North-east firms from Banff to Banchory are celebrating today after being named winners of the region’s longest-standing business awards.
Organised by Aberdeen & Grampian Chamber of Commerce and now in their 17th year, the Northern Star Business Awards recognise companies in the region for their exceptional accomplishments across a range of fields from energy and innovation to people development, customer service and environmental action.
The Awards, held in association with principal sponsor Nucore Group, were due to take place in person at P&J Live but the winners were announced virtually instead due to CV19 restrictions.
Motive Offshore Group Ltd has followed up its win in the ‘Going Global’ category of the last Northern Star Business Awards by being named ‘Business of the Year’ in 2021.
Since it was established in 2010 by James Gregg and Dave Acton, the Banff-headquartered company has developed from a winch manufacturer into a leading global solutions provider for the back-deck and beyond. It specialises in the manufacture, rental and servicing of high-capacity winches, umbilical testing and deployment equipment and associated services to the onshore and offshore energy and marine industries. It now has seven divisions, bases in Kintore, Port of Blyth, United Arab Emirates, the USA and Norway; and following multi-million-pound investment in 2019 has executed an ambitious growth strategy, through tactical diversification and internationalisation, designed to create a £20m EBITDA business by 2025.
Other winners include Grampian Training Services Ltd which has given more than 100,000 primary school children across the region first aid training; Aberdeen Football Club and the BIG Partnership for the #StillStandingFree campaign; and Oldmeldrum-based James Fisher Offshore which has significantly expanded its team, facilities and capabilities to grow its international operations.
Chief executive of the Chamber Russell Borthwick said: “Through these most challenging of times, there are still good news stories out there. Businesses innovating, adapting and doing incredible things among the economic mayhem. This year’s awards had a record number of entries and while things didn’t turn out quite as we planned but that doesn’t mean we can’t celebrate business success in North-east Scotland.
“We congratulate the winners and finalists who have once again raised the bar across a whole range of sectors and encourage organisations to draw inspiration from these businesses in order to redouble our efforts to create the economic conditions that will ensure the long-term success of the North-east.”
Mark Fraser, chief executive officer of Nucore Group, said: “We are delighted to continue to show our support for these prestigious awards. Our business is centred around our core values and we believe our people are key to our current and future success - but the same is true outside of business too.
“Local people are key to driving success across the region and we understand the importance of celebrating this, especially during these challenging times. Although the awards are not possible in person this year, we are delighted to still play our part in celebrating with the much-deserved finalists and winners of the Northern Star Business Awards.”
The winners in the 12 categories were as follows:
Inspiring Futures
Grampian Training Services Ltd
Student Placement
BW Offshore
Marketing Magic
BIG Partnership and Aberdeen Football Club
Inspiration from Innovation
Ecosse IP
Making the Difference
North East Sensory Services (NESS)
Family Business
Greenwell Equipment
Going Global
James Fisher Offshore
Business of the Year
Motive Offshore Group Ltd
Rising Star
George Strachan, TaxAssist Accountants
Customer First
Nimbus Blue
Driving Sustainability
Keenan Recycling Ltd
Staff Matter
TaxAssist Accountants