Chiltern Global named a finalist for Innovative Business of the Year at the Buckinghamshire Business Awards 2026

On 4 November 2026, Chiltern Global was one of three finalists for Innovative Business of the Year at the Buckinghamshire Business Awards, held at Aylesbury Waterside Theatre. Being shortlisted in this category, from a strong field of Buckinghamshire businesses, is recognition the whole team is proud of. 

About Buckinghamshire Business First and the awards

Buckinghamshire Business First (BBF) was formed in 2011 by a group of local business owners who wanted to see more growth in the county. It is now recognised by government as Buckinghamshire's Growth Hub and supports a membership of more than 15,000 businesses with advice, grants, events and training.

The Buckinghamshire Business Awards are BBF's annual celebration of the county's businesses. They have run for more than a decade. The 2026 awards featured nine categories, with Magicman, part of MA Group, as headline sponsor. The Innovative Business of the Year category was sponsored by Buckinghamshire Council. 

What the Innovative Business of the Year award looks for

The category is open to businesses that have taken an innovative approach to a new product, service or process since January 2024. Entrants are asked what they introduced and why, what the objectives were, what challenges came up and how they were dealt with, and what the impact has been on the business and the wider community.

The judges look for a clearly described innovation with its background, a plan for its continued development, and measurable benefits. Those benefits can include growth, cost reduction, shorter delivery times, customer satisfaction, staff efficiency and new markets. Every entrant also answers a set of general questions covering structure, five-year vision, customers, finance, staff development and community involvement. The judging panel also visited us in Chesham as part of the process, which gave us the chance to show how we work, in person.

In other words, the award is not about a single idea. It is about whether a business can take a problem from the people who use its equipment, turn it into a product, and get that product into service in a controlled, repeatable way.

How we develop equipment

Our products are used by police forces, prison services, military units and security teams, and the way we develop them has been built around those users since 2005.

Every project starts with the end user. We work with officers, instructors and procurement teams to set out requirements and performance objectives before any design work begins. From there we move into design, prototyping and sampling, with hands-on evaluation and testing before production is signed off.

Production runs under our ISO 9001 quality management system, with inspection at each stage from raw material sourcing through to final assembly. Our environmental and health and safety systems are certified to ISO 14001 and ISO 45001. We are JOSCAR registered for the defence supply chain and hold Cyber Essentials Plus. 

Two examples of what that process produces:

• Public order shields. Our interlocking public order shields are made from polycarbonate and come in sizes from a 560mm commander shield up to 1800mm, with a round shield for mobile units. They are designed and refined with the public order units who carry them.
• Bespoke manufacturing for defence. For military customers we manufacture to specification, from protective equipment and load carriage to sleeping systems, managing the project from concept through to delivery.

You can read more about our processes and our certificates and accreditations.

Part of the Buckinghamshire business community

Chiltern Global has been based in Chesham since the company was founded, and BBF has become a real part of how we have developed this year. We joined BBF's Growth Programme in 2026, and this autumn our Managing Director is completing the government-backed Help to Grow: Management Course, delivered by Cranfield University and championed locally by BBF.

The awards evening was a reminder of how much is going on in Buckinghamshire and how strong the community behind it is. It was good to spend an evening alongside so many local businesses doing serious work, and to see how much support exists for developing them. Our thanks go to Buckinghamshire Business First for organising the event and to Buckinghamshire Council for sponsoring the category.

A busy year ahead

2027 is already taking shape. We will be exhibiting at IDEX 2027 in Abu Dhabi, Enforce Tac in Nuremberg, Security and Policing in Farnborough, The Emergency Services Show and Milipol in Paris, and for the first time at The Blue Light Show. There are also several new product developments under way that we look forward to sharing when they are ready.

If you are a procurement team looking for a UK manufacturer of protective and public order equipment, or a defence prime looking for a manufacturing partner, get in touch or browse the public order range.