Nominations now open for Barbara Cox Woman of the Year 2022 award

Fleet managers, suppliers and manufacturers have the opportunity to follow in the footsteps of Lorna McAtear and Alison Jones by entering the Barbara Cox Woman of the Year 2022 award.

National Grid fleet manager Lorna McAtear (pictured) was named woman of the year in 2021, while senior Vice President & Stellantis Country Manager UK Alison Jones was the 2020 recipient of the award, which is run in partnership with Bauer Media’s B2B titles AM, Fleet News and Smart Transport. Nominations have now opened for 2022.

The prestigious award, named after Barbara Cox, who served as director of Cox Enterprises, Cox Automotive’s parent company in the USA, honours inspirational women within the UK automotive industry who demonstrate a commitment to innovation and leadership and are a role model for others. The winner 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 Women with Drive website by January 21, 2022. The winner will be announced on March 8, 2022 on International Women’s Day.