Sir Robert McAlpine to sponsor the Heroes Rising Star of the Year award for a third year.

The Heroes Awards are delighted to announce that Sir Robert McAlpine has committed to sponsoring the new Heroes Awards Rising Star of the Year Award at this year’s ceremony.

The Rising Star of the Year accolade will recognise an individual at the very start of their career who has already made a significant impact within the sector, or who has overcome adversity to forge a promising career path.

The award is expected to be one of the highlights of the ceremony. Despite still being a relatively young awards programme, the Heroes Awards have quickly established themselves as the blue-riband recognition event for the sector, celebrating individuals whose contributions might otherwise go unrecognised.

The Rising Star award is limited to those who have spent only a short period working within the sector and has been introduced in response to a growing number of nominations across the main awards. Many of these centred on individuals who, despite their age or having entered the industry via an alternative route, have already made a meaningful difference to their organisations, their colleagues, and the wider sector.

Entries were judged against three clear criteria: candidates must either be graduates, apprentices, or individuals who have joined the sector through an agile career change, and must have demonstrated outstanding impact in a relatively short space of time.

Explaining the decision to introduce the award, Alicia Hibberts, Operations Director for the Heroes Awards, said:

“Every year the Heroes Awards throw up anomalies in the nominations we receive, largely because we deliberately do not restrict submissions by category.

“That decision was made to ensure that winners are recognised purely on achievement, rather than how neatly they fit into predefined criteria.

“As the awards have evolved, we’ve seen a broader and more compelling range of nominations, and this year we’ve seen a clear increase in future leaders being recognised for achievements early in their careers.

“We felt it was only right that these individuals should be recognised alongside their peers, and we have once again exercised flexibility in how excellence is celebrated.

“As with all special recognition awards, this will only be presented where judges feel there is genuine merit.”

The award will be presented at the Heroes Awards ceremony, taking place at the The Chancery Rosewood on 1^stDecember 2026.