On Tuesday 10 November, we welcomed 1,200 business leaders to Grosvenor House, London, for the Lloyds British Business Excellence Awards 2026. It was one of the most moving and memorable evenings in our history. Here is how it unfolded, and who took home the trophies. You can meet every winner and Highly Commended business on our 2026 Winners page.

The evening

The Hawksmoor Choir opened the evening, setting the tone for a night that celebrated British talent in every form. Our host, Davina McCall, guided the room through 20 business categories with her trademark warmth and energy.

One of the standout moments came from Grace Matthews, the 19-year-old [winner of Channel 4’s The Piano], who had all of her fingers amputated as a child. Her performance held the whole of Grosvenor House in silence, and it was a powerful reminder of what determination looks like.

Sir Kevin Sinfield: The Inspiration Award

The emotional heart of the evening was the Inspiration Award. We kept it a surprise from rugby league legend Sir Kevin Sinfield until after Davina had interviewed him on stage. Lindsey Burrow, widow of his former Leeds Rhinos team-mate Rob Burrow, then presented the award to him.

The award recognises the leadership, loyalty and resolve behind Sir Kevin’s MND fundraising, which began when Rob was diagnosed with motor neurone disease in 2019. Since then Sir Kevin and his team have raised more than £13 million for the MND community through seven ultra-endurance challenges. The last of these, 7 in 7: The Grand Finale, finished at the Betfred Super League Grand Final at Old Trafford on 3 October, having raised more than £1.3 million.

Amanda Murphy, CEO for Lloyds Business and Commercial Banking, said: “It’s fantastic to celebrate so many brilliant businesses, entrepreneurs and leaders through the Lloyds British Business Excellence Awards.

“From farmers diversifying into year-round visitor experiences, to a family-run catering business putting fresh food on our children’s plates and innovators using cutting-edge technology to develop alternatives to plastic packaging, these businesses are great examples of the ambition, ideas and determination you find right across Britain.”

 “The very best businesses are constantly finding new ways to grow, whether that’s embracing new technology, entering new markets or simply finding a better way to do what they’ve always done. And when they succeed, the benefits spread far beyond the businesses themselves – creating jobs, opportunities and building stronger communities right across the UK.

 “For more than 250 years, Lloyds has backed businesses as they’ve grown, adapted and taken on new opportunities. It’s an honour to be able to celebrate some of the very best of them here.”

Three double winners

Our winners were chosen from almost 200 finalists by our 2026 judges. Three businesses stood out by winning two awards each, with each award decided by a separate judging panel. The judges kept arriving at the same businesses from different directions: growth, purpose, innovation and family. We think that says everything about how strong these businesses are.

Tulleys Farm took the evening’s top honour, the Lloyds Leading SME Business of the Year Award, as well as the Gerald Edelman Family Business of the Year Award. A nine-generation family farm, Tulleys diversified to secure its future and now welcomes nearly two million visitors a year to its seasonal attractions, including its pumpkin patches. The judges called it a business where everyone who wears the Tulleys jacket feels part of the family.

Olive Dining won both the Lloyds Outstanding Mid-Market Business of the Year Award and the Blick Rothenberg Mid-Market Growth Business of the Year Award. The school and pre-school meals provider has grown from £30 million to £50 million in a tough market without losing its founding purpose: healthy meals, served on china plates, by a person. It has added 80 schools in the last year alone.

Kelpi, the Bristol-based materials innovator, won the Social & Sustainable Impact Award and the Dext Innovation Award. Its seaweed-based coatings replace fossil-fuel plastics in packaging and could transform tens of billions of single-use sachets sold every year. Every judge in the Social & Sustainable Impact category placed Kelpi in their top two.

£500,000 of ITV airtime for Little Dish

Children’s food brand Little Dish won our new ITV Growth Accelerator Award, created with our media partner ITV. The prize is £500,000 of advertising across ITV’s broadcast channels and ITVX, regarded as the highest-value prize offered by any UK business awards programme. Little Dish was ranked first, or joint first, by every judge on the panel. WUKA was Highly Commended.

More winners from the night

Dr Ben Maruthappu of Cera was named Cazenove Capital Entrepreneur of the Year for building a technology-led home-care business that trains people with no previous experience for careers in care. Helen Cannon of ISON Travel was named Cazenove Capital Female Founder of the Year. Five Rivers Child Care, which has provided homes, schools and support for children and young people for more than 35 years, took the Purpose Beyond Profit Award. Kendamil won the International Expansion of the Year Award for taking a proudly British product to the world. Pip & Nut was named Lloyds Scale-Up Trailblazer of the Year.

Our founder, Sarah Austin, said: “Tonight’s winners read like the story of modern Britain. A family farm that reinvented itself to welcome two million visitors a year. A school caterer that still serves every meal on a china plate. A Bristol business replacing plastic with seaweed, a doctor rebuilding care at home, and a family formula maker taking British provenance to the world. Every one of them backed themselves before anyone else did, and that’s the quality we celebrate above all others. That three businesses won twice, in front of different judging panels, tells you everything about their strength. And then there is Sir Kevin Sinfield, who has spent seven years backing someone else. What he has done for Rob and for the whole MND community is leadership at its purest, and watching Lindsey present this award to him is a moment none of us in that room will ever forget.”

The 2026 winners in full

The Inspiration Award: Sir Kevin Sinfield

The Customer Loyalty Award: Product Marketing Alliance. Highly Commended: Crystal Auras

The Gerald Edelman Family Business of the Year Award: Tulleys Farm. Highly Commended: Kendamil

The Social & Sustainable Impact Award: Kelpi. Highly Commended: Osprey Charging Network

The Business Enabler of the Year Award: Tessiant. Highly Commended: YOUR Personal Training

The Cazenove Capital Entrepreneur of the Year Award: Dr Ben Maruthappu, Cera. Highly Commended: Guy Walker, Dovetail & Slate

The Blick Rothenberg Mid-Market Growth Business of the Year Award: Olive Dining. Highly Commended: Everflow

The Lloyds Scale-Up Trailblazer of the Year Award: Pip&Nut. Highly Commended: [Sirius Constellation / Sirius Insight]

The Lloyds Outstanding Mid-Market Business of the Year Award: Olive Dining. Highly Commended: Fortnum & Mason

The Department for Business & Trade International Expansion of the Year Award: Kendamil. Highly Commended: Aviramp

The Dext Small Business of the Year Award: Senior Stairlifts. Highly Commended: Abbey Group. One to Watch: Island Larder

The Dext Innovation Award: Kelpi. Highly Commended: HONA

The Cazenove Capital Female Founder of the Year Award: Helen Cannon, ISON Travel. Highly Commended: Holly Brooke & Joely Walker Sanderson, We Are Regular

The Vistage Growth Business of the Year Award: Infinity Fire Prevention. Highly Commended: PitPat

The Purpose Beyond Profit Award: Five Rivers Child Care. Highly Commended: EPIC Global Solutions

The Technology Business of the Year Award: Purple. Highly Commended: InstaVolt

The Inclusion Award: Snowball Community. Highly Commended: Connect Therapy Services

The Lloyds AI Game Changer Award: Sirius Insight. Highly Commended: Cera Care

The Employer of the Year Award: Opinium. Highly Commended: Care First 24

The ITV Growth Accelerator Award: Little Dish. Highly Commended: WUKA

The Lloyds Leading SME Business of the Year Award: Tulleys Farm. Highly Commended: Island Delight

What happens next

The celebrations don’t end at Grosvenor House. In keeping with Awards tradition, our winners will ring the opening bell at the London Stock Exchange.

Thank you to our headline partner Lloyds Bank, our media partner ITV, our category partners and the UK government for their support. Thank you also to our judges, and to every business that entered. Since launch, the Awards have raised over £100,000 for charity.

To every winner, Highly Commended business and finalist: congratulations. Explore all of this year’s winners, catch up on our latest news or find out about sponsoring the Awards.