Yorkshire Post Business Awards 2026: Jet2 and KCOM among winners as late Dame Julie Kenny honoured
Regional companies large and small were celebrated at The Yorkshire Post Business Awards - with the late Dame Julie Kenny honoured with a posthumous Lifetime Achievement Award.
More than 400 people were in attendance at the event at New Dock Hall in Leeds on Wednesday night, which was presented by broadcaster Christine Talbot.
Winners on the evening included the likes of Jet2, KCOM and Fat Badger Group. There was double delight for Clearpoint Recycling, which won the Exporter of the Year category and whose boss Mark Garrett was chosen as the Business Leader of the Year.
The night ended with an announcement that the Lifetime Achievement Award was being awarded to Dame Julie Kenny, who died last year aged 67.
Announcing the award, Chris Burn, Yorkshire Post business and features editor, said: “Tonight’s recipient was a truly inspirational entrepreneur, business leader and passionate advocate for South Yorkshire whose legacy endures in many different ways.
“Born into poverty and a difficult childhood in Sheffield - which saw her care for her baby brother when she was just 10 - her challenging experiences forged a motivation to succeed in life.
“After initially becoming a litigation lawyer, she founded security equipment company Pyronix in 1986. When it was sold to new owners 30 years later after protecting countless homes and businesses around the world with its innovative products, it had an annual turnover of £25m. Today the Rotherham company is still going strong, employing around 200 people and delivering impressive annual profits.
“But such business success is only a tiny part of her story.
“Her list of achievements is genuinely incredible.
“As President of Rotherham Chamber of Commerce she rescued it from the brink of bankruptcy and turned it into one of the country’s leading chambers, she was a government-appointed commissioner for Rotherham Council who helped turn the authority around after the town’s child sexual exploitation scandal and in 2022, became only the second woman in history to serve as Master Cutler, championing South Yorkshire’s manufacturing and engineering industries.
“But most famously, she led efforts to rescue the historic Wentworth Woodhouse from decline and decay.
“The restoration of the incredible Georgian mansion in the South Yorkshire countryside is still ongoing and tonight’s winner once said it was one of the hardest challenges of her life which many people had told her would be impossible to deliver. To that, she said: ‘My view is nothing is impossible with time, belief and energy’.”
“She was fierce, vocal and proud of her links to the house and the wider Rotherham and South Yorkshire areas, and we are all a little worse off for losing her.
“As one of our judges said: ‘Her legacy lives on in the businesses she strengthened, the people she inspired and the heritage she helped preserve’.”
The award was collected on her family’s behalf by her husband Iain, who said: “I’m very proud to accept this on behalf of the family and I’m sure Julie would have been very honoured.
“Yorkshire meant everything to her, not just Yorkshire but specifically South Yorkshire and Rotherham.
“After Rotherham’s well-documented troubles over the years she was very proud to put Rotherham back on the map for the right reasons.
“She would be made up [to win this award].”
Full list of winners:
Best Business Start-Up: Elethea Studios; (Highly Commended - Nexus)
Charitable Business Award: KCOM
Employee Health and Wellbeing Award: Concrete Youth; (Highly Commended - Next Door But One)
Hospitality Business of the Year: Fat Badger Group; (Highly Commended - Three’s a Crowd Harrogate)
Innovation Award: Rallye Digital
Manufacturing Award: SoluPak
Sustainability Award: Sandal Group; (Highly Commended - Soanes Poultry)
Technology & Digital Award: G&T (Girls and Tech); (Highly Commended - CoolCare)
Fast Growing Business: Vidrate; (Highly Commended - Sam Teale Productions)
Exporter of the Year: Clearpoint Recycling
Best Family Business: Collett & Sons
Best Micro Business: Ideal Extraction; (Highly Commended - Dish Hospitality)
Small Business of the Year: Zebra Print Group
Medium Business of the Year: The Ice Co
Large Business of the Year: Jet2
Young Business Leader of the Year: Ben Waters
Business Leader of the Year: Mark Garrett, Clearpoint Recycling
A full supplement on the awads will be published in The Yorkshire Post on November 25.