Business Disability Forum has announced the winners of its Disability Smart Impact Awards 2026, with 14 organisations and individuals recognised in London for work aimed at removing barriers and improving inclusion for disabled people.
Hosted by HSBC on 29 April, the awards are now in their twelfth year and are open to organisations of all sizes across the UK and internationally. This year’s winners span workplace experience, recruitment, procurement, product design, technology, communications, customer experience, and global disability inclusion.
Diane Lightfoot, CEO of Business Disability Forum, said: “In today’s challenging geopolitical climate, it’s encouraging to read and hear about the incredible work being done by organisations and individuals across the globe on disability inclusion and the positive impact on so many people’s lives.
“We hope our winners’ stories will help other organisations to begin their own disability inclusion journey. We look forward to seeing the difference that they have made to employees, customers and service users at next year’s awards.”
The 2026 winners included Lilly for its global accessibility programme, ServiceNow for an AI-driven voice interface designed to remove physical and cognitive barriers in the workplace, Diverse Made Media for its wheelchair camera system CAERUS, Lloyds Banking Group for its Inclusive Design Panel, Unilever for its Global Accessibility Centre of Excellence, and BBC for wins in both procurement and recruitment.
Accessible Housing Scotland won the customer experience award for smaller organisations, while Sutherland and Happy Smiles took the workplace experience awards for large and small employers respectively. Iain Wilkie of 50 Million Voices won the Leader Award, Will King of Evtec Automotive Ltd received the Diversity and Inclusion Professional Award, and Lyn Lee was named winner of the Lifetime Achievement Award.
Romano Sandee of Stichting Uit met Autisme, winner of the Inclusive Communication Award, said: “This award is a recognition of what we work on every day. For many people, leisure time does not begin with relaxation, but with the question of whether something is manageable at all. That is exactly why we make expectations visible, so people experience more control and less stress. That this mission is now recognised and valued internationally means a great deal.”
Michael Connolly, Director of Accessible Housing Scotland, said: “We’re genuinely honoured to receive this award, especially from an organisation that puts disabled people and real-world impact at its forefront. We’ve had the privilege of working with some amazing families and clients, and this award really belongs to them as much as it does to us. Their trust, their resilience and their stories are what drive everything that we do.”
A full list of winners and finalists is available on the Disability Smart Impact Awards 2026 winners page.
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