There are fifteen award categories, each with their own individual awards. Please note we are only accepting electronic entries this year, which is detailed below.
Submit your award nomination
The closing date for submissions is Monday 14th September 2026.
Help & Advice
Award Categories
INDIVIDUAL Nominations
HEA is looking for your bright stars who have already demonstrated the attributes that set them apart as rising stars within your business. In particular we are looking for evidence of passion, positive attitude to learning, development of communication skills and how they are already making a difference to your business even at this early stage in their career.
HEA is looking for your bright spark who have already demonstrated the attributes that set them apart as rising stars within your business. In particular we are looking for evidence of passion, positive attitude to learning, development of communication skills and how they are already making a difference to your business even at this early stage in their career.
This is a new category is for colleague who is relatively new to the industry (less than 5 years), irrespective of age or background. They may be a young person, they may have joined you from another sector or have served in HM Forces, prior to joining the highway electrical sector. Whoever they are, have they already made an impact and are somebody that you see as leading the way for the Next Generation within your own business and the highway electrical sector.
This is the opportunity to recognise and reward one of your colleagues who goes the extra mile on a day to day basis. You know who they are. Now is the opportunity to show you care and demonstrate your appreciation. We wish to recognise those unsung heroes who are the backbone of your company.
This category is open to any of your colleagues in any job role or position within your business. We are seeking nominations of exceptional individuals who have made a major contribution to the success of your business over the past year. Tell us their story and let’s celebrate.
Leadership and supervision plays a vital part in the safe and successful delivery of every project. Who are your leaders who lead by example and make your clients & customers smile and support their teams in the delivery of your projects.
This category is exactly what it says on the tin. An individual who has over a career made a significant impact and contribution to the highway electrical sector and the work of the HEA. Please note the judging panel will also make nominations for this category.
PRODUCT & PROJECT Nominations
This category is to recognise outstanding achievement & contribution by a company, team or individual. A contribution to improve safety performance across the HEA & HEMSA communities. This could be an internal company programme or an initiative deployed on a particular project. Or an individual that lives and breathes safety and wellbeing and supports their colleagues in a very special way. Let’s recognise this and celebrate.
This category is to recognise that collaboration and teamwork are essential to a successful project. So please nominate a project that captures the true essence of excellence and collaboration in its development, design and delivery. What makes this project special? You know because you and your colleagues have spent months, perhaps years working to overcome challenges and have delivered an excellent solution. Bring that project to life and tell us about the special people and skills that were brought to the fore.
To recognise the great work undertaken by HEA & HEMSA members in reducing our carbon footprint and working in a truly sustainable manner. We are looking for projects which can demonstrate examples of best practice, including the following aspects:
- Managing environmental impacts
- Demonstrate energy efficiency
- Sourcing of materials - using sustainable procurement
- Recycling & re-use
- Positive environmental benefits over the lifetime of the installation
Also acknowledging that many partners and team members will contribute to a great sustainable solution. Bring this project to life and share the special sustainable features that are worthy of recognition and celebration.
We are seeking products new to the market. Inspirational, sector defining products that demonstrate your company’s ability to solve a problem and lead to the next generation of products in the highway electrical sector. Perhaps energy saving, perhaps enhancing safety, improving the economic benefits to your customers or using recycled materials, local environmental benefits and sustainable material use. The project should have been undertaken We will leave that up to you. Where practical and possible we would like to receive a sample of the nominated product. Should this be impractical please give Sue a call and we will work round this in a fair manner.
ORGANISATIONAL Nominations
This category will be selected prior to the HEA ACE Event, using the following criteria:
- Turnover band up to £15m
- Number of compliant employees
registered under the HERS scheme
- Auditing & Compliance
- Timely payments to HEA
This category will be selected prior to the HEA ACE Event, using the following criteria:
- Turnover band above £15m
- Number of compliant employees registered under the HERS scheme
- Auditing & Compliance
- Timely payments to HEA
Votes will be collected at the Exhibition on Thursday 19th November 2026 with consideration to the following criteria:
- Turnover band up to £15m
- Excellent customer service
- Competitive prices / value for money
- Timely delivery
- Quality of product and / or service
Votes will be collected at the Exhibition on Thursday 19th November 2026 with consideration to the following criteria:
- Turnover band above £15m
- Excellent customer service
- Competitive prices / value for money
- Timely delivery
- Quality of product and / or service
Judging
Entries will be assessed by our HEA & HEA-HEMSA panel of judges based on the submissions.
All judges are professional and impartial, and the material submitted will be treated as confidential.
Judges have no information on HEA ACE sponsors prior to judging the awards nominations.
During the judging process if any judge feels they have a potential conflict of interest this will be noted, and they will be excluded from judging that category.
Entry requirements
• We are only able to accept electronic entries.
• Entries must be submitted in English.
• Please submit your nominations by email to piers.lowbridge@thehea.org.uk
• Submission deadline is the 14th September 2026.
• If your attachments are too large then please use a file transfer service
Please supply the following information when submitting your nomination:
• Your Full Name.
• Your Organisation.
• Your Email & Contact Details.
• The nominee individuals name, project, product, or service being entered.
• Award category being entered.
• Nomination information and supporting documents.
• A summary which covers the following (max 750 words)
– For awards of individuals, please:
– Describe what makes the individual stand out from the crowd / what makes them special.
– For all other awards requiring nominations, please:
– Describe the vision behind the project/initiative/ product, what prompted its development or implementation?
– Describe the quantitative and qualitative benefits: what has been achieved to date?
– Describe your project/initiative/product and how it overcomes the challenges facing the sector or a particular issue.
– Next steps: What further plans do you have and how will you ensure that the benefits continue to make an impact as the learning from this project/initiative/product is developed?
• Up to three forms of supporting evidence may be included:
– Testimonials: where these are available, personal or client testimonials are a powerful way of capturing the special nature of your nomination.
– Statistics & / or financial results.
– Video or Photography.
– Press coverage & / or press releases.
Tips to help
• Try to really hit the criteria of the category you are entering and remember these awards will recognise true excellence.
• Use images, bullet points and testimonials to put across the excellence within the nomination.
• Putting together a good submission takes time so please don’t leave it to the last minute.
• Focus and collect all the information and supporting documents needed.
• The judges are using up their own time to judge many submissions so make sure your entries are easy to read and your information is communicated effectively, efficiently and concisely.
Entering more than one nomination
Please clearly detail the categories being entered in the email, ensuring the entry requirement criteria is met for each category.
Other Queries
If you have any queries or problems submitting this form, please email marketing(at)thehea.org.uk
