International Financial Centre of the Year Entry

Entries should address the criteria and tell a story, one that can be backed up with solid evidence. Do not just cut and paste material from marketing brochures but take a little time to understand what the criteria ask for because they will be the starting point for judges reviewing entries.

An entry should highlight the company’s greatest achievements without the marketing spiel. Be concise and make sure you don’t overwhelm the judges with too many statistics.

Be very clear about the division, project or process you are citing in your entry.

Make sure that when you talk about your achievements, this is done in practical rather than theoretical terms and not overwhelmed by hyperbole. Cite particular projects, situations or interactions to illustrate to the judges what has been achieved with focused evidence to back it up where appropriate.

Make sure that you stick the criteria set out in the entry form. Those criteria have been polished by the judges over the last few years so should give a clear idea of what they are looking for in each category so read the carefully and address the key points. Basing your entry on something that happened three years ago rather over the last year also isn’t going to get you very far with the judges.

This is perhaps obvious, but make sure you carefully proof read your entry for any spelling or grammatical mistakes. Having them isn’t going to exclude your entry but they don’t necessarily go down well with the judges. And make sure you keep within the word count – it is specified for a reason.

Notes

‘of the Year’ covers the period from 1 January 2024 so where performance is part of the criteria the judges will be looking for exceptional performance over that period and where the award is for a new service or product it should have been launched since then.