Process & Stages

The Mortgage Strategy Specialist Lending Awards celebrate the very best in specialist and commercial mortgage lending — the innovators, high performers, and businesses shaping the future of this dynamic market.

Our process is simple, rigorous and trusted , giving every nominee the opportunity to demonstrate their impact while ensuring winners are selected fairly and on merit.

STAGE 1:  Industry Nominations

We begin with nominations, open to the entire specialist lending community.

During March, we accept:

1. Self-nominations — enabling firms to put themselves forward

2. Industry nominations — allowing peers, partners and clients to recognise excellence

Once nominated, organisations are invited to complete a full entry form, providing evidence of performance, innovation and impact across specialist and commercial lending.

Nominations close: Friday 27 March 2026


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STAGE 2: Longlist Creation & Full Entry Submission

After nominations close, the Mortgage Strategy awards team reviews every submission to confirm eligibility and category relevance.

From this review, a longlist is created in each category — the entries that will progress to formal judging.

Longlisted nominations are asked to submit a structured full entry aligned to the official judging criteria.

This stage ensures judges can assess each nominee consistently, focusing on outcomes, performance, customer impact and market contribution.

Entry submission opens: Monday 13 April 2026

STAGE 3: Expert Judging & Scoring

Our independent judging panel, made up of experienced specialist lending professionals, reviews all full entries.

Each submission is scored individually against clear criteria, ensuring the process remains objective, transparent and robust.

Judging will begin: Wednesday 3 June 2026

STAGE 4: Shortlist Announced

Following scoring, the highest performing entries in each category are named on the official shortlist, published publicly in early June.

Being shortlisted represents a significant mark of distinction within specialist and commercial mortgage lending — and sets the stage for the final celebration in September.

Shortlist will be announced: Thursday 25 June 2026

STAGE 5: Winners Revealed

Winners will be announced at the Mortgage Strategy Specialist Lending Awards ceremony on 15 September 2026, an evening dedicated to celebrating excellence across specialist and commercial lending.

Winners will be revealed: Tuesday 15 September 2025

Nomination FAQs

Hopefully you'll find an answer to your question below. If not, please contact Joseph McDermont email joseph.mcdermott@emap.com.

All nominations must be submitted by 11:55pm on Friday, 27 March 2026, in order to be included in the next stage of the process, the entry stage.

To submit a nomination for the Mortgage Strategy Specialist Lending Awards, please follow the steps below:

  1. View the Categories page and choose the relevant category or categories you wish to nominate for.
  2. Complete the online nomination form, providing the required details, including the company or individual name and a short supporting statement outlining why the nominee deserves recognition.

Review your information carefully and click ‘Submit’ to complete your nomination.

You can nominate in as many categories as you'd like. To do so, visit the categories and use the tick boxes to select the ones you wish to nominate on the submission form when completing your nomination.

We ask all firms to submit a short supporting statement explaining why they are putting a nomination forward for the chosen category. This helps our editorial team when reviewing all nominations before they are progressed to the public entry stage. Supporting statements should be no more than 50 words.

No - only one nomination per company is required at this stage. All nominations will be reviewed by the Mortgage Strategy editorial team, and subject to their approval, will then be put forward at the industry entry stage in April 2026.

Please contact Joseph McDermont, email joseph.mcdermott@emap.com, and he will be able to help you with your nomination.