We've been awarded Global StartUp of the Year at the UK StartUp Awards 2026, East of England! We attended the ceremony in person in Colchester on the 3rd June, a room full of founders and entrepreneurs building real things, taking real risks, and doing it with genuine conviction. It was a good reminder of how strong this community is.

What the Judges Said

The feedback from the judging panel is the part we keep coming back to:

"Noran Design impressed the judges with its international reach, having supported more than 120 organisations across 15 countries. Its combination of accessible digital systems, responsible AI, cross-cultural fluency and support for mission-driven organisations showed a business with both global relevance and clear values." — UK StartUp Awards Judges

That quote names, clearly and from the outside, the things we've tried to build toward since we started. It's one thing to hold values internally. It's another to have an independent panel reflect them back to you unprompted.

What This Recognition Means to Us

Noran Design was built on a simple belief: that great design should be accessible to organisations doing meaningful work, wherever they are in the world. Not just to those with the biggest budgets or the most established names.

Over the years, that belief has taken us across 15 countries and 130+ organisations: cultural institutions, nonprofits, AI startups, and founder-led businesses at every stage of growth. We've built digital systems, shaped brand identities, and helped organisations find the language to communicate what they actually stand for.

We didn't grow by chasing scale. We grew by staying consistent, in the quality of the work, in the values we brought to every engagement, and in the kinds of partnerships we chose to invest in. Seeing that approach recognised at this level is something we're genuinely proud of.

To Our Clients

None of this would exist without the organisations who trusted us. The ones who brought us in at the beginning, when the brief was still half-formed. The ones who came back. The ones who referred us to people they cared about.

You are the reason the judges saw what they saw. This recognition belongs to the work we built together, and we don't take that lightly.

What Comes Next

Winning the East of England regional round has secured us a place at the national final at IdeasFest in September. We want to be on that stage: not for the accolade, but because it's an opportunity to speak to what building a values-led, globally-minded design studio actually involves.

We're looking forward to it.

On the evening in Colchester, we also had the chance to meet the founder of IdeasFest, Professor Dylan Jones-Evans OBE, and host Calvin Eden. The warmth and energy they bring to supporting the UK startup community is evident, and it's made us even more excited about what September holds.