Famous Sussex tourist attraction takes top honour at national awards hosted by Davina McCall
Tulleys Farm has won two national business awards after turning a family farming operation into a visitor attraction, that draws nearly two million people a year.
The farm, in Turners Hill – near Crawley – took the Lloyds Leading SME Business of the Year Award, the evening’s top honour.
It also won the Gerald Edelman Family Business of the Year Award at the 2026 Lloyds British Business Excellence Awards. The ceremony took place at Grosvenor House in London on Tuesday, November 10.
Around 1,200 business leaders attended the ceremony, hosted by Davina McCall, which covered awards across 20 business categories.
Stuart Beare, owner of Tulleys Farm, said: "To be recognised as Britain's Leading SME and Family Business of the Year is an incredible honour, and something we're immensely proud of.
"Tulleys has been part of our family for generations, and to see how far we've come, from a traditional working farm to creating experiences enjoyed by families from across the country, is quite extraordinary.
"We've always believed in doing things differently, taking risks and creating experiences that people genuinely love. But none of it would be possible without the incredible people who work alongside us.
"These awards belong to the entire Tulleys family. We're incredibly grateful to everyone who has helped make the business what it is today, and we're excited about what comes next."
The Beare family have called Tulleys Farm home since 1937. The recognition marks ‘another extraordinary chapter in a story’ that began with a traditional Sussex dairy farm.
Nearly 90 years later, the farm has become one of the country's ‘best-known destinations for seasonal events’, drawing families and visitors from across the UK to the Sussex countryside.
Under the leadership of father and son Stuart and Sam, Tulleys has become famous for its award-winning Shocktober Fest Halloween event, its colourful Pumpkin Festival, magical Christmas Light Festival and hugely popular spring Tulip Festival.
In a Facebook post celebrating the double win, Tulleys Farm wrote: “An incredibly proud moment for the whole Tulleys family, celebrating two national awards at the Lloyds British Business Excellence Awards 2026.
"From our family to everyone who has been part of the Tulleys journey, thank you. We’re so proud of what we’ve achieved together, and even more excited for what’s still to come.”
Tulleys has been a family farm for nine generations. According to the awards organisers, the business diversified to secure its future and now welcomes visitors to a programme of seasonal attractions, including its pumpkin patches.
In their account of the ceremony, the organisers said the judges described Tulleys as a business where ‘everyone who wears the Tulleys jacket feels part of the family’. Awards founder Sarah Austin described it as a ‘family farm that reinvented itself to welcome two million visitors a year’.
Tulleys was one of three businesses to win twice, alongside school meals provider Olive Dining and Bristol materials company Kelpi. The organisers said separate judging panels decided each award, with the winners chosen from almost 200 finalists.
Kendamil was highly commended in the family business category, while Island Delight received the same distinction in the leading SME category.
The organisers said this year’s winners will go on to ring the opening bell at the London Stock Exchange, in keeping with a tradition of the awards.
Since their launch, the awards have raised more than £100,000 for charity.