Collection: NatWest SE100
UK’s top social enterprises revealed at ‘heartening’ Social Enterprise Awards 2025 celebration
Winners across 15 categories were unveiled at a London ceremony last night, ranging from household names Change Please and The Skill Mill to promising newcomers like EcoCoach CIC.
The winners of the UK Social Enterprise Awards 2025 were revealed last night at a ceremony in London’s Queen Elizabeth Hall.
Winners across 15 categories were celebrated, and ranged from household names Change Please and The Skill Mill to promising newcomers like EcoCoach CIC, winner of the “one to watch” award.
Organised by membership network organisation Social Enterprise UK, the awards were supported by a range of partners including the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation, Good Finance, GLL and corporates such as Linklaters, Barclays and Amazon Business.
Speaking at the event, Social Enterprise UK CEO Peter Holbrook said it was “truly heartening to celebrate businesses built on care and compassion that support the most vulnerable members of our communities, representing Britain at its best”, especially in times of difficult economic environment and political division.
Taking home the coveted Social Enterprise of the Year title was Change Please, a coffee brand that uses its profits to support people experiencing homelessness, training them as speciality-level baristas and giving them a living wage job, housing, mental health support and onward jobs placements. It supports almost 2,000 people a year and operates in 15 countries.
Hannah Oyewole (second from left) receives the Social Enterprise Women’s Champion award
Hannah Oyewole, founder and CEO of Young Ladies Club, was crowned Social Enterprise Women’s Champion. Young Ladies Club tackles domestic abuse, inequality, and underrepresentation through practical programmes and national advocacy. Oyewole is described by Social Enterprise UK as a “powerful advocate for Black and global majority women and girls” who “leads with authenticity” as a survivor of abuse herself.
The Skill Mill grabbed the Environmental Social Enterprise of the Year award. The social enterprise supports young people involved in the criminal justice system by providing them with real-living wage jobs in environmental projects, training and skills support for future employment.
Zaytoun CIC was named Consumer Facing Social Enterprise of the Year. Zaytoun (founded by Atif Choudhury, pictured) sells fair trade produce including olive oil, dates and spices from smallholder Palestinian farmers to support their communities, as they continue cultivating their land despite the challenges of operating in the occupied West Bank. The social enterprise reinvests all of its profits into furthering its mission, and has been operating for more than two decades.
- Listen to Tim West’s conversation with Zaytoun CEO Atif Choudhury on the Good Leaders podcast
The team at Nimbus Disability receive the Teach for Good award
Nimbus Disability, a social enterprise that provides disability-related advice and support to professional organisations, snatched the Tech for Good award. Nimbus Disability is known for its Access Card, which supports hundreds of thousands of disabled people every year by enabling them to have better access to entertainment venues.
Discover the full list of winners:
- Social Enterprise of the Year: Change Please
- One to Watch: EcoCoach CIC
- Prove It – Social Impact: Waste to Wonder Worldwide
- Buy Social Market Builder: CBRE Global Workplace Solutions
- Social Investment Deal of the Year: WCVA with Tai Heulwen and Community Impact Initiative
- Public Services Social Enterprise of the Year: Peninsula Dental Social Enterprise
- Consumer Facing Social Enterprise of the Year: Zaytoun CIC
- Education, Training and Jobs Social Enterprise of the Year: Social Enterprise Kent
- Environmental Social Enterprise of the Year: The Skill Mill
- Social Enterprise Building Diversity, Inclusion, Equity and Justice: The Tax Academy
- Social Enterprise Women’s Champion: Hannah Oyewole, founder and CEO of Young Ladies Club
- International Impact: The Centre for Information Resilience (CIR)
- Community-Based Social Enterprise: Tap Social Movement
- Social Enterprise Innovation of the Year: City Health Care Partnership CIC
- Tech for Good - Technology Social Enterprise of the Year: Nimbus Disability
Top image: The winners of the UK Social Enterprise Awards 2025. Courtesy of Social Enterprise UK.
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