MMIA26 – APPLICATION PROCESS

KEY DATES

• Applications open – 4th June 2026
• Applications close – 14th August 2026
• Rising Star interviews – 14th September 2026 (taking place in Liverpool City Centre)
• Finalists announced – Thursday 1st October 2026
• Finalist filming to be undertaken – 13th & 14th of October 2026
• Industry vote opens – 30th October 2026
• Industry vote closes – 13th November 2026
• Awards ceremony – winners announced 4th December 2026

STAGE 1 – APPLICATION

• Applications will open on 4th June 2026
• Eligibility criteria – the MMIAs are open to any business, company, individual, non-profit organisation or charity, operating in or supporting the maritime, logistics and energy sectors across the Liverpool City Region and wider North West.
• You will be able to review up until the final deadline on 14th August 2026.
• Please ensure that you enter your personal details accurately, including your contact details as we will need to contact you to confirm if you are a finalist.
• You can enter more than one award category (provided it meets the entry criteria).
• You can provide supporting materials including documents, videos, images and relevant website links.
• Industry Honours Award:
  • Open to individuals only 
  • Nominations must be submitted by a third party (colleague, employer, client or industry contact) 
  • Self-nominations are not permitted
  • Nominees must operate within the maritime, logistics or energy sectors 
  • Winners will be chosen by a judging panel only (no public voting) 
    
  • No filming required for finalists 
  • Individuals may be nominated in more than one category where relevant 
• Entry to the Mersey Maritime Industry Awards is free of charge for Mersey Maritime members.

  For non-members, there is an entry fee of £100 per submission. Please note: For non-members a payment link will be sent to you on completion of your application. Your application will not be processed until your payment has been processed.

  All payments are non-refundable. For full details, please view our refund policy HERE

• If you are interested in becoming a member of Mersey Maritime and enjoying a range of benefits including free awards entry and discounted table bookings, please visit: www.merseymaritime.co.uk/membership.

STAGE 2 – JUDGING PROCESS

• All applications received within the deadline of (14th August 2026) will be reviewed collectively by our judges.
• The high number of entries can mean that each judge is allocated a selection of the total – split by category – to score in detail, with finalists emerging from the average scores given by each judge.

RISING STAR INTERVIEWS

• Every Rising Star applicant will be given the opportunity to attend an interview with a selection of our judges. This process will then determine our three Rising Star finalists.
• Each applicant must be available to attend an interview on 14th September 2026 (interviews will take place in Liverpool City Centre).

STAGE 3 – FINALIST FILMING

• All applicants will be notified of the status of their application on Thursday 1st October 2026.
• All finalists must be available to attend a filming session, which will take place across two days (13th & 14th October 2026).
• You will only be required to attend on one of these dates, which will be allocated in advance, so please ensure someone from your business is available on both days.
• The finalist films should encapsulate the details of the award application and why you believe you should win (the focus is not on providing a company overview).

STAGE 4 – INDUSTRY VOTE

• The industry vote will open on 30th October 2026 and will include all the finalist films by award category.
• Finalists are not able to vote for their own entry or organisation and any votes received will be discounted.
• Voters may only cast one vote per category.
• The industry vote will close on 13th November 2026.

STAGE 5 – WINNER DETERMINED

• The finalists will be determined by combining their judges score with their industry voting score.
• All award winners will be announced during the awards ceremony on Friday 4th December 2026. Secure your place HERE.