NACFB Commercial Lender Awards 2026 open for submissions
The NACFB Commercial Lender Awards 2026 are now officially open for entries, celebrating lending excellence and recognising the unwavering support of the industry’s service providers.
Enter this year’s awards here
New award category
This year, NACFB Patron lenders and Partner suppliers can submit entries across 25 award categories, including a brand-new addition that reflects the commercial finance sector’s evolving priorities.
The Women’s Advocate Award celebrates an individual or organisation that has demonstrated a clear and sustained commitment to championing and advancing the role of women within the commercial finance industry. Open to both NACFB Patrons and Partners, this category celebrates those who are actively driving meaningful change through advocacy, leadership, and practical action that improves representation and opportunity across the sector.
This year’s category changes include a clearer distinction between Bridging Finance Lender of the Year, which recognises specialist property finance, and Short-Term Lender of the Year, which focuses on lenders resolving urgent, time-sensitive funding needs, alongside the introduction of Business Loan Lender of the Year in place of the former Unsecured Lender category.
The full list of categories for the NACFB Commercial Lender Awards 2026 is:
Asset Finance & Leasing Lender of the Year
BDM Team of the Year
Bridging Finance Lender of the Year
Business Bank of the Year
Business Loan Lender of the Year
Buy-to-Let Mortgage Lender of the Year
Commercial Mortgage Lender of the Year
Community Lender of the Year
Development Finance Lender of the Year
Emerging Lender of the Year
Industry Leader of the Year
Industry Supplier of the Year
Intermediary Advocate of the Year
Invoice Finance Lender of the Year
Marketing Team of the Year
Pioneers of the Year
Rising Star of the Year
Service Excellence Award
Short-Term Finance Lender of the Year
Specialist Lender of the Year
Sustainability Champion of the Year
Underwriting Team of the Year
Unsung Hero of the Year
Women’s Advocate Award – NEW FOR 2026
All participating Patrons will be entered automatically into the prestigious NACFB Commercial Lender of the Year award.
Full details of each category can be seen here
The awards are completely free to enter and are open to NACFB Patron lenders and Partner suppliers only. The submission deadline is 5pm on Monday 7th September 2026.
Organising the event, Becky McGarrity, said: “We encourage firms to put themselves forward across as many categories as they feel reflect their successes. We recognise the commitment involved in preparing award submissions, so we’ve kept entries concise and accessible by limiting each submission to a maximum of 300 words.”
To help entrants make their submissions shine, the NACFB has compiled 10 top tips designed to help Patron lenders and Partner suppliers highlight their successes and create a winning entry for each award category.
The judging process
This year, a carefully selectedpanel of industry experts will review all submissions to determine a shortlist in each award category. Every entry will be reviewed fairly and individually, with the shortlist drawn on merit. In the interest of fairness and transparency, categories that do not award an individual will be anonymised for judges’ selection. The judging panel will be revealed in the coming weeks.
The shortlist will be revealed in mid-October at which time NACFB Member brokers will be invited to cast votes for the Patrons and Partners of their choice in each category. A bespoke weighting is used for each category to calculate the final results, blending judges’ scores with the industry vote.
Awards ceremony and tickets
The winners will be revealed at a glamorous ceremony which returns to the Westminster Park Plaza, London on Thursday 26th November 2026.
Early bird tickets are available to NACFB Patron lenders and Partner suppliers only until 5pm on Friday 30th October 2026 and are priced at £425 +VAT per person. Tables of ten are also available for purchase.
After the early bird deadline, tickets for Patrons and Partners will increase to £465 +VAT per person. Depending on availability, a limited number of tickets will also be made available to non-NACFB Patrons and Partners, priced at £499 +VAT.
All tickets include a welcome drink on arrival, a three-course meal, half a bottle of wine per person and entertainment. Full details of the celebration, including this year’s host, will be revealed soon.
Sponsorship
A limited number of sponsorship opportunities remain and those interested are asked to contact the events team for more information via events@nacfb.org.uk