Last chance to enter Maritime UK Awards 2022, which are due to be held in Glasgow on 10 March.

The deadline for entering is this Friday (28 January).

The past twelve months have seen significant activity for the maritime sector; whether on Freeports, the National Shipbuilding Strategy, Clean Maritime Demonstration Competition, London International Shipping Week, COP26 or at October’s Budget and Spending Review, where the Chancellor announced reforms to Tonnage Tax. The 2022 awards will therefore be a fantastic opportunity to showcase and celebrate the growing number of world-leading projects helping to ensure the UK’s position as the most innovative, competitive and sustainable maritime centre by the middle of this century.

Any surplus generated from the awards will be ploughed back into Maritime UK’s cross-sector initiatives like Diversity in Maritime, the Careers & Outreach Programme or Regional Cluster Development Programme. Maritime UK is hugely grateful to its sponsors for enabling delivery of this national celebration of all things maritime.

There are 14 categories and we hope that the awards will allow your company, charity or organisation to take stock of your performance and gain the recognition that you deserve. Good luck!

Diversity Champion Award (Sponsored by the Royal Navy)

Open to business, charity or organisation of any size, the winner will be able to demonstrate a true commitment to diversity. They will be able to evidence their work to create a diverse workforce including through collaborating with other businesses, charities and organisations to share best practices.

Innovation Award (Sponsored by Malin Group)

Open to business, charity or organisation of any size, this award will be made to those that can demonstrate an exceptional true commitment to innovation. They will be able to evidence how they have innovated to solve a particular challenge, create a new product or service.

Clean Maritime Innovator

Awarded to a company or individual who has developed, tested or operated technologies in the UK that have made a significant contribution to the transition to zero emissions for the Maritime sector.

Clean Maritime Enabler

Awarded to a company or body that are working to support green innovation in the UK maritime sector, through financing or services.

Clean Maritime Operator (Sponsored by Port of London Authority)

Awarded to a maritime company that have taken action to move their UK operation towards zero emissions. This could be a port, shipowner or shipbuilder.

Coastal Powerhouse Award

Open to business, charity, organisation or a cohort of any size, this award will be made to those that have proven themselves as a driver or catalyst for growth within a coastal community. Your values, passion and vision are helping transform your community into a Coastal Powerhouse, and this award will bring the recognition you deserve.

International Trade Award (Sponsored by the Department for International Trade)

Open to businesses of any size, this award will be made to a business that is actively involved in international trade. You will have significantly increased your import/export activity or attracted Foreign Direct Investment. This will be evidenced through increased revenue and job creation.

Employer of The Year Award (Sponsored by BAE Systems) 

Open to business, charity or organisation of any size, this award recognises organisations that have created a stimulating and supportive work environment and a real commitment to the welfare of their employees, resulting in high staff satisfaction levels and a well-motivated, ambitious and integrated workforce. The winner will be able to evidence dedication to personal and professional development, staff satisfaction and HR initiatives, creating a supportive and engaging working environment.

Start-up of The Year Award

To be eligible for this award, entrants must:

• Have started to trade no earlier than three years from the date of entry.
• Be ‘independently owned’. This is defined as a business that is substantially owned by its founders and/or a group of independent investors, is not quoted on the stock market or any other stock market; and is not a subsidiary or associated company of another business.
• Be UK based.

For every category, the judges are looking for a great business. Those with excellent potential will always rank more highly in the final reckoning. This will be based on revenue growth, profitability, and major-client wins.

Future Skills Award

Open to a business, charity or organisation of any size, this award recognises those that have made a tangible contribution to meeting the future skills needs of the sector. The winner will be able to evidence pioneering activity across education, training or apprenticeship development, to help match available skills to the emerging and future requirements of the industry. This could be on a micro level, within a region or across the country.

Business of the Year Award

Open to businesses of any size, this award will be made to a business that has demonstrated a real understanding of its target market and positioned or adapted itself accordingly, showing impressive growth/growth potential, and sustainability in terms of one or more of the following: job creation; turnover and/or national/international impact.

2050 Award

Open to businesses of any size, this award will be made to a business that is taking steps to capitalise upon the opportunities presented within Maritime 2050.

Apprentice of the Year Award (Sponsored by Artemis Technologies)

This award is open to apprentices currently on programme or those who have completed their apprenticeship between October 2021 and December 2021. Nominations will be made by the employer and will demonstrate distance travelled by the individual, the skills learned and the impact this individual has had on the organisation. This category is for all apprentices employed in the sector, regardless of which apprenticeship pathway they are following, and does not have to be a traditional marine or maritime framework.

Bevis Minter Award (Sponsored by Nautilus International) 

The Bevis Minter Award, which honours officer trainees who show great determination and overcome significant challenges in pursuit of a maritime career, was established by Nautilus in memory of Bevis Minter, a former Nautilus Council chairman who was a passionate advocate of British seafaring skills. Bev – who was a Port of London Authority marine pilot – died in office with the award being established in 1996 to formally recognise the hard work and dedication of officer trainees.

Nominations for the Bevis Minter award can be made by any training establishment based in the United Kingdom or Republic of Ireland that delivers approved officer trainee training programmes leading to the award of a Certificate of Competency. Eligible nominees must be currently, or have been within the last 12 months, an officer trainee in a scheme of training leading to an award of a Certificate of Competency.

Make your submission here today

Held for the first time in September 2019, the Maritime UK Awards are run by the industry for the benefit of the industry. From a judging panel of internationally recognised maritime leaders to an awards evening at the Glasgow Science Centre, the Maritime UK Awards are a unique and impactful way to showcase your business, and collectively, to celebrate a thriving sector, worth £46.1bn to the UK economy.

The Maritime UK Awards are open to organisations from across the breadth of the maritime sector and its component shipping, ports, services, engineering, and leisure marine industries. With the UK government having launched its first long-term strategy for the sector, Maritime 2050, the award categories mirror its themes. In June 2021, Maritime UK published a stocktake of progress in implementing the strategy, with demonstrable progress being made across the board. The 2022 awards will enable many of the projects being delivered in response to Maritime 2050 to be brought to national prominence.

The third Maritime UK Awards are being held at the Glasgow Science Centre, on the banks of the River Clyde, synonymous with the country’s shipbuilding industry. Glasgow has been chosen as the host for the 2022 awards to build upon the sector’s activity at COP26. The 2020 awards were held in Plymouth. For the second time, the Department for Transport’s Clean Maritime Awards will be included in the programme.

We are hugely grateful to our judges, who represent the breadth of the UK’s maritime industries and their global offering.

Should you wish to partner with Maritime UK, these are several sponsorship opportunities remaining.