Nominations for Autocar Great Women: Rising Stars 2023 now open

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.