Lately, I have been spending a lot of my time basking in the warmest sunshine and thinking about darkest winter.

For those of you not in the UK, we are currently enjoying a heatwave. This is, of course, unusual because the country is normally associated throughout the globe with perpetual rain and summers consisting of a couple of hot days during which the entire population either decamps to a pebble beach to eat ice cream and dip toes in the North Sea, or gathers en masse in parks with instant barbecues.

And I mean a proper heatwave. Not 23°C with a crisp breeze with everyone wearing shorts and T-shirts out of a stoic sense of duty more than to keep cool, but genuine 30-plus degree warmth – for several days at a time.

I know much of Europe has also been enjoying a warm spell, but that’s normal. This much sun in the UK is just short of
suspect.

Nonetheless, I’ve been thinking about the chill of winter nights, or rather, one night in particular: Thursday the 5th of December, in what I imagine will be a foggy and icy Berlin.

The reason this night occupies my mind is, of course, because it is the night of the annual Leasing Life awards dinner.

How well do you really know your competitors?

Access the most comprehensive Company Profiles on the market, powered by GlobalData. Save hours of research. Gain competitive edge.

Company Profile – free sample

Thank you!

Your download email will arrive shortly

Not ready to buy yet? Download a free sample

We are confident about the unique quality of our Company Profiles. However, we want you to make the most beneficial decision for your business, so we offer a free sample that you can download by submitting the below form

By GlobalData
Visit our Privacy Policy for more information about our services, how we may use, process and share your personal data, including information of your rights in respect of your personal data and how you can unsubscribe from future marketing communications. Our services are intended for corporate subscribers and you warrant that the email address submitted is your corporate email address.

Now before you all pity me too much, I would remind you it is part of my job to think about this night and I can also report I am not alone in doing so.

In several conversations I’ve had with people from the industry, nominations for the awards have come up, so I thought I would take the opportunity afforded me by this column to remind everyone about deadlines and categories.

Response to the initial nomination period has been strong, but everyone who wants to be included in the judging process still has to get a full nomination in before 5pm on Friday 6th September.

Many of you will have nominated before and will know the drill, but it’s worth emphasising what the judges will be looking for.
Clarity and honesty are essential for each nomination; look through the criteria for each category and demonstrate how your company fulfils the requirements in as straightforward a way as possible.

That said, remember to back up your statements with as much factual evidence as is available. The nomination that can demonstrate success rather than claim it stands a much better chance of coming out on top. And nominations marked ‘confidential’ will remain just that.

Brevity is also recommended wherever possible as a succinct demonstration of achievement is often more memorable than an effusive one.

Once the nominations are in, we can all start looking forward to the celebration which awaits on that wintry night in Berlin – and maybe I will pay more attention to what will hopefully continue to be a sizzling summer until it turns to a temperate autumn. Probably it will just rain.

Grant Collinson, editor

Grant.collinson@leasinglife.com

@Grant_Collinson