Winners of the 2026 North East Business Awards have been announced across the sub-regions of Northumberland and Tyneside; Durham, Sunderland and South Tyneside; and Teesside. The selected companies will now advance to compete for the overall regional honors at the awards ceremony scheduled for October 1 at Hardwick Hall in Sedgefield, County Durham.
The awards, supported by headline partner Sage UK and held in association with Newcastle University, recognize excellence across ten different categories. The top accolade, North East Business of the Year, will be contested by three companies from the sub-regions: industrial IoT technology firm Transmission Dynamics based in Cramlington, business utilities provider Everflow from Peterlee, and regulatory sciences consultancy ProPharma located in Richmond.
Last year’s overall winner, communications solutions company Filtronic, based at NETPark, participated this year as a member of the judging panel. The judges, chaired by Graeme Whitfield, editor of the Journal, commended the high calibre of entries submitted. Whitfield described the selection as “a great group of area winners from an amazing list of nominated companies” and expressed anticipation for the upcoming regional finals.
In addition to the Business of the Year category, other award categories acknowledged achievements such as Business Person of the Year, Growth, Small Business of the Year, Digital Innovation, Business for Good, Start-up, Best Place to Work, and Rising Star.
Sub-regional winners advancing to the finals include OES Group Ltd for Northumberland and Tyneside, Ford Aerospace for Durham, Sunderland and South Tyneside, and Binding Solutions Ltd for Teesside. Other notable category winners include Ian Shipley of Oliver Wyman, Andy Broadbent from New College Durham, and Laura Edgar of Aura Infection Control Ltd as Business Persons of the Year in their respective sub-regions.
In the Growth Award category, Neptune North, eQuality Solutions Group, and B A Joinery secured wins; BURGER-DROP, A Star Attendance Solutions, and Colewood captured Small Business awards; while OnlyCat, Everflow, and Salesfire were recognized for Digital Innovation achievements.
The Business for Good awards went to the Port of Blyth, Dalton Park Outlet & Outdoors, and Binding Solutions Ltd. Start-up accolades were presented to AyoobAI Ltd, Wellbeing Lead Academy, and Cognitive HealthTech Ltd. For Best Place to Work, GT3 Architects and Muckle LLP shared the win in Northumberland and Tyneside, with William Smith Group 1832 and Aura Infection Control Ltd taking honours in Durham, Sunderland & South Tyneside and Teesside respectively.
The Rising Star category featured finalists Husain Ayoob of AyoobAI Ltd, Ryan Bolton of PhysiquePro, Luke Henderson from NeuroMoney, and Henrietta Newble of AnFiTest.
The forthcoming awards event is expected to draw significant regional business interest, offering an opportunity to celebrate and promote commercial success. Tickets and table bookings are available through the official North East Business Awards website.