- GottaBe! secures Diversity & Inclusion win in South and Thames Valley region
- Agency also named runner-up in Expansion & Growth category
- Firm heads to national finals in London on June 4
Southampton-based marketing agency GottaBe! has picked up two recognitions at the regional round of the HSBC and FSB Small Business Growth Awards 2026, held in Oxford. The firm won the Diversity & Inclusion category for the South and Thames Valley region and was also named runner-up in Expansion & Growth.
The awards, run in partnership with HSBC and the Federation of Small Businesses, focus on small businesses showing measurable progress across areas like innovation, sustainability and customer service. Diversity & inclusion has increasingly become a competitive differentiator in UK marketing, making this category one to watch.
GottaBe!’s DEI-focused division, GottaBe! Ethnic, appears to have played a central role in the win. The agency has been working with brands including Western Union and National Trust, building campaigns aimed at broader and more inclusive audiences.
Growth numbers tell their own story
Alongside its diversity recognition, the agency’s commercial performance also came under the spotlight. Its brand experience arm, GottaBe! Marketing, was acknowledged for expansion, with reported revenue growth of 47.8 per cent year-on-year and a larger team footprint.
Founder and managing director Tomasz Dyl said the recognition reflected team effort and ongoing industry challenges. “DEI isn’t a ‘nice to have’… we all have a responsibility to keep pushing ourselves,” he said.
The company is now set to compete at the national finals in London on June 4, where winners from across regions will be evaluated.
FMBE Awards in London, where GottaBe! secured three awards,Company handout
This latest recognition follows earlier wins at the FMBE Awards in London, where GottaBe! secured three awards, including a Gold for a Western Union campaign.
Whether this signals sustained momentum or just a strong year remains to be seen, but the agency is clearly positioning itself at the intersection of growth and inclusive marketing — a space more UK firms are now trying to claim.
