Home is where our values live and our lifestyles are showcases of them. From how we eat and drink to the properties we live in and what we use in our homes, these innovators are reshaping the spaces we inhabit and what we want to fill them with.
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Hull-based Bio-D has been championing eco-friendly home cleaning since 1989, and today is the UK’s leading manufacturer of environmentally responsible, vegan and cruelty-free cleaning products, made from plant-based, naturally derived ingredients. A certified B Corp and recipient of a King’s Award for Enterprise for its achievements in sustainable development, it is proving that circularity works at scale: in 2025 its Closed Loop scheme relaundered 9,103 20-litre refill containers, preventing 9.5 tonnes of plastic waste, while refill formats saved more than 1.95 million consumer-sized bottles. Over 82 percent of its bottles now contain 100 percent post-consumer recycled plastic, and its on-site solar generated 22.5 percent more energy than the business consumed, making it Net Zero across Scope 1 and 2.
‘A stalwart of eco home-cleaning that inspires trust in its customers.’ – Fleur Britten
Founded in London in 2021 by Mahira Kalim, Spruce is a British, female-founded home care company setting out to transform one of the world’s most wasteful everyday industries. In place of single-use plastic bottles, it offers durable aluminium bottles paired with lightweight concentrated refills that are mixed with tap water at home – packed in FSC-certified paperboard cartons and home-compostable sachets, with biodegradable, plant-based formulas. The range now stretches to plastic-free laundry sheets and home-compostable cellulose sponges. This year Spruce recertified as a B Corp with an improved score, launched with the Co-op Apiary programme alongside Whole Foods Market UK and Amazon UK, and reduced prices across its range so that lower-impact cleaning is within reach of more households during the cost-of-living crisis.
What the judges said:
‘Such a great product – why are more brands not doing concentrates? The branding is also on point – and, critically, appealing. The brand expansion sounds fantastic.’ – Fleur Britten
gs8 is a multi-award-winning housebuilder creating design-led ‘planet positive’ neighbourhoods across London and the Home Counties. Every project is governed by its proprietary Planet Positive Framework – spanning carbon, energy, waste, water, biophilic design, community, wellbeing and quality – which it publishes to drive industry-wide adoption. At Carpenters Yard in Epping Forest, 113 homes sit on a community microgrid, every one eligible for zero energy bills for at least five years. All GS8 homes achieve EPC A, sites use no skips and send nothing to landfill, and Carpenters Yard delivers a 42 percent biodiversity net gain, far beyond the statutory 10 percent. Its 35 affordable homes there are built to the same specification as the private ones. A blueprint for British housing.
What the judges said:
‘gs8 exhibits regenerative design with the scientific data to back up the vision. By collaborating with the Government and publishing its framework it offers a genuine step to expanding sustainable property design in the UK.’ – Delyth Fetherston Dilke
Once a disused gravel quarry, John Hitchcox’s The Lakes by YOO is now an 850-acre luxury estate in the Cotswolds, home to 220 private residences, hotel suites, lakeside cabins, a spa, woodland, meadows and 11 lakes. More than 500,000 trees have been planted, and the entire estate is managed in line with Site of Special Scientific Interest requirements, with estate regulations and construction codes ensuring residents, developers and contractors all share in protecting it. In the past year, 20 acres have been restored to species-rich wildflower meadow, while independent monitoring recorded 39 occupied nests in its internationally important heronry. Around 80 percent of the workforce is recruited locally, and the spa’s solar panels have cut summer electricity use by approximately 20 percent.
What the judges said:
‘What a wonderful example of successful regeneration in practice, balancing the difficult line between the expectations of luxury residents and visitors and the needs of the environment. The biodiversity and local community impact are quite impressive.’ – Rosanna Falconer
Founded in 2015 by Ros Heathcote, who still leads it, Borough Broth makes organic bone broths from scratch in its West London kitchen – no concentrates, additives or preservatives, just the traditional recipe she started with. B Corp and Soil Association Organic certified, it works with organic British farmers to reclaim bones that would otherwise be wasted – nearly 500 tonnes in 2025 alone – while its partnership with ReFood turns leftover bones and vegetables into renewable energy, generating 176,428 kWh by the end of 2025. A London Living Wage employer with no zero-hours contracts, it has for five years declined to take part in Black Friday discounting, instead donating 20 percent of web shop sales to City Harvest London.
What the judges said:
‘It is even marketed with integrity and transparency. This is an impressive example of what responsible food can be, and a beacon for the future of the industry.’ – Claudia Simms Abram
Vispring introduced the pocket sprung mattress in London in 1901 and, 125 years on, remains the benchmark for bespoke, handcrafted beds – handmade to order in Plymouth and sold in 68 countries. Its mattresses are free from glue, foam and harmful chemicals, filled with natural materials including around 300 tons of British wool a year, with over 78 percent of materials sourced from the UK and every bed backed by a 30-year guarantee. The factory is zero waste to landfill, and in the past year Vispring cut its Scope 2 location-based emissions by 18 percent and water consumption by 20 percent, and launched an industry-first Mattress Manufacturing Apprenticeship. Long-standing partnerships donate surplus beds to those in need and employ people with disabilities in tufting and sewing.
‘Delighted to see an apprenticeship programme – as a hand-crafted product, Vispring is investing in the next generation. The charitable partnership is also impressive – supplying unused and returned beds to those in need.’ – Carole Annett
Founded by Tom Helme and Martin Ephson, Fermoie designs, prints and makes its fabrics, wallpapers, lampshades and accessories in-house in Marlborough, creating pieces of lasting beauty. In the past 12 months it has achieved B Corp certification, become a Real Living Wage employer and transitioned its primary cotton basecloth to organic cotton across its core range – targeting the single largest environmental impact in its supply chain. Mindful manufacturing has cut textile waste by 29 percent and, together with renewable energy and biogas, delivered an 81 percent reduction in Scope 1 and 2 emissions since 2022, with Net Zero for both now in its sights for 2030. A fabric sample take-back scheme and charity partnerships for offcuts keep materials out of landfill.
What the judges said:
‘A brand that champions British craft for the modern age, embodying its qualities of longevity, quality and innovation. The 81 percent reduction in Scope 1 and 2 emissions since 2022 is particularly striking, and there is a clear direction of travel towards Net Zero rather than simply a list of sustainability initiatives.’ – Rosanna Falconer
Born from more than 20 years running Borough Wines at Borough Market, Sustainable Wine Solutions is an independent, female-owned wine distributor founded in 2018 – and the only UK wine company operating reusable circular kegs alongside a returnable bottle scheme. Every wine is sourced from organic, biodynamic, low-intervention or vegan-focused producers, then bottled and kegged in-house in Walthamstow. Each stainless-steel keg replaces roughly 27 bottles and their packaging: at Wimbledon 2026, 260 kegs across 52 taps displaced 7,098 bottles, and SWS is on track to divert 78,678 bottles this year, a 31.13 percent increase. A trial with Fuller’s is bringing English wine on tap back to its pubs at mainstream prices; championing English wines has cut average wine miles from around 2,000km to under 200km.
What the judges said:
‘A brand that goes above and beyond to disrupt the wine industry in a positive direction.’ – Fleur Britten
Château Troplong Mondot is a Premier Grand Cru Classé estate in Saint-Émilion that unites world-class wine, the Michelin-starred restaurant Les Belles Perdrix and estate experiences under one principle: that excellence and responsibility are inseparable. A B Corp and the first French Silver Member of International Wineries for Climate Action, it is targeting a 50 percent reduction in carbon emissions by 2030. Vine prunings – roughly 70 tonnes from its own vineyards, plus 10–12 tonnes from four neighbouring estates – are pelletised to fuel its heating system, which now generates around 4 tonnes of CO2 a year against 191 tonnes on gas. Sealing wax has replaced pewter bottle caps, herbicides and insecticides are banned, and 6,800m² of permaculture gardens supply the restaurant. Fine wine, rooted in stewardship.
‘Anyone using horses as part of its production gets my seal of approval. Plus I love how they’re reuse their vine prunings.’ – Lucy Cleland
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