Purple wins The Technology Business of the Year at the Lloyds British Business Excellence Awards 2026

Manchester, UK, Nov. 11, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Purple, the Manchester-based global guest, staff and multi-tenant WiFi and analytics platform, has won The Technology Business of the Year at the Lloyds British Business Excellence Awards 2026. The ceremony took place at Grosvenor House, London, on Tuesday 10 November in front of 1,200 business leaders.

The Team proudly with award and Davina McCall

Purple was chosen by an independent panel of judges from almost 200 finalists across 20 categories, and was one of 11 businesses shortlisted for its award. The organisers said the category was “decided by the finest of margins”.

The judges were impressed by a business doing genuinely exciting things with technology. Purple takes something almost every venue already offers, WiFi, and turns it into a commercial and civic asset for businesses, retailers and councils.

The panel pointed to the scale of Purple’s adoption, with its technology now used in more than 80,000 venues worldwide. They also highlighted its recognition as a Visionary in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for Indoor Location Services, which they saw as strong outside validation in a competitive international market. And they praised Purple for growing as a certified B Corp, proof that a technology company can scale while meeting independent standards on its wider impact. In a strong field of technology finalists, the judges saw a business with plenty more still to come.

The category was judged by Andrew Webb, Founder and CEO of Connectopia; Carmina Lees, Senior Vice President, Regulated Industries at Salesforce; Flo Simpson, Chief Operating Officer at Atom Learning; Julie Devonshire OBE, Director of the Entrepreneurship Institute at King’s College London; Nick Winters, Partner at Blick Rothenberg; and Peter Boucher, Vistage Chair.

Founded in Manchester in 2012, Purple now powers WiFi in more than 90 countries, handling 440 million logins a year across retail, hospitality, healthcare, transport and public spaces. The company employs 78 people.

Purple’s customers include some of the best-known names in Britain. At Harrods, its WiFi reached 581,317 unique visitors in 12 months, with 38% opting in to marketing. PizzaExpress uses Purple across more than 470 restaurants, where it has delivered 9 million WiFi sessions. In the public sector, Croydon NHS has saved £1.2m since implementing Purple, and Newcastle City Council’s public WiFi delivers a 4.2x return on its investment.

Gavin Wheeldon, CEO of Purple, said:"Against such a high-calibre shortlist, we genuinely didn’t expect our name to be called. Winning Technology Business of the Year is a massive testament to the talent and grit of our entire team, who work tirelessly behind the scenes to keep pushing us forward."

Amanda Murphy, CEO for Lloyds Business and Commercial Banking, said: “It’s fantastic to celebrate so many brilliant businesses, entrepreneurs and leaders through the Lloyds British Business Excellence Awards.From farmers diversifying into year-round visitor experiences, to a family-run catering business putting fresh food on our children’s plates and innovators using cutting-edge technology to develop alternatives to plastic packaging, these businesses are great examples of the ambition, ideas and determination you find right across Britain."

“For more than 250 years, Lloyds has backed businesses as they’ve grown, adapted and taken on new opportunities. It’s an honour to be able to celebrate some of the very best of them here.”

Sarah Austin, Founder of Empowered Events, which owns and produces the Awards, said: "Every one of our winners backed themselves before anyone else did, and that's the quality we celebrate above all others. They are the businesses creating jobs, investing in their communities and showing what British enterprise looks like at its best. Congratulations to every winner and Highly Commended business. You have earned your place among the very best in the country."

In keeping with Awards tradition, the 2026 winners will ring the opening bell at the London Stock Exchange and be celebrated at the Awards' annual reception at the House of Commons.

The full list of 2026 winners is available at britishbusinessexcellenceawards.co.uk/2026-winners.

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