Seven London businesses shine at British Business Awards 2026

Seven London-based businesses took home awards at one of the most high-profile nights in the UK business calendar on Thursday, as the British Business Awards 2026 ceremony took place at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre before an audience of approximately 2,000 business leaders from across the country.

The evening — co-hosted by comedians Rob Brydon and Elaine C Smith, with a keynote address from Sir Bob Geldof and a headline fireside conversation between Rob Brydon and actor and humanitarian George Clooney — raised almost £2 million for Social Bite, the UK charity tackling homelessness through employment programmes, social enterprise coffee shops and the Social Bite Villages project.

For London’s business community in particular, it was a strong night. Seven of the twenty category winners are London-headquartered organisations, spanning energy, financial services, fintech, hospitality, healthcare and technology — a snapshot of the capital’s continued dominance across multiple sectors of the UK economy.

The London Winners: A Full Breakdown

Octopus Energy — Technology Company of the Year The London-based clean energy company has grown rapidly from a startup founded in 2016 into one of the UK’s largest energy suppliers, now serving over four million customers. Octopus operates its own proprietary technology platform, Kraken, which manages energy billing and smart grid integration and has been licensed to other energy companies internationally. The company has been at the forefront of the UK’s transition to renewable energy tariffs and time-of-use pricing that incentivises customers to use electricity when it is cheapest and greenest.

Greg Jackson CBE, Octopus Energy — Business Leader of the Year The Octopus Energy CEO took home the individual Business Leader of the Year award alongside the company prize — a double recognition of the organisation he has built and the leadership approach behind it. Jackson has become one of the most prominent voices in the UK energy sector, frequently engaging publicly on questions of energy policy, consumer pricing and the pace of the net-zero transition.

Vanguard Asset Management — Financial Services Company of the Year Vanguard’s London operation represents the European arm of one of the world’s largest investment management firms. Founded in the United States and known for popularising low-cost index fund investing, Vanguard manages more than $10 trillion in global assets. Its London presence serves UK and European investors and has grown significantly in recent years as the shift toward passive investment management has accelerated among retail and institutional investors alike.

Zilch — Business Innovation of the Year Zilch is a London-founded buy now, pay later (BNPL) fintech that has taken a different approach from most players in its sector. Unlike many BNPL providers, Zilch runs credit checks on users and integrates with Experian to promote responsible lending — a model that has attracted both regulatory approval and significant venture backing. The company has built a customer base of over four million users and processes billions of pounds in transactions annually.

Dishoom — Socially Responsible Business of the Year The Bombay-inspired café and restaurant group, which operates sites across London as well as in Edinburgh, Manchester, Birmingham, Brighton and Dublin, has built one of the most distinctive social responsibility records in UK hospitality. For every meal served, Dishoom donates a meal through its partnership with Magic Breakfast and The Akshaya Patra Foundation — having donated more than 19 million meals to date. The company is also a Living Wage employer and has consistently invested in staff development and wellbeing.

Dr Ben Maruthappu MBE, Cera — Entrepreneur of the Year Dr Maruthappu is the co-founder and CEO of Cera, a London-based digital health and social care company that uses technology to coordinate home care for older and vulnerable people. Cera deploys AI-powered tools to match care workers with patients, predict health deterioration before it leads to hospitalisation, and reduce the pressure on NHS services by enabling more people to be safely supported at home. The company has grown rapidly since its founding in 2016 and now delivers millions of care visits annually across the UK.

Zahra Bahrololoumi CBE, Salesforce — Inspiring Women in Business The CEO of Salesforce UK and Ireland was recognised for her leadership of the cloud computing company’s British operations and her advocacy for diversity and inclusion in the technology sector. Bahrololoumi has been a prominent voice on the importance of skills development, digital literacy and the pipeline of talent into UK technology roles.

The Bigger Event: What the British Business Awards Are

The British Business Awards shortlist featured 150 companies from across the UK, independently evaluated across five core pillars: business performance, innovation, workforce and culture, customer impact, and contribution to society and the wider economy.

The judging panel consisted of 18 senior figures from across British industry, chaired by Alan Jope CBE — former CEO of Unilever, one of the world’s largest consumer goods companies — alongside Emma Crystal, CEO of Coutts Bank. The shortlisted companies also form the inaugural British Business Leaders List, published in partnership with The Times and The Sunday Times, recognising organisations setting the standard for modern enterprise across the UK.

A record number of more than 400 companies entered the awards this year. The 150 shortlisted businesses span every size of organisation — from FTSE-listed multinationals to family-run firms and high-growth SMEs — and every region of the UK.

The ceremony itself was held at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre, a deliberate choice to anchor the event in Scotland rather than London — a signal that the awards are genuinely national in scope. Last year’s event raised over £1.3 million for charity through a combination of the awards ceremony and a fundraising lunch at Gleneagles Hotel. This year’s total of almost £2 million represents a significant increase, reflecting both the growth of the event and the generosity of attendees.

Social Bite: Where the Money Goes

The charity beneficiary for the 2026 awards is Social Bite, the Edinburgh-founded organisation that has become one of the UK’s most innovative responses to homelessness. Social Bite operates a chain of social enterprise coffee shops that employ people who have experienced homelessness and use profits to fund its wider charitable work. Its services include free food for people experiencing homelessness, employment programmes, and the Social Bite Villages — purpose-built housing communities providing accommodation and around-the-clock support for people moving out of homelessness.

The almost £2 million raised at Thursday’s awards and Wednesday’s Gleneagles fundraising dinner will go directly into expanding these services. Social Bite was founded by Josh Littlejohn MBE, who also serves as the Event Director of the British Business Awards — giving the partnership between the awards and the charity a particularly direct connection.

Full List of All 2026 British Business Awards Winners

All information in this article is based on official announcements from the British Business Awards confirmed on 30 April 2026. For further details on winners and the British Business Leaders List, visit britishbusinessawards.co.uk.