The area has seen the highest number of regional winners in ten years
Sewell Group celebrates its King’s Award achievement.(Image: Sewell Group)
Four Hull and East Yorkshire companies are toasting success after winning King’s Awards for Enterprise. The winners of the 2026 awards celebrate the achievements of 185 UK businesses across categories including innovation, international trade, sustainable development and promoting opportunity.
And regional firms are marking a major milestone this year, as Hull and East Yorkshire sees the highest number of regional winners in ten years. The organisations – Ideal Heating, M B Roache & Sons Ltd, Sewell Group and VUBA – are each recognised for outstanding achievements across key areas of business excellence.
Ideal Heating receives the award for innovation, highlighting its contribution to pioneering new products, services, or technologies. The award recognises the firm’s heat pump delivery package that is reshaping how the UK adopts low carbon heating technology.
The Hull company previously won the Queen’s Award for Enterprise in the Innovation category in 2013 and for Innovation and International Trade in 2019.
Adam Foy, CEO of Ideal Heating said: “As a major UK manufacturer with a proud history and heritage, we’re delighted to receive this royal recognition for how we’re shaping the transition to heat pumps across the UK. The King’s Award reflects the scale of ambition and commitment our team has shown in transforming not just our own business, but in leading the evolution of the wider UK heating industry.”
M.B. Roche & Sons Ltd, a family-run civil engineering contractor based in Hessle, has been honoured with a King’s Award for Enterprise in the Promoting Opportunity category. The award recognises the firm’s deep rooted commitment to social mobility and its initiative to empower disadvantaged groups through construction experience and workforce development.
Founded on a mission to positively impact the local community, the company’s initiative provides meaningful pathways into employment for veterans, ex-offenders, care leavers, refugees and neurodiverse individuals.
“This award is a tremendous achievement for our entire team and the community partners we work with every day,” said Daniel Roche, director of M.B. Roche & Sons Ltd. “We believe that as a small firm, we have a duty to bridge the skills gap by creating an inclusive pipeline of talent. For us, success is not measured in financial metrics, but in the barriers removed and the lives improved through genuine opportunity.”
Meanwhile, Hull-headquartered Sewell Group – which includes businesses that work in estates consultancy, construction, retail, facilities management and software – has been awarded a King’s Award for Enterprise for Promoting Opportunity for its work in supporting people from disadvantaged backgrounds into employment.
It follows Sewell Group receiving a Queen’s Award in 2021, for its continued commitment and advocacy of social mobility within the business community.
The King’s Award recognises Sewell’s GATEway initiative, a programme that aims to help people from disadvantaged backgrounds into the world of work through graduate opportunities, apprenticeships, trainee schemes, work experience and advocacy.
Paul Sewell, chair of Sewell Group, said: “After the pandemic, Hull was ranked the fourth most deprived city in the UK, with high levels of unemployment and skills gaps in key industries and we wanted to do something to help. Our approach to business has always been to enrich local communities and create opportunities for people, so we came up with the GATEway programme to help focus our efforts.
“Partnering with organisations such as CatZero, we’ve been able to reach people that need the most support and provide meaningful opportunities for them that have led to further employment.
“We’re already looking to the future to explore what else we can do to support people into work, and the launch of our new Digital Construction Academy will open up more opportunities in industries where we know there are skills gaps.”
Vuba Chemical Innovations Ltd, based at the Fruit Market in Hull, has won the 2026 King’s Award for Enterprise in the International Trade category.
Founder Sean Scott said: “We’re extremely proud to win a King’s Award. It’s an award I’ve always wanted to win since I started Vuba, so to win two in a row is special – last year for Innovation and this year for International Trade. We aim to be at the forefront of product development in surfacing worldwide. Our whole company is aimed at Innovation, from our Scientists to our wider R&D team and even our customers will all play a part in helping us develop the best products we can.
“And because we’ve been successful in doing that so far, our products are highly sought after internationally. Combine that with a passionate sales and marketing team who will fly to Australia or America on a day’s notice, and we’ve had a really successful period internationally and expect that to continue.”
Jim Dick, the Lord-Lieutenant of the East Riding of Yorkshire added: “I am delighted to congratulate the recipients of the King’s Award for Enterprise in Hull and the East Riding of Yorkshire. These outstanding businesses exemplify excellence, ambition and innovation, and their success reflects the strength and diversity of our local economy. This prestigious recognition is richly deserved, and I hope it gives them great pride and confidence as they continue to grow and inspire others across our region.”
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