News / disability
Neurodivergent entrepreneur wins £150k award backed by EasyJet founder
A Bristol-based entrepreneur with ADHD has won the top accolade at a national awards event.
Guy Walker, founder of the Bristol-based recruitment firm Dovetail & Slate, has won the top prize of £150,000 at the 2026 Stelios Awards for Disabled Entrepreneurs.
The annual awards recognise the excellence of disabled and neurodiverse entrepreneurs in the UK.
The event is backed by the EasyJet founder Stelios Haji-Ioannou and is run in partnership with the disability charity Leonard Cheshire.
The awards were presented by Stelios Haji-Ioannou at the Stelios Philanthropic Foundation in London.
Dovetail & Slate, founded in 2018, specialises in recruitment for education and the public sector.
Employing nearly 100 people across offices in Bristol, Leeds and Manchester, the company has been recognised by The Sunday Times among 100 Fastest-Growing Companies in 2025.
Speaking about the award, Walker said: “I am absolutely delighted to receive this award from Sir Stelios.
“The funding will be reinvested into the business to strengthen our foundations, improve resources, and continue building a positive, supportive culture for our team.”
The recruitment firm, with its headquarters in Aztec West, employs 42 per cent of the workforce from neurodivergent and disability backgrounds.
The annual awards recognise the excellence of disabled and neurodiverse entrepreneurs in the UK – Stelios Philanthropic Foundation
Walker added: “What sets us apart is the way we work. While much of the recruitment industry can feel fast-moving and transactional, we take the time to genuinely understand the people and organisations we support.”
Second and third prizes respectively went to a marble fabricator firm and an adaptive bike startup.
Haji-Ioannou, serial entrepreneur who owns a host of businesses under Easy Group umbrella, lauded the winners as “inspiring”.
He said: “We’re proud to honour Guy, Theo and Jack today. I was fascinated to learn more about each of their stories and found it inspiring how they found business success in their respective fields.
“We know how difficult it can be for disabled people to get a job; that is why I always believed that their best option is to become their own boss.
“This year we’re proud to have again received an overwhelming number of applicants that have created innovative and ingenious businesses to generate jobs and wealth for themselves, their families and teams.
“While much of the recruitment industry can feel fast-moving and transactional, we take the time to genuinely understand the people and organisations we support,” said Guy Walker, founder of Dovetail & Slate – photo: Guy Walker
“These are three stand-out examples of how disabled entrepreneurs blaze the trail for others and inspire more disabled people to start their own businesses. We hope that the prize money can help their businesses go from strength to strength.”
Walker said part of the funding would support further education initiatives, wellbeing programmes and the Bristol-based Full Circle Project.
Main photo: Stelios Philanthropic Foundation
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