12 Jul 2023
By Richard Muir, Deputy Chief Executive of Glasgow Chamber of Commerce
As we head towards the traditional Glasgow Fair holiday weekend, it’s hard to believe we’re less than three months away from our flagship Glasgow Business Awards in October.
The countdown is in full swing and time is running out for businesses to stake their claim for recognition at the silver anniversary of The Awards. Hosted by Glasgow Chamber of Commerce, with our main sponsor Royal Bank of Scotland, the event celebrates the success stories and major achievements of the city’s business community over the last 12 months.
The awards are now in their 25th year and a deadline of Friday 21 July has been set for entry submissions. The shortlist will follow on Friday 11 August ahead of the event itself, which takes place on 5 October at DoubleTree by Hilton Glasgow Central.
Glasgow’s business sector is the beating heart of the Scottish economy so it’s important we take time to recognise and celebrate the achievements of many of our great businesses and businesspeople.
Over the last 25 years, we have heard incredible stories of exceptional performance in the face of adversity, innovation and adaptation, and resilience and growth despite an increasingly challenging operating environment.
And to mark our silver anniversary, we’ll be introducing a new category for business lifetime achievement. This special award will be presented to a single business which has left its mark on Glasgow by its actions, deeds, and great accomplishments.
However, entries remain open for all other categories and this is an excellent opportunity for businesses across Glasgow to promote their achievements and celebrate success.
We have a wealth of categories which reflects the varied and diverse industries we have in Glasgow including: Best Performing Large Business, Best Performing Small-medium Business, Business Resilience, Community Wealth Building, Entrepreneur of the Year, Excellence in Communications, Fair and Healthy Workplace, Family Business of the Year, Green Champion, Innovation in Business, International Trade, Net Zero Achievement, Sustainable Development and Young Business Person.
Previous winners and sponsors, as you would imagine, come from broad, cross-sectors and sizes of businesses and many are headquartered in Glasgow, such as ScottishPower, Edrington, Arnold Clark, AGS / Glasgow Airport, Barrhead Travel, Scottish Leather Group, as well as businesses such as Allied Vehicles, Cullen Packaging, AC Whyte, Madebrave, Dear Green Coffee and KC Shipping. They are all world-class businesses, and we are proud that they all call the Glasgow city region home.
In addition to these awards, we have other headline accolades including the Glasgow Chamber of Commerce Award for Lifetime Achievement and Glasgow’s Favourite Business, and finally, Royal Bank of Scotland’s Award for Most Outstanding Business, which is the most prestigious award and will be presented on the night to one of the winners of the competitive categories.
We’ve had a long list of illustrious winners of the Lifetime Achievement award, including Vera Weisfeld, Ian Curle, Baron Willie Haughey OBE, Jonathan Muirhead OBE, Sir Arnold Clark and Pamela Gillies CBE among many others.
It’s true when they say that ‘People Make Glasgow’, and we have such a robust and vibrant business community homegrown in our city. While the event itself is obviously a great opportunity for everyone to simply come together, network and celebrate, the principle aim of the Glasgow Business Awards is to recognise the achievements of these businesses and the people behind them.
Despite the many and varied challenges, I truly believe in our business community and its ability to survive, adapt, thrive and grow and help our members.
The Glasgow Business Awards is a highlight in our calendar to celebrate and recognise the innovative, ambitious and resilient businesses in our community which are driving the Scottish economy and creating opportunities and prosperity in the city region.
We’re indebted to our title sponsors Royal Bank of Scotland for their ongoing support and all of our category sponsors and judges and businesses which apply. Here’s to the last 25 years and to the next 25 as well.
This article was first published in The Herald on Wednesday 12 July 2023
