UK Social Enterprise Awards 2026 – The shortlist

We’re proud to reveal the shortlist for the UK Social Enterprise Awards 2026! The Awards are a celebration of the pioneering social enterprise businesses which are transforming lives and empowering communities across the country. This year, we’re delighted to be co-producing the Awards with Co-operatives UK, recognising the vital role co-operatives have in shaping a fairer, more inclusive economy Across 15 different categories, the shortlist shows the strength, diversity, resilience and innovation of the social enterprise and co-operative movement across the economy. Whether it’s through delivering innovative public services, creating jobs and opportunities, embedding environmental sustainability into their work, breaking down barriers for marginalised groups, or selling outstanding products to the public - every one of the shortlist shows that another way of doing business is possible. We’ve also introduced a new category for 2026, The Co-op of the Year Award – shining a spotlight on the nation’s leading co-operative businesses. CLICK HERE TO VIEW THIS YEAR’S SHORTLIST Commenting on the announcement, Peter Holbrook our Chief Executive said: “Businesses usually only make headlines when they’ve been behaving badly or profiting at everyone else’s expense, so every year it’s a joy to celebrate those that are quietly getting on with the job of building a better Britain and providing a practical path to an economy that puts people and planet first. The UK Social Enterprise Awards celebrate the organisations focused on making communities healthier, happier and more environmentally friendly. They’re an inspiration to anyone looking for examples of ways to do business better.” ‌Rose Marley, CEO of Co-operatives UK, added: "It's brilliant to see so many outstanding co‑operatives on this year's shortlist, proof of the huge contribution member‑owned businesses make to communities right across the country. With our new Co‑op of the Year Award, we're able to shine a spotlight on that impact like never before. And as we prepare to bring the Awards to Manchester's co‑operative quarter, the birthplace of the co‑operative movement, it feels only right that we're celebrating the businesses carrying that legacy forward today." Taking the Awards to Manchester The winners will be announced at a ceremony on 12 November at New Century Hall, in the centre of Manchester’s co-operative quarter. This will be the first time the Awards have taken place outside of London, and will mark the social enterprise movement's future in a city steeped in its history. In 1844, just up the road in Rochdale, workers in the cotton mills pooled their resources to set up the first-ever consumer co-operative to combat the low pay and exploitative conditions of Victorian Britain. Now, in the spirit of these Rochdale Pioneers, we’ll be celebrating how far this movement of business for good has come. The theme of the Awards is ‘All Together Now ’, capturing the spirit of unity and co-operation that sits at the heart of the social enterprise community. Tickets are currently on sale, with members of Social Enterprise UK and Co-operatives UK being able to save nearly 50% in comparison to the full price tickets. Click here to get your tickets

“They're really cool people, and the capabilities they have as a business are perfect for our needs.” GAIL’s Head of Property, Michelle Pollard-Smith, and RAW CEO, Rick Mower, reveal the strategy, heart, and creative innovation driving their collaboration. When Michelle Pollard-Smith, Head of Property at GAIL’s, first found the social enterprise RAW in 2021, she was, as she puts it, “doomscrolling for suppliers on LinkedIn”. After first contracting them for work at their Bracknell branch, RAW have since worked on most of their new openings and supported refurbishments across the existing estate. While Pollard-Smith provided the initial opportunity and the long-term vision, understanding the potential of the GAIL’s brand to grow the impact of a social enterprise, the partnership has thrived because of a unique meeting of minds. Pollard-Smith brings the commercial scale of a rapidly growing business, while RAW CEO Rick Mower supplies the restless, creative energy and practical innovation that makes true change possible. A collaborative engine of innovation The relationship has turned into a masterclass in co-proportional growth because, for Pollard-Smith, RAW is a true strategic partner that delivers operational and cost-effective Furniture, Fixtures and Equipment (FFE) services. She likes that she can go to RAW with a problem and they’ll work with her to find a solution that is commercially attractive, deliverable at scale and reliable. As well as manufacturing and sourcing new furniture for bakeries, RAW’s “what if” approach enables them to adapt dynamically to GAIL's evolving needs. For example, Michelle identified that GAIL’s were not capturing opportunities to re-use furniture across the estate. In-line with GAIL’s ‘Waste Less’ values, RAW created the ‘GAIL’s Hub’, taking surplus furniture and materials that were stored in back rooms across their estate, making them available to design teams and upcycling and reusing them to design spec for new bakeries. “If design teams can see what’s available for re-use and we can change or remodel it to fit with the scheme, that’s a sustainability win,” said Mower. “Plus, 90% of the time it’s far more cost effective than buying new items” he adds.  Everything is up for reuse. As well as hundreds of second-life tables and chairs across the GAIL’s estate, preloved stained glass from a Crystal Palace fitout now makes up the artwork on the walls at the recent Westfield opening in London, Stratford. When she found RAW, Pollard-Smith was just looking for a supplier. Now, she’s a convert to their social mission too.  “The tagline ‘I'm more than my past’ is exactly what RAW stands by. There are a huge number of FFE suppliers we could buy from but by choosing RAW, profit is used to drive real, human social change too” said Pollard-Smith. “Their products, service, prices and attitude compete with the best in the market, but they also open pathways to amazing new lives. Choosing RAW is not a trade-off, it’s a smart business and brand decision for GAIL’s”. The unique quality of RAW employees When she first found them on LinkedIn, Pollard-Smith was initially ignorant of the company’s social purpose, that 75% of the workforce have overcome some of life’s toughest challenges. “We're really lucky to employ people who've had some really tough experiences in life but survived them, and that's given us a truly outstanding workforce,” explains Mower. “We’ve grown to where we are because of the quality of our crew – they have a fire, a desire and a point to prove. That shines through and our clients see that in the products and services”. A recovering addict himself, Mower brings a distinct, inventive energy to the business. He believes people with challenging lives, who found a way through, have a particular quality he looks for. “So many people who end up as adults in dark places may have experienced tough childhoods, poverty, mental health issues, used drugs to change how they feel and so on … actually, we don't really look at that. We look at the fact that statistically, people who survived those experiences and decided to make a change are really rare and special. They have a unique spark and, nurtured well, that turns into a superpower.” Mower was previously the CEO of the charity Aspire Oxford, which initially worked with homeless people and then started to support prison leavers. Weary of scrabbling around for funding (as he puts it), he had the innovative idea that a company could make and supply products and create good because of that. “A lot of firms supply commercial furniture. On every metric – price, design, quality, UK made – we match and often outcompete traditional profit driven suppliers. But RAW also changes lives. We deliver the built-in social value that so many corporates want and it’s a supply chain switch that delivers triple bottom line value.” Human impact and the power of brand scale RAW’s social impact, in terms of the numbers, is well documented. But working with RAW Pollard-Smith sees more than the numbers. “You see people who often thought they were ‘less than’ in lots of ways. At RAW you see people’s dignity and pride grow and being able to point at their client list and say, ‘this is who I am now. This is who buys into what I do’. “The essence of RAW is always about proving that, no matter where you’ve been, things can change if you put the hard yards and passion in. RAW let their products and services do the talking to make that point. It’s not fluffy social value washing, it’s real and it’s deep”. After first contracting them, Pollard-Smith soon became aware of that impact and was obviously moved by it. At the Workplace Event, where she and Mower sat on a panel discussing the partnership between RAW and GAIL’s, she told the story of one of RAW’s employees who had initially been denied visiting rights to his daughter because of his turbulent history. With the stability the RAW work gave him, that changed, and eventually he was able to take his daughter to a GAIL’s and proudly show her what he had made. Mower is often asked about RAW’s social impact and has a beautifully simple answer about the effect on his employees: “Generally, people are happier than they were.” Growing together: from one department to company-wide buy-in The reliability and ingenuity of RAW have inspired GAIL's to see how else they can use the business to have a positive social impact. Pollard-Smith shares that, whereas once RAW felt like ‘hers’, the rest of the business has become very attached to RAW’s work and is motivated by it. “Now the whole of GAIL’s is supporting the social impact, and we're looking at how we can support everything that RAW does, such as their youth programme RAW Potential. How do we add weight not just from a purchasing point of view?” RAW Potential supports 120 young people a year across the Thames Valley who have faced barriers to accessing mainstream education, societal and mental health issues. “Over 50% of male inmates in UK prison today were excluded from school at some point in childhood. We don’t need to wait for them to hit that wall – RAW Potential is all about creating a future that is better than that”. Mower says he admires GAIL’s commitment to avoiding waste and their understanding of the positive social impact they can have through their supply chain. Pollard-Smith confirms that, partly as a result of the successful partnership with RAW, they’re looking at their procurement across the company. The rapid growth of GAIL’s has made it challenging as more staff across the company are buying in different departments. There were 185 GAIL’s at the end of 2025, and a further 40 were planned by the end of February 2026. As for RAW, they’ve grown to be Europe’s largest social impact furniture manufacturer, which Mower directly credits Pollard-Smith's for: “In a large business, who’ve done some things the same way for years, it only takes one person with the vision to say ‘whoa, there is a better way of doing this’. For us, that was Michelle. GAIL’s became the first big players to really go ‘we're in’," said Mower. “And that cascaded us to a lot of other clients very fast. Once you have GAIL’s on your books, it's powerful and we took off like a rocket. When you share a sense of mission with a client, it adds depth and commitment too. It’s a real joy to work with Michelle and her team who, like us, also want to show the world that there’s a way to do things differently, a way to do things better. It's a heck of a ride and we’re loving every minute of it.” raw-workshop.co.uk gails.com

Multi award-winning Oxford social enterprise Tap Social Movement has opened Day Release, its largest venue to date and a vibrant new all-day café, bar and community space at Signal Yard, Milton Park's new £14 million social and retail destination. Marking a significant milestone in Tap Social's growth, Day Release is the organisation's fourth community venue, first purpose-built location and largest to date, spanning two floors across approximately 3,563 sq ft (331 sq m). For the first time, the venue brings together Tap Social's bakery, pizza kitchen, café, bar, brewing school, and events under one roof, creating a welcoming destination for Milton Park occupiers, visitors and the wider Oxfordshire community. Featuring playful, hand-painted murals by Oxford artist Lisa Made It, Day Release offers: Fresh bread and pastries from Tap Social's bakery, Proof Social Bakehouse Hand-stretched sourdough pizzas Fresh salads and sandwiches A full bar with 10 draught lines plus canned beers, showcasing Tap Social’s independent beer range Barista-made coffee from fellow Oxford social enterprise NewGround Coffee Brew School, where groups can brew their own beer alongside Tap Social's professional brewers. The two-storey venue will be home to around 16 staff and continues Tap Social's mission to create meaningful employment opportunities for people with lived experience of the criminal justice system while creating a welcoming place for everyone. The opening of Day Release marks another milestone in Tap Social's growth. Building on the success of The Market Tap in Oxford's Covered Market, The Taproom in Botley and Proof Social Bakehouse in Kennington, Day Release becomes the organisation's fourth community venue in Oxfordshire. Together, Tap Social's brewery, bakery and hospitality businesses employ around 60 people. Since it was founded in 2016, Tap Social has created more than 115,000 hours of paid employment for people in prison and prison leavers, demonstrating how commercial success and social impact can go hand in hand. Tess Taylor, co-founder and director of Tap Social Movement, said: “Day Release is the culmination of everything that Tap Social has built over the last decade. It's our most ambitious venue to date and, for the first time, brings together our bakery, café, pizza kitchen, taproom and brewing experiences in one exciting, friendly space. “Hospitality is an incredible way to bring people together. Every coffee served, every meal shared and every shift worked helps create opportunities for people rebuilding their lives after contact with the criminal justice system. We're incredibly proud to be opening Day Release at Milton Park and to join the community at Signal Yard, a place where everyone is welcome. It’s been an absolute pleasure bringing Day Release to life and working alongside the team at Milton Park and Federated Hermes.” Day Release is the anchor tenant at Signal Yard, Milton Park's new social and retail destination, representing a £14 million investment in enhancing the Park's occupier experience and creating a vibrant place for people to meet, eat, work and spend time together. Spanning four sensitively repurposed buildings, Signal Yard provides 17 independent retail and hospitality units across two floors, together with landscaped public spaces and a carefully curated mix of independent operators serving Milton Park's 280 occupiers, visitors and the wider community. Clare Fleet, asset manager for Milton Park at Federated Hermes Real Estate, said: “Bringing Day Release to Signal Yard is a real milestone for us and something we've been working towards for a number of years. From the very beginning, our ambition was to create somewhere with character and purpose, championing independent businesses that bring something genuinely different to Milton Park and the wider community. “Tap Social is an exceptional organisation. Not only do they produce outstanding food, coffee and craft beer, they also transform lives by creating meaningful employment opportunities for people with convictions. That combination of commercial excellence and social impact makes them an incredible partner, and we're immensely proud they've chosen Signal Yard as the home for Day Release. “As Milton Park continues to grow, it's important that we're creating more than just places to work. Signal Yard has been designed as a destination where people can meet, connect and spend time together, and Day Release perfectly embodies that vision.” Day Release is open Monday to Wednesday, 7.30am-4pm; Thursday and Friday, 7.30am-9pm; and Saturday, 9am-9pm. The venue is closed on Sundays. About Tap Social Movement With a shared passion for social justice and independent beer, Paul Humpherson and sisters Amy and Tess Taylor founded Tap Social Movement in 2016 to provide support, training, and fulfilling employment to people who have had contact with the criminal justice system. To date Tap Social has created more than 115,000 hours of paid employment for people in prison and prison leavers. It is currently the UK’s “Community-Based Social Enterprise of the Year” as awarded by Social Enterprise UK. In addition to its commercial production brewery and bakery, Tap Social currently runs four Oxfordshire community venues. Learn more at tapsocialmovement.com.