality of entrants be deemed too low to judge, remove an entry if in the opinion of the judges the criteria has not been followed, or suggest another more appropriate category for entrants.

Chairperson's decision is final.

A note on non-protection-only entities

Protection and health is a diverse industry that should be present beyond the pure protection market. These awards seek to recognise individuals and firms driving protection change and women’s excellence, regardless of whether protection is their main focus.

Guidance for mortgage firms seeking to enter:

• Note the categories focus on work done within protection and health
• Judges will be looking for efforts to integrate protection within the mortgage offering and a commitment to expanding the industry
• Mortgage firms are welcome to enter any adviser-relevant categories providing they meet the criteria outlined

Guidance for banks and lender firms seeking to enter:

• Note the categories focus on work done within protection and health
• Lender firms are limited to entering the below categories, provided they meet the criteria outlined:
  
  Woman of the Year – propositions, Woman of the Year – marketing, Woman of the Year – Customer Support, Woman of the Year – Technology, Educator of the Year, Mentor of the Year, Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Champion of the Year, Group of the Year for Diversity, Equity & Inclusion