Our awards are free to enter and our entry forms are easy to complete. This handy guide to how to enter our manufacturing awards explains how simple and straightforward it really is!
Entering the EEF Future Manufacturing Awards is a great way to celebrate your success, promote your business and motivate your employees.
First, check which manufacturing awards are available for you to enter. Think about each one and consider the projects or new strategies that your business has undertaken that would qualify you to enter.
Your business can enter as many of our awards as you want, but you can only enter each award once (with the exception of our apprentice and young engineering student awards where you can enter up to six people per site for each award).
Then, download your entry forms and see how easy they are to complete. Start with the entry forms that are most relevant to you - you can always come back to download more.
If you need help deciding whether your project or strategy is eligible, which award you should enter or need to know more about the rules for what you can enter, call our Awards Team on 020 7654 1540 or email awards@eef.org.uk - they'll be happy to help!
Don't forget to read our useful tips for entering the awards - they're packed full of advice to help you when it comes to writing your entries. You'll see how entering our awards isn't going to be a massive burden on your time.
1. Find your story
Sometimes it’s tough to know you’ve got a decent enough story to tell. But we think most manufacturers do! Download your manufacturing award entry forms then chat to your colleagues, talk to other managers and directors and decide which categories suit you best.
2. Enter more than one category
You may find your story crosses into more than one of our manufacturing awards categories. For instance, if you have changed the way your production line works to make it more efficient, this may have resulted in significant economic growth. This would qualify you for entry into both the Business Growth Award and the Operating Practices & Processes Award.
3. Don’t get overwhelmed!
You can download the entry forms and fill them out at your leisure. If you get halfway through and need to push on with something else, you can always return to it another time. Make notes, flesh them out and then write your entry to tell us your story in your own words.
4. Answer the questions
Obvious? Check through your entry once it’s complete to make sure you haven’t left anything out. Addressing the questions and criteria in full is what the judges will be looking for.
5. Don’t forget your apprentices
If you are entering into one of the business categories, why not enter your apprentices too? You can enter up to six apprentices per company, per site for each award.
6. It’s not a writing test
The judges want to hear your story, in your own words. You don't need to write beautiful prose - just be clear about what you've done, why you did it and how its benefited your business.
7. Keep it simple
You can write as much or as little as you like up to 2000 words. If you can capably answer each question in a few sentences, go for it!
8. Re-use and re-cycle
Entered before? Then you’ve already started. Use your previous awards entry as a template to enter again this year. Add new figures and results, and tell us how your company has progressed since we last heard from you.
9. Refer to insertions such as graphs, photos and tables
You’re allowed up to five insertions per entry. But if you don’t explain their relevance in your entry form, the judges might not know how to interpret them.
10. Be proud of your people
Don’t be afraid to praise staff members in your entry, or to describe just how tough your achievement was to reach. Injecting some life into your entry can separate it from the rest and help it stand out in the judges' minds.