In order for your submission to be considered, please adhere to the following rules and general guidelines for entry:

1. ELIGIBILITY:

• The Mortgage Strategy Awards seek to recognise firms/individuals from the UK mortgage industry that have proved their professionalism and expertise throughout the year and gone the extra mile to best serve their clients and the sector as a whole.
• Unless stated otherwise in category criteria, the awards are judging performance from 1 January 2024 to 31 December 2024; this means that the bulk of work contained within entries must have been carried out within this time period (please note it is NOT essential that a project or initiative has both launched and closed within this time period). Any material that arises to support your entry after the deadline should be brought to the judges’ attention during the shortlist interview (if applicable).
• Some categories may require submission from an individual in place of a firm; please check the individual category criteria. Unless stated otherwise in the category criteria, self-nominations, votes and entries will be accepted from within the UK mortgage industry only. Any votes from individuals not perceived to belong to the UK mortgage industry by the Mortgage Strategy team will be discounted.
• Companies may self-nominate into and enter more than one category as appropriate.
• The judging panel reserves the right to move self-nominations and entries from one category to another if they feel it is more appropriate. However, they cannot be expected to routinely re-categorise incorrectly entered projects. The judges' decision is final. You will be contacted directly in the event that your entry is re-categorised.
• Sponsors are not permitted to enter any category that they are sponsoring.

2. DEADLINES:

• All self-nominations, votes and entries must be submitted by the published submission deadlines. The Mortgage Strategy team cannot guarantee that self-nomination, votes or entries received after the deadline will be accepted.
• Self-nominations, votes and entries will not be counted or considered by the judging panel unless the submitter proceeds to the final stage of the online form and submits. A confirmation email will be received once complete.
• Entries may be edited up until the point of submission.

3. FORMAT OF ENTRY:

• All submissions must be made online through the online entry portal and the requested information must be supplied within the entry form. Any information not provided via the online form will not be passed to the judges.
• In all cases, the judges are looking for concise written submissions and your entry should cover as many of the listed criteria as possible.
• Please keep the word count within the stipulations per category. Please note that the judging panel reserves the right to penalise entries exceeding the word limit.

4. SUPPORTING MATERIALS:

• Please read the relevant category criteria to establish what type of supporting material should be included, if any.
• Digital uploads may take a variety of formats e.g. PDF, Word, Excel, PowerPoint or jpeg file. Please ensure that uploaded logos, video and any supporting files follow the supporting material guidelines and together do not exceed the maximum upload limit of 10MB per entry. Please note when uploading supporting material file names must not include any 'special' characters e.g. _ / ( ) & * ".
• Where websites/links form part of an entry, please ensure any URLs, access details, usernames and passwords needed for judging are supplied, that they work, and that they will continue to work until May 2024. Sites that cannot be viewed will be eliminated from the judging.

5. CONFIDENTIALITY:

• Information supplied within the entry forms will remain confidential and for the judges’ eyes only, with the following exceptions:
• Mortgage Strategy reserve the right to refer to information supplied during the shortlist interview process, with the exception of any information described as ‘confidential’ (broker & distributor categories only).
• Mortgage Strategy may refer to information supplied within the entry form in the published Winners Issue and/or winner comments included in the script on the night; should you wish to identify any elements of your entry as not to be shared in this way, please mark these clearly as ‘Confidential’ or ‘For Judges’ eyes only’ and contact charlotte.coveycrump@emap.com to flag these sections.

6. INFORMATION SUBMITTED BY YOU:

• Submissions must include all contact details as requested in the online form for a main point of contact we can approach should the self-nomination require further clarification or in the event that a submission progresses to the longlist entry stage. Any changes to these initial contact details should be sent to charlotte.coveycrump@emap.com .
• Should a submission progress to the longlist entry stage, Mortgage Strategy will make every reasonable effort to contact the relevant firm/individual using the details provided. In the event that we do not receive a response, we will not be able to progress your submission.
• In the event that your entry is shortlisted, all entry form details e.g. Individual / Company Name as completed in the online entry process will be used on Awards collateral (e.g. Website, Awards graphics, Awards Supplement, and in the event that your entry wins, on the trophy). Copy will adhere to the brand’s house style e.g. no ltds, plcs etc.
• Please ensure that the information submitted is accurate and the correct companies are credited as appropriate. We accept no responsibility for any incorrectly submitted information.
• When entries are submitted on behalf of clients or another third party, approval is assumed. Mortgage Strategy accepts no responsibility for any issues that arise concerning approval once the entry has been submitted.

7. NOMINATIONS:

• If nominating a third party, please provide as much information as possible. Contact details for the nominee are mandatory.

If you have any further questions, please contact Charlotte Covey-Crump.