Nominations have opened for Cox Automotive’s Barbara Cox Woman of the Year award for 2022, run in partnership with Bauer Media’s B2B titles AM, Fleet News and Smart Transport.

The prestigious award, now in its fourth year, honours inspirational women within the UK automotive industry who demonstrate a commitment to innovation and leadership.

Among the exceptional previous winners since the initiative's 2019 launch have been: inaugural winner, Beryl Carney, JCT600 head of commercial vehicles; Alison Jones, senior Vice President & Stellantis Country Manager UK in 2020; and Lorna McAtear, fleet manager at National Grid, who picked up the award earlier this year.

The award is named after Barbara Cox, who served as director of Cox Enterprises, Cox Automotive’s parent company in the USA, and recognises an inspirational female leader and role model in the automotive industry.

The winner of the award receives £5,000 to invest on her own personal development.

Alison Fisher, HR director at Cox Automotive International, said: “It’s fantastic to see the Barbara Cox Woman of the Year award reaching its fourth year in the UK. There are so many women doing great things within the automotive industry, and it is important to recognise their achievements. The Barbara Cox Award is our chance to celebrate their impact within the industry and inspire other women to join the automotive sector too.

“As a company, Cox Automotive is firmly committed to promoting Inclusion, Diversity and Equity. We are already supporting many strands of activity in this area which have an emphasis on gender balance. This includes our rapidly growing ‘Women with Drive’ network and becoming patrons of the Automotive 30% Club which aims for 30% of leadership roles to be filled by diverse women by 2030.”

Lorna McAtear, winner of the 2021 award, added: “Winning the Barbara Cox Woman of the Year Award was a major personal accolade. There are so many skill sets needed in this industry now and women have so much to offer. It’s great to see organisations such as Cox Automotive leading these initiatives and recognising the crucial role of women in automotive.”

This year’s judging panel for the Barbara Cox Woman of the Year Award will see Alison Fisher joined by Liam Quegan, the Board sponsor for ‘Women with Drive’ at Cox Automotive Europe, previous winners Alison Jones and Lorna McAtear plus Lynda Ennis of automotive and mobility executive search firm Ennis & Co, and Lindsay Greatbatch, head of B2B Memberships at Bauer Media.

Stephen Briers, editor-in-chief of Fleet News, AM and Smart Transport, said: “We’re delighted to once again be partnering with Cox Automotive to highlight and honour the important role women play across the automotive industry. We hope that by raising the profile of inspiring women, we will help to encourage more to consider automotive as a career choice.”

Nominations, including self-nominated, for the Award are invited from across the automotive industry and should be entered via http://womenwithdrive.co.uk/barbara-cox-award/nominate-here by January 21, 2022. The winner will be announced on March 8, 2022 on International Women’s Day.