2024 CATEGORIES
Recognising the companies that are leading the way on decarbonisation by reducing emissions across their own business and/or through particular projects. This award celebrates technical, operational and service innovation which can show a tangible impact and a clear and measurable plan for the future.
Entries for this award should show evidence of:
- How this initiative or programme of work has contributed to the net zero goal
- New ways of working and innovative approaches to tackling challenges
- A wider commitment to sustainability and care for natural resources
- How the success of this initiative or programme of work will be built on for the future
Entry form:
Section 1: A 100-word headline summary of your entry for publication if you are shortlisted
Section 2: Outline of work undertaken over the past year or the particular initiative being entered (Max 250 words)
Section 3: Why your company deserves to win the Carbon Reduction Award, based on success over the past 12 months (Max 500 words)
Section 4: Key statistics to support your entry (Max 200 words)
Recognising world-class approaches to integrated working between supply chain partners and the role this plays in delivering resilient and efficient lifeline services.
Entries for this category should show evidence of:
- Collaboration between supply chain partners
- Innovative approaches to tackling key industry challenges
- Outperformance against project objectives
- Wider benefits, ie to society, the environment and/or decarbonisation
Entry form:
Section 1: A 100-word headline summary of your entry for publication if you are shortlisted
Section 2: Outline of the project / initiative being entered, the roles of the partners involved and how objectives were exceeded (Max 250 words)
Section 3: Why you should win the Collaborative Excellence Award based on success over the past 12 months (Max 500 words)
Section 4: Key statistics to support your entry (Max 200 words)
Celebrating the utilities that have gone above and beyond in providing outstanding customer experience and engagement over the past year. This award is focused on initiatives that go beyond regulatory requirements and can demonstrate evidence of tangible benefits to customers.
Entries for this category should show evidence of:
- Responding to customer needs, including those arising from the cost of living crisis
- Innovative new ways of working / communicating to deliver on these customer needs, going beyond regulatory requirements
- Measurable improvements in customer engagement / experience
- Ambition to go even further – with clear targets for how customer experience will be improved over the next 12 months
Entry form:
Section 1: A 100-word headline summary of your entry for publication if you are shortlisted
Section 2: Outline of work done over the past year to improve customer experience, including goals set out and how these were achieved (Max 250 words)
Section 3: Why your company deserves to win the Customer Experience Award (Max 500 words)
Section 4: Key statistics to support your entry (Max 200 words)
Showcasing the ways in which utilities are offering tailored support to customers to reflect continued pressure on household finances. This category celebrates companies that have gone the extra mile, and exceeded their regulatory requirements to provide targeted support to those that need it most.
Entries for this category should show evidence of:
- Genuine customer engagement to identify the evolving needs of customers impacted by the cost of living crisis
- Innovative new ways of working and new products developed to deliver on these core customer needs
- Resources committed over the past year to support customers impacted by the cost of living crisis
- Measurable impact on customers impacted by the cost of living crisis
Entry form:
Section 1: A 100-word headline summary of your entry for publication if you are shortlisted
Section 2: Outline of work done over the past year to provide support for customers impacted by the cost of living crisis (Max 250 words)
Section 3: Why your company deserves to win the Cost of Living Award (Max 500 words)
Section 4: Key statistics to support your entry (Max 200 words)
Recognising the companies that are embracing digital opportunities to transform their businesses and deliver better outcomes for customers.
Entries for this award should show evidence of:
- An innovative approach
- Tangible business benefits of digital transformation
- Wider benefits, ie to customers, society, the environment and/or decarbonisation
- A commitment to embrace digital opportunities running throughout the company and a willingness to go above and beyond regulatory requirements
Entry form:
Section 1: A 100-word headline summary of your entry for publication if you are shortlisted
Section 2: Outline of work undertaken over the past year or the particular initiative being entered (Max 250 words)
Section 2: Why your company deserves to win the Digital Transformation Award, based on success over the past 12 months (Max 500 words)
Section 4: Key statistics to support your entry (Max 200 words)
Highlighting the wider impact utilities can have on the communities they operate in as well as their role as stewards of the environment and their wider responsibilities as socially-conscious companies. This award celebrates companies that are going beyond regulatory requirements and can show both ambition and impact over the past 12 months.
Entries for this category should show evidence of:
- The key societal / environmental / industry challenges this initiative was designed to tackle
- Demonstration of innovative new ways of working to achieve these aims
- Impacts of this initiative for a community / the environment
- Plans for expanding on the initiative and maximising the benefits further
Entry form:
Section 1: : A 100-word headline summary of your entry for publication if you are shortlisted
Section 2: Outline of the initiative being entered (Max 250 words)
Section 3: Why it deserves to win Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Initiative of the Year (Max 500 words)
Section 4: Key statistics to support your entry (Max 200 words)
Identifying employers that are leading the way in ensuring their workforce is reflective of the breadth of society and that every person can see a path to success. This award celebrates innovative approaches to increasing diversity and eliminating barriers to inclusion. Entries can profile individual initiatives and/or a more holistic approach to promoting diversity and inclusion but must be able to show meaningful impact over the past 12 months.
Entries for this award should show evidence of:
- A clear plan and evidence of progress on tackling inequality
- A clear plan and evidence of progress on furthering the diversity and inclusion of the workplace
- The promotion of a culture of diversity and inclusion right across the business
- An explanation of how measures are being tracked and recorded and clear goals to hit in the coming years
Entry form:
Section 1: A 100-word headline summary of your entry for publication if you are shortlisted
Section 2: Outline of work undertaken over the past year (Max 250 words)
Section 3: Why your company deserves to win the Diversity & Inclusion Award, based on success over the past 12 months (Max 500 words)
Section 4: Key statistics to support your entry (Max 200 words)
Celebrating best-in-class performance and innovative approaches to delivering infrastructure projects for the benefit of customers and the environment.
Entries for this award should show evidence of:
- Best in class stakeholder engagement
- Innovative approaches to project delivery, including the use of digital tools
- Efficiency and cost effectiveness, including completing work on time and on budget
- Wider benefits, ie to customers, the environment and/or decarbonisation
Entry form:
Section 1: A 100-word headline summary of your entry for publication if you are shortlisted
Section 2: Outline of work undertaken over the past year or the particular initiative being entered (Max 250 words)
Section 3: Why your company deserves to win the Infrastructure Delivery Award, based on success over the past 12 months (Max 500 words)
Section 4: Key statistics to support your entry (Max 200 words)
Celebrating the ambition, creativity and determination of utilities as they push the boundaries of collaborative innovation.
Entries for this award should show evidence of:
- A clear understanding of what industry / societal challenges are being tackled
- Genuinely new ways of working or approaching a problem
- A collaborative approach
- Quantifiable wider benefits, ie to customers, the environment and/or decarbonization
- Adopting, or planning to adopt, the innovation in question into business as usual and/or wider adoption
Entry form:
Section 1: A 100-word headline summary of your entry for publication if you are shortlisted
Section 2: Outline of work undertaken over the past year or the particular initiative being entered (Max 250 words)
Section 3: Why your company deserves to win the Innovation Award, based on success over the past 12 months (Max 500 words)
Section 4: Key statistics to support your entry (Max 200 words)
Highlighting the important leadership role utilities play in helping to decarbonise the homes of millions and encouraging behaviour change that ultimately results in lower consumption of energy and / or water. This award celebrates companies that have engaged meaningfully with their customers and acted on this to produce initiatives that can demonstrate a measurable impact.
Entries for this award should show evidence of:
- Action on removing barriers to decarbonisation for customers
- Reduced consumption / emissions for customers, or tangible evidence of increasing awareness of decarbonisation (including, where relevant, the link between water use and carbon)
- Contribution to the wider national debate about energy / water efficiency
- A wider commitment to sustainability and care for natural resources
Entry form:
Section 1: A 100-word headline summary of your entry for publication if you are shortlisted
Section 2: Outline of work undertaken over the past year or the particular initiative being entered (Max 250 words)
Section 3: Why your company deserves to win the Net Zero Engagement Award, based on success over the past 12 months (Max 500 words)
Section 4: Key statistics to support your entry (Max 200 words)
Celebrating the achievements of emerging talent within the utilities sector over the past year. Entrants should be employees of utilities who have been active in the sector for seven years or less.
Entries for this award should show evidence of:
- How this person exceeded expectations over the past year
- How they found creative solutions to key challenges
- How they displayed initiative
- Measurable benefits of their contributions over the past year
Entry form:
Section 1: A 100-word headline summary of your entry for publication if you are shortlisted
Section 2: Overview of this person’s role and what they have achieved over the past year (Max 250 words)
Section 3: Why they deserve to win the Rising Star award based on their work over the past year (Max 500 words)
Section 4 (Optional): Key statistics to support your entry (Max 200 words)
Celebrating best in class employers that are adopting novel ways of training and developing their staff and can show clear plans to futureproof their workforce. This award celebrates the companies that are finding new ways to plug the skills gap and strengthen their offer to current employees.
Entries for this award should show evidence of:
- Evidence of innovative training methods
- A commitment to continuous learning
- A clear strategy to fill skills gaps in the short and medium term
- Taking a leading role in promoting utilities as an attractive career choice
Entry form:
Section 1: A 100-word headline summary of your entry for publication if you are shortlisted
Section 2: Outline of work undertaken over the past year (Max 250 words)
Section 3: Why your company deserves to win the Skills and Training Award, based on success over the past 12 months (Max 500 words)
Section 4: Key statistics to support your entry (Max 200 words)
Recognising an outstanding team which has gone above and beyond the call of duty to deliver benefits for customers, stakeholders and the wider business.
Entries for this award should show evidence of:
- How this team exceeded expectations over the past year
- Measurable benefits this team brought about for the business
- Measurable benefits this team brought about more widely, ie to customers, society, the environment and/or decarbonisation
- How they embraced fresh ways of working and collaborating
Entry form:
Section 1: A 100-word headline summary of your entry for publication if you are shortlisted
Section 2: Outline of work undertaken over the past year (Max 250 words)
Section 3: Why this team deserves to win this category, based on success over the past 12 months (max 500 words)
Section 4: Key statistics to support your entry (Max 200 words)
Highlighting the companies that are going above and beyond in their use of data to drive efficiencies, speed up innovation, progress net zero and benefit customers. This category is open to both utilities and non-utilities, and will be judged and presented as two separate awards.
Entries for this award should show evidence of:
- Innovative approaches to the use of insight arising from data
- How these drove efficiencies for the business or brought wider benefits to the company
- How they delivered wider benefits, ie to customers, society, the environment and / or decarbonisation
- A wider culture across the business of unlocking the opportunities of data
Entry form:
Section 1: A 100-word headline summary of your entry for publication if you are shortlisted
Section 2: Outline of work undertaken over the past year or the particular initiative being entered (Max 250 words)
Section 3: Why your company deserves to win the Unlocking Data Award, based on success over the past 12 months (Max 500 words)
Section 4: Key statistics to support your entry (Max 200 words)
Celebrating the commitment of suppliers who have built long-term partnerships with utilities and the role this plays in delivering outstanding essential services for today and tomorrow.
Entries for this category should show evidence of:
- Responding to the strategic challenges facing the UK utilities sector
- Innovation in delivering solutions
- Measurable impact of the submitted initiative or wider partnership for the utilities business
- Wider benefits, ie to society, the environment and/or decarbonisation
Entry form:
Section 1: A 100-word headline summary of your entry for publication if you are shortlisted
Section 2: Brief outline of the business and the services provided to the UK utilities sector, followed by details of specific projects / initiatives over the past year (Max 250 words)
Section 3: Why your company should be named Utility Partner of the Year based on performance over the past 12 months (Max 500 words)
Section 4: Key statistics to support your entry (Max 200 words)
Celebrating utilities whose cultures and performance demonstrate they are all-round industry exemplars. This award celebrates the companies that are going above and beyond regulatory requirements, to set and meet ambitious targets on delivering for customers, advancing net zero, promoting diversity and enhancing the reputation of the wider sector.
Entries for this category should show evidence of the following over the past year:
- Outperformance across core business areas, going above and beyond regulatory requirements
- A strong financial performance coupled with a responsible and transparent approach to financial returns
- Measurable contributions to net zero and / or the protection of the environment
- Measurable benefits to customers
- Clear progress on improving diversity and inclusion within the company
- Playing a leading role in enhancing the reputation of the utilities sector
- Innovation and a willingness to adopt new ways of working
- Strong corporate governance and a culture of public service
Entry form:
Section 1: A 100-word headline summary of your entry for publication if you are shortlisted
Section 2: What your company has achieved in the past 12 months (Max 500 words)
Section 3: Why your company deserves to be named Utility of the Year (Max 500 words)
Section 4: Key statistics to support your entry (Max 200 words)
Eligibility criteria
All of Utility Week’s Awards are open for entry to companies who:
- own and operate energy or water utilities in the UK
- provide energy or water retail services
- provide energy flexibility or aggregation services
- hold a regulated license for the provision of key data or governance services to the industry
Contractors and suppliers of equipment, technology and other services to the utilities industry can enter any of Utility Week’s awards provided they do so in partnership with a utility organisation which fits at least one of the above descriptors. Contractors and engineering consultancies can also enter the Built Environment Partner of the Year Award, while all other supply chain partners are eligible for the Utility Partner of the Year category. The Collaborative Excellence and Unlocking Data awards are also open to non-utilities to enter independently.
Entries must relate to work carried out in the UK or in partnership with a UK utilities company.