Scottish business awards announce new categories for 10th anniversary

15/01/2020
WeDO Scotland have announced the launch of their 10th annual search to find Scotland’s top entrepreneurial talent (Photo: Edinburgh Photographic)

WEDO SCOTLAND has announced the launch of their 10th annual search to find Scotland’s top entrepreneurial talent, to be announced on the 5th of June at their annual Awards Ceremony & Lunch in Edinburgh. 

The prestigious WeDO Scotland Awards are highly respected and recognised as a key Scottish event celebrating business scale up, success and entrepreneurship.  This year, 3 new Award categories have been announced, all of which are open to both WeDO members and non-members from every business sector throughout Scotland.

The new Awards include Eco Entrepreneur of the Year, Employee Owned Business of the Year, and Best Use of Technology.  These add to the 7 existing categories awarded in previous years including Young Entrepreneur, International Entrepreneur, High Growth Company, Scottish Product of the Year and Entrepreneur of the Year.

Commenting on the 10th Anniversary WeDO Awards, Belinda Roberts, founder, said:

“Our Awards celebrate the success of Scottish entrepreneurs and businesses; it’s important that they remain topical and reflect changes in both the Scottish and global economies, as well as those who are blazing a trail. Our new Eco Award will recognise an entrepreneur who is making a substantial contribution to environmental sustainability.  With the devastating effects of global climate change, sustainability is essential to protect the environmental, social and cultural aspects of our planet for both current and future generations.  It’s no longer something that we should be doing, it’s something we must do; we want to applaud the Scot who is leading the way and making a substantial difference. 

She added:

“There are now around 100 employee-owned companies in Scotland with a combined turnover of £940 million and we want to recognise the substantial contribution these businesses make with this new Award. It’s imperative to recognise the growing trend for this increasingly popular business exit, which gives employees the opportunity to drive business success and secure their futures.”

For the first time, there is a wholly female judging panel chaired by Anna Christopherson of Boda Swedish Bars & Restaurants Group, alongside an additional 2 panels selected from WeDO’s Executive teams.  This year, newly appointed judges include Carole Leslie of Ownership Associates, a leading expert in the employee ownership sector and Suzie McCafferty of Platinum Wave Consulting who scooped the WeDO International Entrepreneur of the Year Award in 2019.

Commenting on the Employee Owned Business of the Year Award, Carole Leslie said:

“The inclusion of an employee ownership category is a tremendous addition to these high profile business awards. Scotland has been leading the way in increasing the number of successful, entrepreneurial businesses owned by their employees and this award will recognise the very best of them.”

Applications and nominations for the Awards are open until 5th March.

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