East Midlands Finance Awards

Thursday 19th June 2025, 6:30 – 11:30pm

Nottingham Contemporary, City Centre, NG1

The East Midlands Finance Awards are back and this year, we’re pulling out all the stops to celebrate our 5th anniversary!

Applications are now open! Read on to discover more; including our sponsors, panel of judges and statements from previous attendees.

Join us for a truly unforgettable evening as we mark this milestone with a night of celebration like never before. 

At Distinct, we believe the East Midlands is the best place in the UK to build a thriving finance career. Founded in 2019, EMFA is the only event dedicated to honoring finance professionals across the region. Over the years, we’ve proudly celebrated their achievements and resilience in supporting businesses through tight deadlines and economic challenges.

This year’s event goes beyond the awards ceremony, offering incredible live entertainment and music, photo opportunities and plenty of delicious food and drink. EMFA is a wonderful chance for local businesses and finance peers to come together, show appreciation for their teams and enjoy a well-deserved night of fun. You won’t want to miss it…

2025 award categories 

Applications are now open! Read on to learn more about this year’s awards.

Finance Leader of the year

This is a fantastic opportunity to recognise an inspirational Finance Leader; celebrating their outstanding contribution to their business and/or teams over the past 12 months.

Finance team of the year (less than 10 staff)

Open to finance teams with fewer than 10 staff that have achieved excellence in providing financial support to any business or business area, in either the private or public sector.

Finance team of the year (more than 10 staff)

Open to finance teams of 10 or more staff that support any business or business area,  providing first-class financial support and insight in either the public or private sector.

Rising star

Open to individuals at any level, with any number of years experience, from QBE through to part-qual or qualified. The winner of this award will have fantastic examples of going above and beyond, showing truly exceptional promise for their future finance career.

Unsung hero

This award is for that person your team relies on to make everything run well – and who truly deserves a moment in the spotlight.  Whether it’s in the ledger team, credit control, payroll, FP&A or anywhere in finance. 

New! Clerical award

This brand-new award recognises individuals within clerical finance who are making a remarkable impact. Whether nominating a promising colleague at the start of their finance career or someone whose reliability and potential shine through, this winner will exemplify outstanding clerical skills, growth and dedication.

EMFA 2025's audience

Once you’ve read the entry guidelines in our FAQ, simply fill out the short form to submit your nomination. 

(Personal entries for the individual awards are also welcome).

Our event sponsors

We are proud to reveal that Dains Accountants are our headline sponsor for 2025! Established in 1926, Dains is an independent firm of chartered accountants and business advisors, dedicated to supporting SME business growth. Their intrinsic values align well with Distinct’s people-centric ethos, making this partnership a perfect fit.

Dains Accountants

Our judging panel

To be announced soon. Distinct remains completely impartial in the selection of all EMFA award winners. We use this unique opportunity to form a small panel of external judges, consisting of business leaders and industry contributors. 

For full transparency, we will publicly debut our official panel on LinkedIn ahead of the event. Further information can also be found in the “How are nominations judged?” section of our FAQ below.

The night’s entertainment

Illusionist 

Get ready to be amazed as Royal Variety performer Dean Odell, takes centre stage with an interactive show. His reality-bending illusions and jaw-dropping mind-reading tricks are sure to surprise, fascinate and entertain.

 

Live music

Local East Midlands band, The Burgundys will be performing live throughout the evening. With an eclectic mix of hits spanning the decades, they’re guaranteed to get and keep your team dancing all night.

A group of four people playing instruments in The Burgundys.

Tickets

EMFA tickets will be on sale in April! As a non-profit event, all proceeds made after costs will be donated to our annual charity partner, to be announced shortly. 

Want to be the first to know? Sign up to be notified as soon as EMFA tickets go on sale.

Hear from previous attendees

“It was an absolutely brilliant evening and so well organised by Distinct. We had lots of fun and were able to celebrate all of the exceptional talent that the East Midlands region has to offer.“Danny Baker, Head of Finance, Nottinghamshire Police.

“It was fantastic to spend the evening with the East Midlands finance community, to celebrate and to hear about so many success stories across so many varied businesses and organisations.”  – Neil Musgrove, Finance Director, Experian.

The finance team at Nottinghamshire Police attending EMFA 2025.

“Receiving the ‘Unsung hero’ award at the East Midlands Finance Awards 2024 was a lovely surprise. Thank you to my finance leadership team for the nomination, and to Distinct for creating the opportunity for recognition, for the unsung heroes!” – Helen Evans, Senior Finance Business Partner, Molson Coors.

“This was our first time attending the EMFA, having been short-listed for the Finance team of the year >10 staff. We had a fantastic evening, the event was well organised and the venue was a great choice! We hope to be back again in the future!” Emelie Fagrell-Elliott, Manager, Credit & Collections, Xylem Water Solutions.

Your FAQs

To support a valid entry, please be aware that we have a limit of 350 words.

The closing date for entries is midnight on Monday 31st March 2025. 

The Finance Awards committee and our event partners look forward to receiving your entry. We wish you the very best of luck!

Simply fill in the form at the bottom of the page. Your nomination will be shared with our panel of judges after the closing date.

Absolutely. Personal entries for the individual award categories are welcome. Simply fill in the form at the bottom of the page.

It’s free to enter the EMFA and to nominate someone for an award.

Distinct play no part whatsoever in the judging of any nominations for the EMFA. We’re proud to partner with a range of distinguished event partners (previously including HSBC, the ICAEW and the East Midlands Chamber of Commerce) who take on the unenviable task of judging all nominations.

Our event partners usually work in pairs to judge one-to-two award categories each, working to an agreed judging model to ascertain who they believe are the worthy winners & runners up. This judging model typically involves a meeting to understand each nomination with the individual, team, person that nominated for the award. 

Winners & Runners Up are announced on the night itself.

This year, tickets are expected to be around £55 per head and offer exceptional value for an unforgettable evening. Your ticket includes: 

  • A welcome drink to kick off the celebrations
  • A two-course meal featuring street food from around the world
  • Reserved seating for the awards presentation and entertainment
  • A complimentary drink to toast after the ceremony
  • A gift bag to take home at the end of the night
  • Plus, enjoy exciting new additions this year, including an illusionist, live music and a photobooth, all in celebration of our 5th anniversary and talented finance teams! 

No, the EMFA is a more relaxed awards event, not typical of black-tie formal sit down dinner events you may have been used to. There is no minimum or maximum ticket allowance.

Imagine you going for dinner & cocktails with your friends on a Saturday night. No bow-ties or black tie, we want you to be comfortable and enjoy the occasion – one particular award winner attended wearing shorts & flip-flops!

Nominate yourself or someone else for an EMFA 2025 award!

Thanks for supporting the East Midlands Finance Awards. All entries will be shared with our official Judging Partners who will then be in touch to arrange a convenient time to discuss your nomination in more detail - good luck!

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If you have any other questions regarding the East Midlands Finance Awards, reach out to our lead organiser, Henry Clarkson.