Kombucha company and e-bike firm Volt named among UK’s top small businesses – UK Times

A healthy soft drinks company, a campervan conversion specialist and an electric bike manufacturer have been named among the UK’s most promising small businesses at a national awards ceremony in London.

Eight winners of the 2026 Small Business Growth Awards, run by HSBC UK in partnership with the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB), were announced at The Savoy on Thursday after attracting around 2,800 entries from across the country.

The awards come as small firms continue to navigate a difficult economic environment marked by higher costs, weaker consumer confidence and global uncertainty.

Yet research commissioned by HSBC UK and the FSB suggests many business owners remain optimistic, with seven in 10 SMEs describing their companies as resilient despite the challenging outlook.

Among the national winners was Manchester-based Hip Pop, a producer of kombucha and other healthier soft drinks that now sells through more than 12,000 distribution points and major retailers across the UK.

Emma Thackray, co-founder of Hip Pop, said: “This award feels like a real marker of how far we’ve come. What started as a small operation has grown into something with genuine momentum.”

Vanlife Conversions, which builds bespoke campervans, took the Service Excellence Award, while electric bike manufacturer VOLT Bikes won the Family Business Award.

Other winners included security specialist Rhino Perimeter Security, consultancy The Lennox Partnership, engineering firm Michael Aubrey Structural Engineers, marketing agency GottaBe! Ethnic and retailer Evoke Country & Equestrian.

The competition recognised businesses across eight categories, rewarding growth, innovation, community impact and entrepreneurship.

Blair McDougall, the minister for small business and economic transformation, said the awards highlighted the “ambition, resilience and innovation” of small firms across the UK.

He said small businesses remained “a vital driver of growth” and pointed to the government’s Small Business Plan as evidence of support for firms looking to expand.

The winners will receive mentoring from entrepreneur and former Dragons’ Den investor Sara Davies, who said the current climate had made running a business particularly demanding and praised entrepreneurs for continuing to grow despite economic pressures.

Alongside the national awards, HSBC UK also named a series of Regional Customer Champions, including prosthetics company Limb-art, founded by former Paralympian swimmer Dr Mark Williams and his wife Rachael. The business manufactures lightweight, recyclable prosthetic leg covers and has developed injection-moulded designs that have enabled it to expand internationally.

Tom Wood, HSBC UK’s head of SME business banking, said the volume of entries demonstrated the level of ambition among Britain’s small business community despite ongoing uncertainty.

Martin McTague, national chair of the FSB, said the awards recognised entrepreneurs who had created jobs and generated growth, often in difficult circumstances.

Businesswoman Sara Davies MBE said: “Running a business is never easy and, especially in the current climate, it takes a huge amount of resilience, determination and courage to keep showing up and growing a company, and I am genuinely honoured to be mentoring the national winners.”