Express & Star Business Awards 2026: Meet the Finalists - Large Business of the Year

The shortlisted finalists have been announced for the Express & Star Business Awards 2026 - you can see the full list here.

The best and brightest businesses from across the Black Country will gather at The Halls Wolverhampton on June 4 for the glittering annual ceremony which will celebrate individual and team achievements across a broad range of different categories.

The Large Business of the Year category, sponsored by Greenhous Commercial, is for those companies with a minimum of 200 employees.

Judges were looking for evidence of clear strategy and vision, aligned with financial and/or team growth, how entrants have overcome challenges and turned around difficult situations and excelled in their field.

City of Wolverhampton Council

The City of Wolverhampton Council's apprenticeship programme stands as a leading example of strategic workforce development, inclusive recruitment and community impact.

Built around a clear and ambitious 'Grow Our Own' vision, the programme has not only enhanced service delivery across the organisation but has also created meaningful employment pathways for local residents.

Wolverhampton faces a range of socioeconomic challenges, including skills shortages, inequality of opportunity and barriers to employment for underrepresented and vulnerable groups. One of the most significant challenges has been supporting care‑experienced young people who often face systemic barriers to employment.

To address this, the council introduced a guaranteed interview scheme, offering additional support and removing barriers, leading to a 23 per cent increase in applications from care leavers. This targeted intervention demonstrates how the council has turned structural challenges into meaningful opportunities for those who need them most.

It also recognised underrepresentation in leadership development and responded by implementing the Brilliant Leaders and Breaking Through programmes, designed to support aspiring leaders from diverse backgrounds. Of the 37 participants in the intervention, 46 per cent achieved a promotion during or after the programme.

This commitment to developing diverse leadership talent represents a significant step towards creating a workforce that is representative, empowered and equipped to drive organisational improvement.

A targeted communications campaign was created to promote the Team Leader Apprenticeship to groups with historically low participation. This resulted in representation rising from 23 per cent to 50 per cent, demonstrating the effectiveness of tailored, data‑driven outreach.

DJH

DJH is a firm of accountants and business advisers. It has three offices in the West Midlands - in Halesowen, Walsall and Stoke - and provides expert advice, accounts, tax planning and growth services across the UK.

It is considered one of the fastest-growing firms across the UK, recognised for exceptional national growth, trusted client relationships and responsible leadership, including B Corp. What began as a 60-person Staffordshire firm is now a group of more than 800 employees operating across 18 offices.

Twenty carefully chosen acquisitions have strengthened its services and broadened its offer to create a joined up national presence that still feels local. Integrating 20 firms in five years has been a challenge and each has brought its own culture, technology, processes and client expectations.

Leadership continuity has been protected, central support functions connect early and technology migration is phased to minimise disruption. In 2025, it achieved B Corp Certification which it says reflects the kind of business it is committed to being as it grows.

Its biggest challenge is sustaining culture at scale, keeping more than 800 people connected, engaged and pulling in the same direction while the business continues to grow. Its Gallup Q12 engagement survey gives every colleague a voice and provides a clear, data driven view of how people feel about their work, their team and the organisation.

Pallet-Track

Pallet-Track, which is based in Wolverhampton and offers a wide range of pallet shipping services and delivery options, enjoyed a bumper 12 months by delivering a record-breaking 2025. With rising customer expectations and technological change, the firm, part of the northstarr group, has consistently demonstrated true service excellence.

It prioritises improving service performance while simultaneously reducing costs and environmental impact. It says its corporate social responsibility strategy reflects a belief that logistics plays a vital role not only in the movement of goods but also in supporting the local communities.

It actively engages with its local community through several initiatives and charity partnerships including raising over £90,000 for the Midlands Air Ambulance, with a total pledge of £150,000 by the end of 2028.

It has also provided more than 500 free match day experience tickets with the Walsall FC Foundation, completed over 100 volunteer hours in 2025 among other sponsorships of local causes.

It prioritises health and wellbeing by offering flexible working hours on short- and long-term arrangements such as for those observing Ramadan while every member of staff gets their birthday off.

It has set an ambitious target to raise its learning and development hours by a further 40 per cent in 2026, seeing over 1,600 hours completed by staff. Current training includes management development and it recently completed seminars on cyber security, ensuring all colleagues felt safe online, not only in the workplace but also socially.

S&R Construction

S&R Construction in Kingswinford is one of the UK's fastest growing multi-utilities and groundworks providers. The family-run business has evolved from three people and a tarmacing van to creating 50 new jobs in the last year alone.

It works on some of the biggest infrastructure projects in the UK, completing gas reinstatement works, laying cabling and water pipes and putting in vital platforms that major housing developments are built on.

It is approaching its 30th birthday and now has 350 staff at its Black Country HQ and across multiple live sites in the Midlands, the North and South.

S&R Construction said major developments and infrastructure works were plagued by a lack of joined-up thinking and these "paint points" were identified by the S&R Construction management team through lived experience and drove them to look at ways it could mitigate some of the situations for customers.

They settled on trying to deliver a single-source solution for local authorities, housing developers and infrastructure specialists, counting Dudley Council, Keon Homes and Vistry among its client base.

It also has S&R Traffic Management as a spin-out business, meaning it can now offer everything to complete projects under one roof, with many jobs now finishing ahead of schedule and new clients switching to us.

Meet the sponsor - Greenhous Commercials

Any business looking to purchase their next HGV will usually look at vehicle price, operational suitability, driver appeal and aftersales back-up, before making a decision. Choosing a method of power has never been part of the decision-making process, until now.

There are already over 1,000 electric HGVs (eHGVs) on the roads in the UK today and that number will increase rapidly each year, helped by the government's recent announcement of a zero emission truck grant that can be worth up to £81,000 for vehicles and 70 per cent of depot charging costs.

Diesel powered trucks are being phased out, starting in 2035, when all new trucks up to 26T gross weight must be 'zero emission'. That means operators need to start thinking about how the future of their transport operation will look.

Greenhous DAF can help local HGV operators to make the best decisions for their business.

Part of the Greenhous Group formed in 1912, based in Shropshire, and still privately owned today, the experienced team at Greenhous are ready to help on a range of topics, from the vehicles themselves, to charging options, and different methods of funding.

DAF Trucks have been the UK's HGV market-leader for over 30 years and have quickly become the UK market-leaders in the sale of eHGVs in 2026 too. Businesses who choose DAF Trucks do so because they want the safest and most fuel-efficient vehicles and the best working and living environment for their drivers.

They also want a trusted partner to ensure their vehicles are working every day.

Greenhous DAF operates from six sites in Shropshire and the West Midlands, based at our head office in Willenhall, in addition to dealerships in Birmingham, Tamworth, Telford and Shrewsbury and our dedicated pre-delivery inspection centre in Wolverhampton.

We offer the full range of aftersales support to any business operating or maintaining a commercial vehicle in the area - 24-hour workshops and breakdown service and over £6 million worth of parts in stock and distributed by 30 local delivery vans.

Greenhous DAF are also the current Dealer of the Year in the UK in the categories of DAF Fleet Truck Sales and DAF Fleet Parts Sales. If you would like more information about DAF Trucks, whether that is diesel or electric powered, the team at Greenhous DAF are ready to help.