Businesses were celebrated for taking sustainable action last week as the Isle of Wight Council hosted the 2026 Green Impact Awards with SOS UK.

Held at Calbourne Water Mill, last Friday’s (June 26) ceremony saw trophies be awarded to Isle of Wight businesses who have taken part in Green Impact – a business sustainability programme offered by SOS-UK and funded by the Isle of Wight Council.

This year’s awards highlighted a surge in environmental ambition across the Island, with participation in the scheme almost tripling over the past 12 months, as more businesses embrace practical action to reduce their environmental footprint while improving efficiency and resilience.

Some 27 awards were given out to businesses of all sizes at the ceremony to recognise their incredible achievements.

The Green Impact business sustainability programme is free to join and has run annually on the Island since 2018. It supports organisations, community groups, colleges and more all over the country to create more sustainable working environments.

A toolkit available as part of the scheme offers organisations more than 190 practical actions to reduce costs, improve efficiency and strengthen environmental performance.

Actions range from simple measures, such as switching off unused electrical equipment to developing a sustainability policy, all of which support the Isle of Wight’s unique and cherished UNESCO Biosphere Reserve environment.

Participants earn points based on these completed actions, working their way towards the Bronze, Silver, Gold and Platinum awards handed out.

This year, 59 businesses registered for the business sustainability programme and 2042 actions were completed.

Qualifying businesses also had their entries audited by students from the Isle of Wight College, who undertook specialised sustainability training to complete the task.

Joe Robertson MP and Richard Quigley MP were both in attendance to celebrate businesses last week, presenting awards to shine a spotlight on the firms who had earnt enough points to qualify for awards.

The Isle of Wight Council itself was awarded two trophies, a Gold award for the Bereavement Services team, and a Platinum award for action taken at County Hall.

Amelie-Rose Owen, community wealth and special projects officer at the Isle of Wight Council and programme manager of Green Impact Isle of Wight, said: “The Green Impact scheme is an outstanding and dynamic sustainability programme that empowers businesses to reduce costs while boosting efficiency and impact.

“Since launching on the Island in 2018, we have been incredibly proud to see the scheme grow from strength to strength. In the past year alone, participation has tripled, clear evidence that momentum is building and that businesses are eager to take meaningful action.

“Beyond its practical benefits, the programme also creates an exciting platform for collaboration, bringing together a vibrant network of like-minded local organisations.

“Now is the perfect time to get involved. We are actively seeking sponsors to help fuel this growing momentum, allowing us to expand the programme further and deepen its local impact by also aligning it with the Island’s Local Nature Recovery Strategy.”

Katy Hurd, Environment and Biosphere Community Co-ordinator at the Isle of Wight Council, said: “Green Impact is a fantastic sustainability program for businesses that helps cut costs and improve efficiency, it also offers the chance to protect our UNESCO Biosphere as it includes action’s that support our people, place and nature”

“We look forward to integrating Biosphere principles further during future rounds of this programme and cant wait to see what actions the business community take in support of this.”

Councillor Julie Jones-Evans, chair of the Economy, Regeneration, Transport and Infrastructure Committee, said: “Green Impact is super easy to access for businesses of any size and sector.

“It’s been a fabulous success over the last 8 years, not only contributing to improved sustainability practices on the island but also creating a community of like minded people who continue to support and inspire each other. Congratulations to all of this year’s award winners!”

Full list of award winners for 2026:

Bronze:

• Wiltons Green Team
• The Common Space CLG
• Wessex Cancer Support IOW
• Power Device UK Ltd
• Community Action Isle of Wight

Silver:

• Lifeline Alarm Systems Ltd
• Sandham Office Services
• ESG Solutions (IoW) Ltd
• Quay Arts
• GKN Aerospace – Cowes

Gold:

• Coast and Country Holidays
• Osel Enterprises Ltd
• Clean Earth Collective
• Isle of Wight Council – Bereavement Services
• Sandrock Services Ltd
• New Carnival
• WightFibre
• Yokogawa Marex
• Isle of Wight NHS Trust

Platinum:

• Isle of Wight Council – County Hall and 46 Sea Street
• Visit Isle of Wight
• Nettlecombe Farm
• Gurit (UK) Ltd
• Cowes Harbour Commission
• PC Consultants
• Camp Wight
• Luccombe Hotels

The Green Impact scheme is looking for sponsorship so it can be continued in 2027. If you are interested in sponsoring the scheme, please contact amelie.owen@iow.gov.uk.