The Summer Berry Company has won in the Gamechanger category at the Sussex Business Awards 2025 and received a highly commended certificate in the International Business of the Year category.

Sponsored by the Chichester College Group, the category highlights organisations introducing approaches that have the potential to shift industry practice and deliver meaningful, demonstrable change.

The Summer Berry Company has been recognised for its work across innovation and sustainability, including its Green Energy Solution, which has enabled the business to grow strawberries all year round, using a combined heat and power unit which generates electricity to run 2,600 LED lights.
The approach cuts reliance on winter imports, lowers food miles, and supports stable year-round employment on site. With the growing area expanded to 3.6 hectares, the company is on track to produce just over 400 tonnes of winter strawberries in the 2025-26 season, around double last year’s output.

This latest recognition adds to a series of awards achieved by The Summer Berry Company over the past year.  The company won ‘Best Use of Technology in Employee Engagement’ at The Engage Awards 2025; was named ‘UK Grower of the Year’ at the FPC Fresh Awards 2025; received the ‘Business Diversification Award’ from the Sussex Chamber of Commerce; was named ‘Regional Winner’ (Sussex) – Digital Revolution Business of the Year’ at the British Chamber Business Awards 2025; and secured ‘Innovation Project of the Year’ at the 2025 Chichester & District Business Awards.

Helen Wilson, Corporate Services Director at The Summer Berry Company, said: “Finishing the year as a winner in the Gamechanger category of the Year category, on top of the other awards we’ve received, is a real mark of how we’ve pushed boundaries and continue to do so. This category recognises work that genuinely inspires what can be possible, continuously challenging ourselves and that’s the standard we’re holding ourselves to. The Green Energy Solution is a clear example of our ambition, opening up a completely new model for British strawberry production. Being recognised for that transformation is encouraging, and it pushes us to keep challenging the way things have always been done.”