Geoffrey Robinson and Vic Coupland among winners at ECA Industry Awards 2026

Geoffrey Robinson took the Large Contractor of the Year title and Vic Coupland won two categories as the Electrical Contractors' Association (ECA) named its 2026 Industry Awards winners at the Hilton London Bankside on Friday 9 October.

ECA said the ceremony, hosted by TV broadcaster and journalist Krishnan Guru-Murthy, was sponsored by Milwaukee and formed part of the association's 125th anniversary celebrations.

Geoffrey Robinson won the Large Contractor of the Year award for businesses with turnover above £45m, with N G Bailey highly commended. AJS won Contractor of the Year up to £45m, Vic Coupland took the up to £15m category ahead of a highly commended Hawkesworth, Pensdown won up to £5m with Electrio and Tate Electrical Services highly commended, and Reorg Installations won the up to £1m award.

Helen Atkinson, Director of Member Services at ECA, said: "The winners and highly commended runners-up demonstrated outstanding commitment to delivering the highest standards of work".

The category winners

Vic Coupland also collected the Excellence in Training & Skills Award, with Ceetech and Munro Building Services highly commended. ECA's 2025 winners announcement lists a category called Excellence in Apprenticeship Training last year, won by Geoffrey Robinson with Ceetech among the highly commended.

Seen Services won Best Fire & Security Project, an award ECA's event page describes as a Fire & Security Association (FSA) award open to FSA members of any size.

Elecomm won Best Supply Chain Collaboration, with North East Installations highly commended. EnergyAce won Excellence in Innovation & Technology, and Elec Side won Best New Business, a category ECA says is open to members with up to three years of trading history, with CT Electrical Installations highly commended.

The Excellence in Innovation & Technology Award was new for 2026, according to ECA's March entries announcement, making EnergyAce its first winner.

Individual and partner awards

The Major Contribution to the Industry Award went to Fergus Harradence and Nicola Walters.

SELECT received the ECA 125th Anniversary Valued Partner Award.

Two FSA awards recognised individuals: Trevor Jenks received the FSA Outstanding Contribution to the Security Systems Industry award, and Alan Baird the FSA Outstanding Contribution to the Fire Detection and Alarms Industry award.

Familiar names

Several of this year's winners featured on the 2025 honours list. ECA's announcement of last year's awards, held on Friday 10 October 2025 and hosted by comedian and actress Ellie Taylor alongside compere Alan Dedicoat, records Elecomm as Contractor of the Year up to £45m, North East Installations as winner of the up to £5m category and Vic Coupland as highly commended in the up to £15m band.

How the awards were judged

ECA said entries were reviewed by an independent panel of industry experts, and the entry deadline for 2026 was extended to Friday 19 June. In July the association published the list of 33 member businesses that reached the second round of judging. Atkinson sat on the judging panel as adjudicator.

When entries opened in March, Atkinson said: "The ECA Industry Awards exist to shine a spotlight on those delivering real impact".

The anniversary year

ECA, which describes itself as the UK's largest electrical trade association, launched its 125th anniversary programme on 5 January 2026 with a stream of national and regional activities. The year is sponsored by Aico, Edmundson Electrical and Schneider Electric and runs under four themes: Legacy and Leadership, Skills and Apprenticeships, Technology and Transformation, and Trust, Integrity and Value.

Steve Bratt, Group CEO of ECA, said at the launch that the milestone year was intended to show the real impact of previous action by ECA and its members.