Applying or nominating for an award

Group of finance professionals in front of a back drop with their winning award

The application/nomination process is quick and easy, with a simple online form to complete. successful applicants will then be invited to an interview with an expert panel of industry judges with the winners and highly commended announced at the awards evening.

Applications for 2019 WMFA open on Thursday 21st of March 2019. Apply / nominate here.

Entries close on Friday 5th July 2019.

AWARD APPLICATION PROCESS

Step 1. Short online application/nomination form - Open on 21st March

An initial nomination/application consists of a maximum of 200 words why you should win the award. Apply directly or nominate a colleague/employee/friend - applications close on Friday 5th July 2019.

Find out more about 2019 categories here.

Step 2. Meeting with judges - 9th September - 20th September 2019

If successful, applicants/nominees will be invited by a member of the Award Partners to join them for the second stage of the application process.

This stage will involve an informal face-to-face meeting with the judging panel. The panel will consist of the Award Partners and an industry expert as a guest judge, who will discuss with you the application put forward, this will last approx 40-60 minutes.

Once dates for judging have been confirmed, the applicant/nominee will be sent pre-set questions that will structure the second stage interview.

Judging

The interview is judged by the four businesses and scored with the highest average winning the award. The second stage will be recorded and judged by our panel. All recordings are deleted once the scoring has been completed.

Previous years' guest judges were:

Ben Herring - Senior Finance Manager, Aston Martin
Louisa Horth - Financial Controller, WM Trains
Ian Farrell - Finance Director, Severn Trent Water
Glenn Collins - Director of Financial Shared Services, Britvic
Andrew Fitchford - Finance Director, ERIKS UK
Nicholas Winsor - Head of Transformation, HSBC Bank Plc
Neil Smith - Finance Director, Gateley Plc
Paul Anderson - Managing Director, Deutsche Bank
Sharon Walton - Chief Operating Officer, GVA
Adrian Cutler - Partner, Higgs & Sons
Karen Ratcliffe - Finance Director, Veolia
Chris Plant - UK Financial Controller, Ovivo UK Ltd
Toby Porter - CEO, Acorns Children’s Hospice
Daniel Ralph - Chief Financial Officer, Clamason Industries Ltd
Tracey James - Chartered Accountant, Holder Blackthorn LLP
Amy Burton - Associate Director, RSM UK
Craig Edmundsen - ‎Deputy Chief Executive (Finance and Resources), Black Country Living Museum
Fiona Forster - Director, KPMG
John Kelly - President, ICAEW Birmingham & West Midlands

What is the criteria?

Each award category consists of a specific criteria against which all applications/nominations have been judged. The criteria and categories can be found here.

Who can apply?

The Awards are open to all finance professionals and businesses within the West Midlands area.
Apply/nominate here.

Award Partners