The shortlist for the Scottish Business Awards has been announced, with organisers declaring that this year was the most competitive applications process to date with around 250 entries.
The Awards ceremony, which is supported by the Royal Bank of Scotland and is attended by 2,000 business leaders from across Scotland and the UK, will be addressed by Hollywood legend George Clooney at the EICC in Edinburgh on November 12th.
The awards programme also has several categories which will feature for the first time at the Festival of Entrepreneurship with Sir Chris Hoy on the afternoon of the prestigious dinner including “Scottish SME of the Year” and “Tech Company of the Year”.
The full shortlist is:
Chivas Brother’s Entrepreneur of the Year
Peter Bruce, Entier
Bruce Wishart, Empteezy
Ricky Nicol, Commsworld
John Watson, John Watson Printers
Mike Welch, Blackcircles
Jim Duffy, Entrepreneurial Spark
James Watt, BrewDog
Andrew Dobbie, MadeBrave
Itison Female Business Leader of the Year
Heather Matthews – Little’s
Fiona McBain – Scottish Friendly
Marlene Shiels –Capital Credit Union
Allison Sellar – activpayroll
Faith Simpson – Faith Simpson Accountants
Elaine Motion – Balfour + Manson
Marie Owen – Location Scotland
Jennifer Paice – Safe Deposits Scotland
CEO of the Year
Ken McEwan – McEwan Fraser Legal
Gordon Dewar – Edinburgh Airport
Keith Cochrane – Weir Group
Nigel Eccles – FanDuel
Martin Brown – EMC
Edel Harris – Cornerstone
Juliana Delaney – Continuum Attractions
Alistair Wilson – Warranty Services
RBS Customer Focus Award
Adopt An Intern
Spectrum Service Solutions
Gilson Gray
Sykes Global
Enterprise Rent-A-Car
Hub North Scotland
Social Care Alba
ISSOS
People’s Postcode Lottery Green Business of the Year
Élan
Albert Bartlett
CR Smith
Campbell and Kennedy
SgurrEnergy
Employer of the Year
FES Ltd
Skyscanner
Barrhead Travel
NVT Group
McEwan Fraser Legal
Fleet Alliance
City Building LLP
BrewDog
Johnson and Johnson Corporate Social Responsibility Award
Burness Paull
Asda
Harper Macleod
Scottish Power
CalMac
Itison
Tesco Bank
CR Smith
PwC Commitment to Company Values Award
BCF Technology
First Mortgage
Peak Scientific
GAP Group
Wheatley Group
EnQuest
Mace
Royal Bank of Scotland
Investor in Scotland
Lidl
HSBC
JP Morgan
Morgan Stanley
EY
Tilney Bestinvest
BT
CGI
Growth Strategy of the Year
Fleet Alliance
Genius Gluten Free
Brodies LLP
QTS Group
Lomond Capital
Babcock LGE
Critiqom
Iomart
Family Business of the Year
GAP Group
Albert Bartlett
MacTaggart & Mickel
Little’s
Spectrum Service Solutions
We Hae Meat
Highlander
Campbell & Kennedy
KPMG Large Business of the Year
Stagecoach Group
Cala Homes
Arnold Clarke
Standard Life
Aberdeen Asset Management
Financial Services Company of the Year
Scottish Friendly
Green Investment Bank
Social Investment Scotland
Glasgow Credit Union
Virgin Money
Tesco Bank
Royal London
Nucleus
Sunday Times SME of the Year
Ness Clothing
Ryden LLP
Montpeliers Group
Knight Property
Abbott Risk Consulting
Chisholm Hunter
Exsel IT & Communications
ECS Group
Frame Creates Marketing & PR Strategy
Cala Homes
The Lane Agency
Leith Agency & Stripe Communications
Glasgow City Marketing Bureau
Nucleus Financial
Virgin Money
Tech Company of the Year
Made Brave
FanDuel
Skyscanner
Mallzee
Swarm Online
Intelligent Point of Sale
Pure LiFi
Bright Solid
RBS Business Innovation of the Year
Spoonfed
Sodexo
Procure Wizard
Route Monkey
Celtic Renewables
ESPC
J&D Wilkie
Sykes Global
CKGSB International Business of the Year
BrewDog
Peak Scientific
TBR Global
Balmoral Group
Lingo24
Alba Power
Retail Management Consultants
Vascutek
Emerging Business of the Year
Celtic Renewables
Escape
Gilson Gray
Spoonfed
Tens
Vermillion
Lux
iPos
Josh Littlejohn, the founder of the Scottish Business Awards, said – “We are delighted by the shortlist for the 2015 awards – every year the shortlist gets stronger and stronger. The companies and business leaders involved are truly the heartbeat of our economy. We are looking forward to bringing the Scottish business community together for an evening which includes a once in a lifetime audience with George Clooney to celebrate the success stories of the Scottish economy and raising a considerable sum for charity. The event continues to grow and we can smash the 2,000 attendee record we set last year and this is a testament to the strength of the Scottish business community.”
This year’s Scottish Business Awards will see George Clooney take part in a Q&A during a ceremony hosted by A-list comedian Rob Brydon. Clooney will focus on the ‘business of Hollywood’ and his humanitarian work in sub-Saharan Africa. The event will also feature a guest appearance by Britain’s greatest ever Olympian, Sir Chris Hoy.
Clooney follows a prestigious list of Scottish Business Awards speakers including Sir Richard Branson, President Bill Clinton and Sir Bob Geldof. This year’s event aims to break the £500,000 mark for good causes this year which include the Social Bite Fund, Scot Edge and Not On Our Watch
