Local companies celebrated at business excellence awards
The Scottish Council for Development and Industry (SCDI) Highlands and Islands Business Excellence Awards returned to the Drumossie Hotel in Inverness on Tuesday November 15 for a celebration of regional businesses with a gala dinner, writes Megan Day.
This is the first time since 2019 there has been an in-person awards ceremony due to the pandemic. The event was also rescheduled this year after the death of Queen Elizabeth II.
Similar to previous years, the Highlands and Islands Awards welcomed a star host to provide entertainment and announce the winners of the awards. This year comedian and impressionist Rory Bremner thoroughly entertained the audience throughout the night.
Fiona Larg, SCDI’s Highlands and Islands committee chairperson, said: ‘We have so many successful organisations operating across the Highlands and islands, large and small. We’ve had a great variety of entries across a range of sectors so choosing winners has been difficult.’
Some of the winners included University of Highlands and Islands for the SCDI Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Regional Economy, Essence of Harris won the Bakkafrost Scotland Award for Outstanding Island Business, and Carroll Buxton, deputy chief executive of Highlands and Islands Enterprise, won the Alvance Aluminium Award for Outstanding Business Leader.
Grant Campbell, SCDI’s Highlands and Islands manager closed the ceremony saying: ‘We can all recognise the social and economic challenges of the last two and a half years, but looking to the future and the exciting opportunities for the region to not only be world-class for food, drink, and tourism and energy, but to lead the way in new and emerging technology for green energy, space and aerospace, health and social care, and the opportunities for advanced manufacturing which, when all supported by a successful green freeport bid for the region, will be truly transformational.’