Inverurie and Oldmeldrum Companies Sweep Nominations

A Garioch man, three companies from Inverurie and one from Oldmeldrum have been announced as finalists in the Grampian Awards for Business Enterprise, following a record breaking number of nominations.  Nearly 30% of the finalists in the Awards are based in the area.

The Grampian Awards for Business Enterprise, which are in their sixth year, recognise business achievement in the north east for companies of any size and individuals and are organised by Enterprise North East Trust (Enterprise) and sponsored by The Royal Bank of Scotland and Business Gateway (in association with Scottish Enterprise Grampian).

Ian Stuart from Digit New Media (Inverurie), Poseidon Engineering (Oldmeldrum), ANM Group (Inverurie), FitNut (Inverurie) and Minto Design and Print (Inverurie) are all up for honours but will have to wait until June to see if they have won an award.

Chris Travis, chief executive of Enterprise, says, "We have seen an overwhelming response to the Grampian Awards for Business Enterprise this year which speaks volumes about the quality and enterprising spirit of new and existing businesses in the north east of Scotland.  It is easy to see how the north east has earned its reputation as a centre for business formation when judging the entries, which has proved extremely difficult so far."

Jenny Moultrie, Regional Manager in Aberdeen for The Royal Bank of Scotland, says, "The calibre of companies entering this year’s awards has been outstanding and each finalist should be congratulated for getting to this stage.  Entries have been received from almost every industry and we have been singularly impressed with this diversity and the high quality of businesses that are establishing themselves in the north east."

The Grampian Awards for Business Enterprise finalists are:

New Business Award first-round finalists (£3000 prize) are:
Bugstop - Aberdeen                  Environmentally friendly barrier for crop pests.
FitNut – Inverurie                      Health awareness for organisations
Poseidon - Inverurie                  Precision waterjet cutting service

Young Business Award Finalists (£3 000) are:
activitymix - Aberdeen              Runs corporate sports tournaments
Caledus - Aberdeen                   Oil and gas well products and services
Haptogen - Aberdeen                Antibody development company

Business Growth Award Finalists (£3 000) are:
Heavenly Pizzas - Aberdeen      Independent pizza delivery operator
Optima – Aberdeen                    Provides project management and engineering consultancy work for oil rig cooling systems
Zeroth Technology- Aberdeenshire Provides innovative solutions to overcome      current and future technical challenges.

Alick Buchanan Smith Spirit of Enterprise Award finalists (£3 000 prize) are:
ANM – Inverurie                        Offer livestock marketing and auctioneering
Cornerstone - Aberdeen            Charity providing care to special needs
Minto Design and Print - Inverurie Provide high quality design and print solutions

Sir Ian Wood Award for Innovation finalists (£5 000 prize) are:
Caledus – Aberdeen                 Oil and gas well products and services
Haptogen - Aberdeen                Antibody development company
Polyoil – Aberdeen                    Developed pioneering new technology for the oil and gas industry

Ian Davidson Award for Entrepreneurship finalists (£3 000 prize) are:
Ian Stuart - Inverurie                 Digit New Media
Graeme Anderson - Fraserburgh           boxportable
Graeme Duncan - Aberdeen       xtreme solutions

Winners will be announced at a black tie awards ceremony on Thursday 9 June at Ardoe House Hotel by Aberdeen.  Karren Brady, Managing Director of Birmingham City Football Club, will be keynote speaker at the prestigious event.  All finalists will receive a certificate with category winners picking up a coveted enterprise award and a cheque for up to £3 000.