The Mentor of the Year Award celebrates someone in an Executive or Business Support Role who has given back to the profession and supported their mentee internally or externally to help them strive towards their aspirations, goals and career development. Is your nominee a mentor who has offered advice and guidance to help nurture the next generation of PAs, championing them to feel empowered and to believe in their abilities? All this perhaps in their own time, lending a listening ear, understanding and talking their mentee through a variety of obstacles they may face and their challenges? Has someone within your organisation demonstrated their passion for mentoring and created an internal mentoring scheme that has led to successful and improved relationships, communication channels and consistently demonstrated their passion to give back and share their experiences?

The Administrative Professional of the Year Award looks to recognise those working in a variety of business support roles outside of the EA/PA role, including Admin Assistants, Administrators, Receptionists, etc. These roles, which are integral to many organisations, should be recognised in their own right for the key part they play in the function of their business. If you know someone, or are someone, who excels in a business support role, goes above and beyond or offers something totally different, is naturally intuitive or inspires others around them, using as many specific examples as you can, we want to hear about their passion for the role and what they do that makes them stand out from the crowd!

Many executive and business support roles are evolving to include the overseeing and overall management of many different types and varieties of projects. Has your nominee managed a challenging or inspirational project and you want to share their journey to success? Has this been in addition to their normal day to day role and responsibilities? The 2024 Project Champion of the Year will have been the owner of a project that has coordinated and encouraged the buy in of a team, managing a hugely exciting concept. In a constantly evolving world, not every project can be or is a success, but that person could have worked tirelessly to bring together each element through fantastic ideas and communication, mindful of all the different elements that contribute to a chance for change to happen and encourage positive conversations. We would love to hear more about a specific project, the more you can tell us the better. What was the feedback from the various stakeholders involved, how was the success measured and what tools did they use to help them along the way? Using as many examples as you can please tell us about the project, the biggest challenges and how your nominee overcame them.

The Newcomer of the Year Award recognises an outstanding newcomer who has started a new career within an executive or business support role as a PA or EA. Tell us about the exciting journey your nominee has taken so far and what impact they have made to your working life, the wider business and any exciting projects they may have championed? Why did your Newcomer of the Year choose this profession as a career path and what makes you proud that they are your PA/EA/Admin and trusted partner? Using as many examples as you can, please tell us what has been their most amazing achievement to date; have they implemented processes that have resulted in improved efficiencies or brought new ideas, skills and new initiatives? Have they developed a close working relationship with you and how have they integrated with the wider team and networked and built the foundations of great relationships internally and externally?

Managing your own business can be challenging when you’re in charge of finding new clients, marketing, HR, finance and all the other core functions necessary to running your own company, alongside offering various support services to many business owners every day. Using as many examples as you can, we want to hear about your most defining career moments and achievements since setting up your Virtual Assistant business. How have you adapted your business over time to continuously provide exceptional services for your clients? What challenges have you met head-on along the way and how would you say your business differs from the rest? We welcome nominations from your clients (or yourself!) and would love to hear why you should be Independent VA of the Year.

Are you supported by, or work within, a team that deserves recognition for the incredible job they do as a collective and who collaborate to ensure any job is completed successfully and with impeccable quality and excellence? Do they go above and beyond as a team and are the epitome of the saying “Teamwork makes the dream work”? If so, the Team of the Year Award is the category for them as it aims to recognise teams of 3 or more executive or business support professionals from the same organisation. Using specific examples, we want to hear about how your nominated team has worked together to set and achieve objectives, supported one another through both the good and tougher times and how they have added value to your organisation.

The Business Support Manager of the Year Award aims to recognise those that champion and support their team. Their job title might be anything from Team Leader or Manager to Administrative Support Manager or Lead PA through to Chief of Staff, etc. Using specific examples, we would like to hear from you about how your nominated manager has supported you and/or your team, how they have gone above and beyond in their role and what makes them stand out from any other manager you have had before.

This award recognises the outstanding contributions of PA and Office Manager’s to their organisations. Nominees must demonstrate excellence in their role, ability to multitask and deal with the pressures and demands this dual role of PA and Office Manager.

The PA element is about providing administrative and personal assistance to senior executives or individuals who are fundamental to the strategy to the business. Combined with their Office Management role where they should be able to demonstrate how they have stood out over the last twelve months with initiatives or projects that have implemented key processes or improvements that have supported the strategic direction of the business.

So, if you know a PA and Office Manager who is passionate about their role and has made significant contributions to your organisation, take the opportunity to tell us all their achievements and how these activities have contributed to the success of the business.

Or, if you are the PA and Office Manager that your business could not be without, then we want to hear from you and share your triumphs and successes from the last 12 months, how you have stood out in your role and why you should be PA and Office Manager of the Year.

This category recognises a PA, EA or Office Manager who in addition to their role champions CSR & EDI internally or externally.

Many business leaders are recognising the importance of being more socially responsible for their people, environment, and community alongside traditional indicators of success. This category will be judged on an individual’s activities in a range of CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) and EDI (Equality, Diversity and Inclusion) initiatives across their business, actively promoting, celebrating and raising awareness, whilst supporting and encouraging engagement and championing involvement from within your company. Do you know someone who demonstrates outstanding social, inclusive conscious and awareness? Have they taken ownership of this role, as well as their other roles and responsibilities? Can they demonstrate and share their passion for their commitment to CSR and EDI activities and demonstrate the impact these activities have on their business? Have they looked at the environmental impact of the business and put provisions in place to reduce it, led by example on diversity and inclusion efforts or engaged in projects in the local community? If so, this award is for them and we want to hear why they are your CSR & EDI Champion of the Year.

Or, if you are passionate about CSR and EDI and what you have achieved during the last 12 months at your business, we want to hear from you. We want to hear about your achievements and successes and how this has impacted your business and why you should be CSR & EDI Champion of the Year.

The Lifetime Achievement Award celebrates an outstanding individual who has maintained a career in an Executive or Business Support Role for more than twenty years. Please tell us as much as you can about the incredible contributions your nominee has made that has really impacted and contributed to some defining moments throughout their dedicated career. How have they taken their years of experience and really used their skills to support you or your organisation and what impact has their achievements had for you personally and/or the business throughout past years and/or up to present day? We want to hear about how they have continued to evolve in an ever-changing, fast paced world and how they have supported the business through to success, whilst facing a wide range of challenges. Are you able to tell us how your nominee has continued to keep on developing their skillsets over time and how they represent the business and profession to the highest standard? We cannot wait to hear all about your nominee as we celebrate the Lifetime Achievement Award.

The PA of the Year Award recognises C-Suite PAs to EAs, individuals in a support role who have consistently gone above and beyond their day job. Is your PA/EA someone who demonstrates the close working partnership type relationship with their boss and other senior stakeholders? Are they skilled at supporting with the strategic direction of the whole overall business and been closely involved in key projects? Do they act in an ambassadorial capacity, perhaps on a global/international scale? Are they the righthand person, allowing their boss to deliver and manage objectives across the business as a whole and be the key interface between the board, stakeholders and the rest of the business? We want to recognise individuals who have shown excellence across their career but particularly focusing on what impact they have made for you personally and/or the business over the past 12 months. We want to hear all about the positive impact they have made. We appreciate it can be overwhelming to be in the spotlight but we cannot wait to hear from you about this individual. If they can demonstrate continued commitment to the PA/EA profession, this is the category for them.