Business picks up as awards entries sought
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THE annual search for the region’s top firms gets under way today with the launch of the 2018 Highland Business Awards (HBA).
Organisations and individuals from across the area have until July 27 to put forward entries for the awards, with the winners announced at a lunchtime ceremony on September 28 at the Drumossie Hotel in Inverness.
The event will mark the end of this year’s Highland Business Week.
Last year a record 106 entries were received for the HBA, and with new categories to apply for, organiser Inverness Chamber of Commerce expects another record-breaking year.
Chamber chief executive Stewart Nicol said the organisation had targeted even further growth this year to ensure more companies and individuals have the opportunity for recognition.
With the addition of the two new awards – for young apprentice and best newcomer to exporting – there are a total of 12 categories. One of the individual category winners will also be named Highland business of the year.
The introduction of the young apprentice title is a nod to 2018’s designation as the Year of Young People, but it is also a response to the work done by Developing the Young Workforce (DYW) alongside employers and local chambers of commerce to encourage more young talent into the workforce.
Mr Nicol said: "That will be an exciting addition and will focus on the opportunities people have to take up the various apprenticeship schemes available as they leave school."
The other new award, best newcomer to exporting, also reflects work the chamber and its partner organisations are doing to encourage north businesses to look overseas.
Last year’s awards ceremony saw winners honoured from across the Highland area and Mr Nicol hopes to see a similar response.
"The awards aren’t about who is a member of this or any other chamber of commerce," he said. "They are genuinely focused on the achievements of businesses from across the Highlands."
The awards will be just one of the high points of Highland Business Week, which features the Highland Spotlight business-to-business exhibition at the Kingsmills Hotel in Inverness on September 25.
For more information, visit www.inverness-chamber.co.uk
