Heavenly Pizzas Kintore Hoping for a slice of the £3000 Prize

Heavenly Pizzas, one of the largest independent pizza delivery operators in the north east of Scotland, has been shortlisted as a finalist in the coveted Grampian Awards for Business Enterprise. The Aberdeen headquartered company is in line to scoop the Business Growth award and collect £3,000 prize money. Heavenly Pizzas has two branches in Aberdeen, one in Kintore and one in Stonehaven. The finals will take place at the gala award evening at Ardoe House Hotel by Aberdeen on Thursday 9^th June 2005.

Established in 1994, Heavenly Pizzas has grown steadily from one to four stores and the company now employs 60 members of staff as well as having a large fleet of delivery vehicles. Heavenly Pizzas is no stranger to awards as managing director James Cummings was shortlisted for the Ian Davidson Award for Entrepreneurship at the Grampian Awards for Business Enterprise last year. The business was also a runner up in 1999 in the Best Pizza Takeaway and delivery outlet in the UK category, and has been in the top four every year since.

The company embarked on Investors In People status in 2004, placing training at the forefront of the future development of the business. Computerised ordering systems have recently been installed in all stores, forming the basis of many the company’s creative marketing campaigns and the platform from which many Heavenly Pizza customers are targeted through e-commerce.

James Cummings, managing director of Heavenly Pizzas, says, "Being selected as a finalist in the Grampian Awards for Business Enterprise for the second time is a real honour. We have worked incredibly hard over the last few years to put systems in place to move the business forward and expand. Investing in training and staff development has been the major factor in our rapid growth and we want to build on this to achieve our long term goal of becoming the largest independent pizza retailer in Scotland."

James continues, "We have a team of hardworking staff at Heavenly Pizzas, which strives to deliver high quality products to the public and we pride ourselves on maintaining high standards, using only the freshest ingredients and pizza dough. Winning this award would be a testament to the hard work and effort that has gone into making Heavenly Pizzas the successful company that it is today."

The Awards recognise business achievement in companies of all sizes and enterprising individuals and is organised by Enterprise North East Trust and sponsored by The Royal Bank of Scotland and Business Gateway (in association with Scottish Enterprise Grampian).

Stuart Heslop, Director of Commercial Banking for The Royal Bank of Scotland in Aberdeen, said, "The Royal Bank of Scotland is delighted to be supporting this event which celebrates Grampian businesses that have demonstrated a commitment to innovation, excellence and fostering an entrepreneurial spirit. Their business flair and dynamism makes them a role model for other businesses in the region.

"This is the fourth consecutive year of The Royal Bank of Scotland’s sponsorship of the awards and we have been pleased to see them grow in stature to the point where they are now established as the premier event on the Grampian business calendar."

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 aware and a cheque for up to £3,000.