The Entrepreneurial Scotland Awards & Celebration Dinner took place this year on St Andrew's Night, at SWG3. It was a celebration of entrepreneurial success, acclaiming Scotland's top talent and those who have excelled in entrepreneurial leadership over the past 12 months.
These awards which are set up to recognise Scotland's fresh and innovative business landscape and also offer a platform for entrepreneurs to get together to share stories, reconnect and applaud all of the hard work accomplished over the year. It was apparent that Scotland's entrepreneurial scene has gone from strength to strength displaying a remarkable amount of energy, innovation and imagination than ever before; which was undoubtedly on full show on Thursday night
As proud sponsors of the Entrepreneur of the Year Award Deloitte have the privilege of getting a sneak preview into the most successful entrepreneurs in Scotland as we have the pleasure of interviewing and meeting with all the nominees. Once again, we were blown away by the emergence of such exciting young companies and indeed their sheer grit, resilience and determination. All of the finalists impressed the judges with their talent and drive and doing the hard work needed to lead an entrepreneurial organisation.
A huge congratulation goes to Gareth Williams who was awarded the Entrepreneur of the Year title. Under Gareth's careful management, Skyscanner has transformed into one of Scotland's biggest entrepreneurial success stories. Born out of true entrepreneurialism during a brainstorming session at the local pub with his two friends turned co-founders, Skyscanner is a company Scotland and its business community is immensely proud of. Gareth continues to play a vital role in the technology sector, sharing his experiences to mentor and support the Scottish start-up community. He is an extremely deserving winner for this year's Entrepreneur of the Year.
Angus MacDonald, ICS Learn, was announced as the Scaling Entrepreneur of the Year and Callum Murray, Amiqus, as the first Rising Star of the Year. Congratulations to all of our finalists and winners.
Moving forward, Scotland must continue to nurture its entrepreneurs and innovators, providing them with the support and finance needed and create a collaborative ecosystem which develops the skills and experiences that will support our students of today to become an innovative and dynamic workforce of the future.
By doing this we can encourage the investment needed to seeing Scotland well on its way to becoming a world class leader in scale up business.
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