Scottish Business Excellence Rewarded

Over 400 business leaders and guests attended the National Business Awards for Scotland sponsored by Orange, in Glasgow, Wednesday 24th June 2009, to celebrate the success of Scotland's most innovative, ethical and resilient businesses.

Eight organisations were duly rewarded including Cordia whose innovative use of technology in care services for Glasgow City Council led to it being presented with The Orange Best Use of Technology in Business Award and Edinburgh's Petroleum Experts Ltd who won the prestigious Grant Thornton Business of the Year Award.

"The quality of finalists this year made it a fiercely fought contest with many of the judging decisions being very close calls. All the winners displayed resilience and determination to succeed in what has undoubtedly been a challenging environment, and it is organisations such as these that will help to stimulate renewed growth in the Scottish economy. At Orange we know that winning National recognition is a huge achievement and the success of each winner should be highlighted so that suppliers, partners and customers know that they are dealing with an organisation that is forward thinking and vibrant in its approach to business thinking", said Robert Ainger, Director Corporate Marketing for headline sponsor, Orange.

Jim Mather, MSP, Minister for Enterprise, Energy and Tourism, presented Denice Purdie, founder of Purdie's The Scottish Soap Company based in Argyll, with The Scotsman Entrepreneur of the Year Award. Demonstrating exceptional vision and leadership, in just five years, Purdie has expanded the operation from her own cottage to three shops in Dunoon, Inveraray and Glasgow and is planning to open a fourth shop in Oban in 2009.

Flexlife, the Aberdeen based oil services firm, won the University Glasgow Business Innovation of the Year Award. The judges duly awarded the organisation for succeeding in an engineering challenge it took on less than three years ago that had to function effectively in difficult operating conditions. Since then, the application of these innovations has brought huge financial and operational benefits to clients. Last week, Flexlife reported growth expectations of around 70 per cent for 2009-2010.

The Symon Media Growth Strategy of the Year Award went to Fake Bake, the world's no.1 self-tanning system. The company, headed by Sandra McClumpha is based in Glasgow yet driving growth in the US expanding in Australia and appointing and working with distributors in Russia and new European Markets. "Fake Bake impressed the judging panel with its strategy based on three criteria, astute market segmentation, the fast to market development of new, better products and development of the USA market potential which the previous owners had not exploited", said Ken Symon, category judge at The National Business Awards for Scotland.

Airdrie-based Inver House Distillers Ltd won The Hilton Customer Focus Award. The organisation was honoured for the long-term sustainable success of its customer strategy, its customer engagement programme and its work in secondary schools centred around educating young people on the harm of excessive alcohol consumption.

The Small to Medium Sized Business of the Year trophy went to Odin Consulting Engineers. The company was formed just five years ago by the present partners and has established itself in the field of civil engineering consultancy with great success.

"Working in a volatile sector of the economy they have managed not only to compete for major projects but have also enjoyed sustained growth in terms of turnover and profitability", said Philip Forrest, Chairman of Judges, The National Business Awards for Scotland." Glasgow's Odin Consulting Engineers, presented the judging panel with a particularly strong growth strategy and was therefore awarded The Small to Medium Sized Business of the Year Award. The judges were impressed by the fact that even in the prevailing economic climate they were still forecasting healthy growth with a large part of their future revenue already secured", Forrest added.

Edinburgh's insurance specialist Bright Grey won the much sought after Employer of the Year Award accolade. The judges rewarded the organisation for a range of employee development programmes going beyond the need to meet industry regulatory requirements including the "Walking In Their Shoes" to give employees an opportunity to gain a broader understanding of the customer's experience and the role that their colleagues play in making it a positive experience.

When asked to comment about this year's caliber of entrants, Philip Forrest, Chairman of Judges The National Business Awards for Scotland said:

"In what is reported as the most difficult economic climate of the past 30 years it would have been expected that this would impact on the quality of this year's entry. Not so, the entry for the National Business Awards for Scotland was as robust as ever, showed many outstanding business performances and reflected an air of confidence for the period ahead.

Entrepreneurialism and innovation were particularly strong attributes exhibited this year and again the whole entry had a feel of the national pride in achievements of many parts of Scotland's commercial community. On behalf of the judges I would like to offer our congratulations to all finalists on their achievement to date and wish them continuing success in the year ahead."

To obtain further information and see the full list of finalists please visit http://www.nationalbusinessawards.co.uk/.

The National Business Awards for Scotland, sponsored by Orange is United Business Media's business recognition platform with its particular emphasis on success, innovation and ethical business. Acknowledged as Scotland's leading showcase for achievement in business, The National Business Awards for Scotland connects the nations' professionals through its business recognition platform and annual awards ceremony.