Havering Council has named 26 finalists across nine categories, with the winners announced in September. Here is the full list, and where seven of them trade.

Havering Council has published the finalists for its Small Business Awards 2026. Twenty-six businesses are through, across nine categories, and the winners will be announced at a ceremony in September (Havering Council, Havering Small Business Awards).

They range from a Collier Row cafe to an Upminster takeaway and a Hornchurch pub. The council does not publish addresses with the shortlist, so we have matched the food and drink finalists to the public hygiene register below.

The finalists in full

Best Newcomer

  • ATW Carpentry and Design Ltd
  • Varleys

Best Small or Independent

  • InkTree Education
  • Resin8 By Lou
  • The Vine

Best Beauty

  • Fades and Blades London Ltd
  • Utopia Beauty and Advanced Skincare
  • The Vanilla Room

Best Takeaway

  • The Fat Pizza
  • Gup Shup Chit Chat Chai
  • Kanni Kaana

Best Tradesperson

  • Atkins Custom Builds Ltd
  • D&T Electrical Services
  • Paul Perfect Heating Ltd

Best Customer Service

  • Bear with the Hair
  • Brookside Theatre
  • My Pilates Fix

Best Shopfront

  • Best Sellers
  • Ramesses Jewellers
  • Storky Baby Ltd

Best Hospitality

  • Christina’s Café
  • Lakeview Palace
  • The Hop Inn

Best Social Enterprise

  • Routes for Life
  • Talk FC CIC
  • Tapestry Care UK Limited

Category sponsors are listed separately on the council’s page, against its own category names:

  • Best Newcomer: Havering Chamber of Commerce
  • Best Small or Independent: Romford BID
  • Best Tradesperson: Marlborough
  • Best Customer experience: Kaani Kaana
  • Best Shopfront: Sure Serve
  • Best hospitality business: Hills Prospect LWC
  • Best Social Enterprise/CIC: Adecco

Where the food and drink finalists trade

Seven of the finalists are food businesses, so they appear on the Food Standards Agency’s public register, which gives an address and the current hygiene rating for each (Food Standards Agency, food hygiene ratings).

Finalist Address Hygiene rating Last inspected
Varleys 15 Station Road, Upminster RM14 2SJ 5 6 Feb 2026
The Vine 3 Laurie Walk, Romford RM1 3RT 5 3 Nov 2025
The Fat Pizza Elm Park Avenue, Hornchurch RM12 4SA 4 26 Feb 2026
Gup Shup, Chit Chat Chai 3 Clockhouse Lane, Romford RM5 3PH 5 24 Jul 2025
Kaani Kaana 189 St Mary’s Lane, Upminster RM14 3BU 5 30 Jul 2025
Cristina’s Cafe 273 London Road, Romford RM7 9NJ 5 27 Jul 2025
The Hop Inn 122-124 North Street, Hornchurch RM11 1SU 5 27 Feb 2024

On the FSA scale, 5 is very good and 4 is good. Two spellings differ between the shortlist and the register. The council lists a takeaway as Kanni Kaana and a hospitality finalist as Christina’s Café; the register records Kaani Kaana in Upminster and Cristina’s Cafe on London Road.

We could not find a Havering entry on the food register for Lakeview Palace, so we have left it out rather than guess at an address.

How a business got on this list

The awards run in two halves. Businesses could enter themselves, and members of the public could vote for a business they use.

  • Entries opened on 23 March 2026 and closed at noon on 1 May
  • The council then checked each business was eligible
  • Businesses voted for by the public but not self-nominated were invited to apply, with five weeks from 26 May to 26 June
  • Judges, made up of council officers, cabinet members and category sponsors, scored the applications and visited businesses
  • Public votes were added to the overall score
  • The three highest scorers in each category were invited to the ceremony

Timeline of the Havering Small Business Awards 2026, from entries opening on 23 March to the ceremony in September

Scoring is set out in full on the council’s page. Half the marks go to a single question on the business’s mission and its measurable achievements over the past year. Employee development and wellbeing is worth 15%, sustainability and social responsibility another 15%.

Two details are worth noting. Best Newcomer has only two finalists, not the three the process describes. And a tenth category listed in the 2026 criteria, Best Sustainable Business, has no finalists published at all.

The Orange Bin Company is the headline sponsor (Havering Council, 13 August 2026). The council has not yet published a date or a venue for the September ceremony.

What it means for you

If you voted, the ballot is closed and the judging is done. Nothing more is asked of the public before the ceremony.

If you run a small business in Havering and missed this round, the timetable is the useful part. Entries opened in late March and closed on the first working day of May. That is a six-week window, and it is the same window that will matter in 2027.

If you are simply looking for somewhere local to spend money, seven of these businesses have a verified address above. Our Romford business directory lists 240 more across the borough, with an address and a map for each.