Sussex Footcare and Experience It Now Travel are shortlisted in five categories each. The full finalist list by category, and the 30 September ticket deadline.
The finalists for the Eastbourne Business Awards 2026 have been published, and 88 local businesses are on the list.
They fill 142 shortlist places across 15 business categories. A further seven people are up for the Outstanding Young Achiever and Apprentice Award. Two more prizes, the Lifetime Achievement Award and Overall Business of the Year, are being held back and will be announced on the night.
The winners will be named at the Winter Garden on Friday 16 October at 6.30pm. (Eastbourne Business Awards, finalists list)
Those totals are our own count from the published list. We have treated variant spellings of the same business as one entry, so Walfinch Eastbourne and Walfinch Homecare Eastbourne are counted once, as are Design Lab Signs and Print, GoRetroThreads, Corin Dudley Electrical Services and the Lansdowne Hotel.
Two businesses are shortlisted five times
Thirty-five of the 88 are finalists in more than one category. Twelve are in three or more.
Sussex Footcare, a podiatry and chiropody practice, is a finalist in Community Business, Health and Wellbeing, Small Business, Customer Service Excellence and Family Business. Experience It Now Travel also has five, in SME Business, Tourism and Accommodation, Customer Service Excellence, Family Business and Employer of the Year.
Three businesses have four places each:
- Coda Pharmacy, in Community, Small Business, New Business and Family Business
- Rhapsody Artist Development, in Community, Health and Wellbeing, SME and Creative Excellence
- The Rosy Lee Limited, in Small Business, Food and Drink, Customer Service and Family Business
One point on the geography. The awards cover Eastbourne and the surrounding area rather than the borough alone, so the list includes businesses based in Polegate, Hailsham, Cooden Beach and Alfriston. Those are in Wealden and Rother districts, not Eastbourne borough.
The full finalist list
Community Business Award
Amaze, Chickbox, Children With Cancer Fund (Polegate), Coda Pharmacy, Disc Dementia Support, Dynamic, Eastbourne Carnival CIC, Eastbourne Healthcare Network, Eastbourne Voices Pop Choir, GoRetroThreads, Howden Insurance, Nic Gray of Hailsham and East Sussex ADHD Support CIC, Pathfinders Youth Ltd, Rhapsody Artist Development, Sussex Audiology Centre, Sussex Footcare, Sweet Spot, Walfinch Eastbourne, Wave Community Bank.
Health and Wellbeing Award
Children With Cancer Fund (Polegate), Home Instead Eastbourne and Hailsham, Latch On Breastfeeding Support, Rhapsody Artist Development, RMJ Wellbeing, South Downs Health and Care Ltd, Sussex Footcare, The Relais Cooden Beach.
Small Business Award (1 to 9 employees)
Blackmore Business Solutions, Coda Pharmacy, Design Lab Signs and Print Ltd, Driving Miss Daisy Eastbourne, Dynamic Beauty Salon, Eagles Hair and Beauty, Eastbourne Property Shop, GoRetroThreads, Grafters Recruitment Consultants Ltd, James Thompson Architecture, Juice Electrical Services, Just Cat Flaps Ltd, Latch On Breastfeeding Support, Regional Media Group Ltd (Eastbourne News), South East Loft Specialists, Sussex Footcare, Taboo (Eastbourne) Limited, Taj By Nobi Hussain, Taylor Engley, That Coffee Place, The Hair Hive, The Logo Emporium, The Rosy Lee Limited, The Social Socket, Travelosophers By Gareth Harding.
SME Business Award (10 to 49 employees)
Cobie Vetcare, Eastbourne Coaches, Experience It Now Travel, Middle Farm, Pathfinders Youth Ltd, Rhapsody Artist Development, RJ Cortel Ltd, Trinity Homes (UK) Ltd, West Terrace Dental Clinic.
Large Business Award (50 or more employees)
Beechwood Grove Care Home (Oakland Care), Group 1 Hailsham BMW, Mortain Place Care Home, Rossetts Commercials Mercedes-Benz.
Outstanding Young Achiever and Apprentice Award
- Tyler Murrell of Bay Tree Foods
- Summer Davies of Be… Gymnastics
- Rebecca Stevens and Maya Belle of Eastbourne College
- Ellie Shepherd of Joy Bar
- Ella Lewthwaite of Loch
- Jake Purcell of Metrobank
- Tracey Massey of Pathfinders Youth Ltd
Outstanding Professional Service Award
Atelier Ellis Architects, Eastbourne Property Shop, James Thompson Architecture, M S Steelwork Ltd, MCT Solicitors Ltd, The Accountant’s Best Friend Ltd.
Outstanding Sustainable and Green Business Award
B&H Buses, Corin Dudley Electrical Services Ltd, Gradient Consultants, Hawes Construction, M S Steelwork Ltd, Zoonou Limited.
Outstanding New Business and Start-up Award
Coda Pharmacy, Digital Optics, Eastbourne Coaches, Sweet Spot, Walfinch Homecare Eastbourne, Zova Sound Solutions.
Outstanding Food and Drink Award
Fig. Restaurant at the Tennis Cafe, Great Greek Cuisine, H’s Diner, Joy Bar, Poppyseed Bakery, Taj By Nobi Hussain, The Art House Cafe, The Rosy Lee Limited.
Outstanding Tourism and Accommodation Award
Experience It Now Travel, The Lansdowne Hotel, Ravillious Hotel, The Alfriston, The Chatsworth Hotel, The Sheldon Hotel.
Customer Service Excellence Award
Beatty Dental Limited, Design Lab Signs and Print, Dynamic Beauty Salon, Experience It Now Travel, Forward Plumbing Services, HR Dept Sussex-by-the-Sea, Jaaw Hospitality, James Thompson Architecture, MCT Solicitors Ltd, Newman Business Solutions, Sussex Audiology Centre, Sussex Footcare, Taboo (Eastbourne) Limited, The Logo Emporium, The Rosy Lee Limited, Travelosophers By Gareth Harding.
Creative Excellence Award
Atelier Ellis Architects, Eastbourne Dance Space, Media Attention, Printers Playhouse, Rhapsody Artist Development, The Art House Cafe.
Digital Excellence Award
Digital Optics, Fountain Digital Ltd, Media Attention, The Social Socket, With Love Media.
Outstanding Family Business Award
Coda Pharmacy, Corin Dudley Electrical Services Ltd, Experience It Now Travel, Home Instead Eastbourne and Hailsham, M S Steelwork Ltd, Ravillious Hotel, Sussex Audiology Centre, Sussex Footcare, Taboo (Eastbourne) Limited, The Lansdowne Hotel, The Rosy Lee Limited, The Sheldon Hotel, The Social Socket.
Employer of the Year Award
Experience It Now Travel, HR Dept Sussex-by-the-Sea, MCT Solicitors Ltd, Pathfinders Youth Ltd, Zoonou Limited.
Where the categories are crowded and where they are not
Not every award is equally contested. Small Business drew 25 finalists and Community Business 19, while the Large Business Award has just four and Digital Excellence five. That is a fair reflection of the local economy: Eastbourne is a town of very small firms.
- Small Business (1 to 9 employees): 25 finalists
- Community Business: 19
- Customer Service Excellence: 16
- Family Business: 13
- SME Business: 9
- Health and Wellbeing: 8
- Food and Drink: 8
- Professional Service, Sustainable and Green, New Business and Start-up, Tourism and Accommodation, Creative Excellence: 6 each
- Digital Excellence and Employer of the Year: 5 each
- Large Business (50 or more employees): 4
The practical details
- Date: Friday 16 October 2026, 6.30pm
- Venue: the Winter Garden, Devonshire Park, Eastbourne
- Host: television presenter and magician Ben Hanlin
- Capacity: capped at 400 guests
- Tickets: £95, on sale until midnight on Wednesday 30 September. The early-bird price of £79 closed on 31 July
- Where to buy: through the Eastbourne unLtd Chamber of Commerce, which runs the awards
The judging panel is chaired by Christina Ewbank as head judge, alongside Stephen Holt of Eastbourne Borough Council, Gail McKay of Bournefree magazine, Matt Garcia of Identity, Ashley Pugh of Brufords, Ian Fletcher-Price of Posturite, Paul Matthews of Insight6 and Denise Greaves. Three charities are listed alongside the sponsors: St Wilfrid’s Hospice, the Samaritans and Eastbourne Foodbank. (Eastbourne Business Awards, judging panel and sponsors)
What it means for you
If your business is on the list, the ticket deadline is the date to note: midnight on 30 September, with only 400 seats in the room. There is no separate finalist allocation published, so a place at the ceremony has to be bought like any other.
If you are not on the list, the awards run every year and the winners going back to 2022 are published on the awards site. That is the best available guide to what this panel has rewarded before.
For readers, this is a fairly useful shortlist of businesses their neighbours rated highly enough to nominate: 88 firms across podiatry, pharmacy, hotels, bakeries, solicitors, electricians and cat flaps. You can look most of them up in our Eastbourne business directory, and the ceremony joins a busy autumn on our things to do in Eastbourne page.
Have your say
We read every message. To comment on this story, email the newsdesk and we may publish a selection of responses: hello@eastbournelive.co.uk.