InPublishing: Innovation Excellence Awards 2026: shortlist announced

The Stationers’ Company has unveiled the shortlist for its 2026 Innovation Excellence Awards, recognising innovation, creativity and business excellence across the communications, content, publishing, packaging, manufacturing and technology sectors.

Winners will be announced at an awards lunch on Friday 23rd October 2026 at Stationers’ Hall, London, where industry leaders, innovators and entrepreneurs will come together to celebrate groundbreaking achievements and emerging talent.

This year’s event will feature a keynote address from Dr Nikita Kanani MBE, chief strategy & innovation officer at Aneira Health. Practising GP and former medical director of Primary Care at NHS England, she helped lead the NHS through the Covid-19 pandemic and oversaw delivery of the UK’s largest vaccination programme, bringing insight into championing innovation and transformation at scale.

Reflecting the awards’ commitment to nurturing future innovators, graduates from the Royal College of Art’s School of Communication will showcase a selection of projects exploring ideas and technologies shaping the future of the creative industries, added The Stationers’ Company.

Speaking about this year’s shortlist, Kate Howell and Vida Barr-Jones, co-chairs of the Innovation Excellence Awards, said: “This year’s shortlist reflects the extraordinary innovation taking place across the industries represented by The Stationers’ Company. From ambitious startups to established businesses, the finalists have demonstrated outstanding creativity and innovation.

“The quality of entries made judging exceptionally competitive and we are grateful to everyone who took the time to enter. We are delighted to recognise the organisations that have reached the shortlist and look forward to celebrating their achievements when the winners are announced in October."

The shortlisted organisations for the 2026 Innovation Excellence Awards are:

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