1st Formations founder, Graeme Donnelly, shortlisted for Great British Entrepreneur Award

1st Formations founder Graeme Donnelly is a London finalist for Sustainability Entrepreneur of the Year at the Allica Bank Great British Entrepreneur Awards 2026. Often described as the “Grammys of Entrepreneurship”, these awards are in their 15th year and recognise entrepreneurs and business owners across the UK.

The 2026 shortlist brings together more than 740 businesses across 10 regions and nations, with the Gala Final taking place at Grosvenor House in London on 16th November 2026.

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What are the Great British Entrepreneur Awards?

Launched in 2012, the Great British Entrepreneur Awards recognise the achievements and stories of business owners across the UK. The awards form part of Ideas Community, the entrepreneurship ecosystem behind Ideas Fest.

The awards have an impressive alumni community, including the founders of Simmer Eats, Grenade, ClearScore, Zilch, and Unbiased.

The scale of the 2026 shortlist

The 2026 awards attracted more than 5,000 applications, with 740 businesses shortlisted across 10 regions and nations. Collectively, the shortlisted businesses have a combined turnover of £3.3 billion and support more than 17,700 jobs.

Why Graeme Donnelly has been shortlisted for Sustainability Entrepreneur of the Year

Graeme Donnelly‘s shortlisting reflects the way sustainability has informed his decisions as a business leader. At 1st Formations, this is evident in the company’s environmental, workplace, and community commitments.

1st Formations’ B Corp certification

1st Formations, along with our parent company, the BSQ Group, is a B Corporation, making us a Certified B Corp company formation agent.

To achieve B Corp certification, the global non-profit network B Lab assessed us against standards concerning governance, workers, community, customers, and the environment. This included areas such as transparent pricing, ethical practices, and employee wellbeing.

The certification process lasted 17 months and involved a detailed review of how we work and our wider impact. This gave us an independent assessment of our operations and a framework for continuous improvement.

Graeme sums up the significance of the certification:

B Corp isn’t a badge you print off; it’s a full independent audit of how you treat your workers, your community, your customers, and the environment.

Carbon reduction in the workplace

1st Formations is Carbon Neutral Britain-certified. We’ve measured our carbon footprint in detail and made structural changes in response. For example, Graeme Donnelly oversaw a switch to a digital mailroom, which nearly halved our emissions. 1st Formations’ Covent Garden office was also rebuilt with recycled materials. We’re responsible with our consumption, too, ensuring zero waste goes to landfill – we’ve rolled out a full office recycling programme and work exclusively with registered waste carriers operating Zero to Landfill policies.

As Graeme puts it:

Net zero is not a target we’ve stuck on a slide – it’s a commitment we’re actively working towards.

Championing sustainability through people and practices

1st Formations’ sustainability story extends beyond environmental measures. We pay every employee at least the Real Living Wage, and are London’s 9th newest accredited Living Hours employer. In addition, 25% of the company’s share options are held by employees through an Enterprise Management Incentive scheme.

Supporting communities and encouraging entrepreneurship

1st Formations has:

• Donated £50,000 to the Wonder Foundation – which supports girls’ and women’s access to education around the world – with a three-year commitment, totalling £150,000.
• Housed seven charities rent-free in more than 3,000 sq ft of the Covent Garden headquarters.
• Donated £79,000 to LSE initiatives covering the Neurodiversity, Race Equality, and Startup Competition clusters.

Every employee also receives two paid volunteering days a year, contributing to 330 volunteering hours in a single year.

Sustainability as a choice, not a certification

Our founder, Graeme Donnelly, believes the business should evolve with intention, including the way we approach sustainability.

Graeme began his entrepreneurial journey in 2000 with a boutique office-space business. He researched the market and pivoted to a scalable, overhead-free virtual-office model – a smart move that positioned the business for growth. With his new venture, he went on to support 2,000 startups within five years. He later identified an opportunity to help entrepreneurs address company formation challenges, leading to the launch of 1st Formations in 2014. His experience of learning from setbacks and adapting business models continues to shape how he develops new initiatives, including our Hassle-Free Compliance Service.

Throughout every change, Graeme has kept customer needs front of mind while embedding sustainability and an awareness of the business’ wider impact into every decision. For example, the digital-first approach of our Hassle-Free Compliance Service offers customers convenience and reduces unnecessary printing, postage, and paper-based admin. Sustainability is part of our commitment to constant improvement, not something we do to achieve certifications.

A message from Graeme Donnelly

One of our core values is for a better tomorrow, and that’s not something we put on a wall and forget about. For me, it means continually asking whether we can do things better – for our customers, employees, communities, and the environment.

That mindset shapes every decision I make. I haven’t always known where certain decisions would take the business, but I’ve always tried to keep moving in the right direction and ensure that commercial growth hasn’t come at the expense of our company values.

Being shortlisted for Sustainability Entrepreneur of the Year at the Great British Entrepreneur Awards is meaningful to me because it shows recognition for that approach.

What the Great British Entrepreneur Award shortlisting means for our customers

Graeme’s shortlisting gives our prospective and existing customers a new opportunity to get to know the person behind 1st Formations and the values that shape how we operate. The acknowledgement sits alongside independently assessed recognitions, including B Corp, Carbon Neutral Britain, Real Living Wage and Living Hours certifications and accreditations.

We look forward to the Gala Final at Grosvenor House, London, on 16th November 2026, where Graeme will find out whether he wins Sustainability Entrepreneur of the Year for the London region.

To find out more about our commitment to people and the planet, explore our sustainability initiatives.