Automotive Management has announced the second annual Award for Financial Excellence with support from GE Capital Woodchester and Mitac.

The award seeks to recognise innovation and success in the motor retail finance industry.and the outright winner will win a trip to Las Vegas next February to attend the 2001 NADA convention as a guest of GE Capital Woodchester.

Quarterly award winners will receive £1,000 in cash and automatic entry into the grand final and to encourage the drive for excellence in motor finance Automotive Management, with support from GE Capital Woodchester and Mitac, is creating an Academy of Financial Excellence which all entrants to the award will be eligible to join.

The grand final, to select the winner who will go to Las Vegas, will take place during a special one-day motor finance conference to be staged in Edinburgh in November.

For the first time, the award is also open to both teams and individuals. You can enter on behalf of yourself or, if you are a senior manager across a group of dealerships, you can put forward your team or your company. This could be particularly relevant if your group has created a new and successful finance programme in specific business areas.

At the heart of the judging criteria will be the key words: Innovation, Success and Customer Satisfaction.

How to enter: entry forms for this year's Award for Financial Excellence are available from Sue White on 01733 467017. The form will also be enclosed in a forthcoming issue of Automotive Management.

The judges want to hear about innovative schemes which have improved the F&I performance of a dealership.There will be three quarterly rounds between now and the final in November. The winners of each quarterly round and one runner-up will automatically go forward to the final.

Closing dates for the quarterly finals are: Friday, June 17; Friday, August 11; Friday, October 6.