ANTICIPATION is building ahead of the Edinburgh Evening News Business Excellence Awards after judges announced the shortlisted nominations for the prestigious event.
Now in their eighth year, the awards have become a key date in the region's business calendar and have a proven track record in helping to recognise some of the Lothians' most progressive and dynamic companies.

Scottish Enterprise Edinburgh & Lothians (SE Edinburgh & Lothians) is the main partner for the awards event, while software giant Microsoft has joined as the main sponsor.

The gala event, hosted by Radio Forth DJ Grant Stott, takes place at Our Dynamic Earth on Friday April 15.

And the day can't come quickly enough for the 26 companies and organisations to have been shortlisted for the nine awards which are up for grabs. The categories are:

• Best Performing Business (less than 25 employees)
  
• Best Performing Business (more than 251 employees)
  
• Innovation and Technology - E-Business
  
• Most Entrepreneurial Young Company
  
• Business in the Community
  
• International Business
  
• Excellence in Skills and Learning
• Best Performing Business (26-250 employees)
  
• The winners of each category will go forward to the national finals of the Scottish Enterprise National Business Awards competition which takes place in Glasgow in June.

One business which will certainly be making its presence felt at the ceremony is Edinburgh company The Outcomes Partnership.

The Forth Street-based business, which has been operating for two years, has been shortlisted for three different categories - Business in the Community, Excellence in Skills and Learning, and Innovation and Technology - in recognition of its sterling work in developing the Employment Pathway software package which is designed to help disenfranchised people such as refugees and asylum seekers find work.

The software lets different organisations share and pool their information on a database, which means they can cut duplication and waste, and provide a more effective service.

It has already been trialled in Edinburgh, and Scottish Enterprise Glasgow has asked The Outcomes Partnership to take part in a project designed to help refugees and asylum seekers get into education, training and employment.

Managing director Kevin Morrison says he is "absolutely delighted" at the triple shortlist nomination, citing it as vindication of the pioneering work carried out by the company.

He says: "When unemployed people and others are looking for work, or getting involved in training and personal development programmes, they often have to deal with a number of different organisations.

"The Employment Pathway overcomes the problems of information mass by enabling organisations to electronically transfer relevant information to other organisations in a standardised and user-friendly format.

"It sounds a simple process and people might have wondered why it's not been done before, but integrating the many different systems used by organisations presents a massive technical and logistical challenge. However, our software has overcome the problems and allows the task to be carried out in a simple way."

Looking forward to next month's big event, he adds: "Without wanting to sound too arrogant, I do believe that we are worthy of the nominations. We are a small business and are desperate for further investment and hopefully these awards will give us the opportunity to raise our profile further."

But The Outcomes Partnership is up against stiff competition in all three categories.

Other nominees for the Business in the Community are Football Aid and digital imaging firm Eastern.

The other nominees for the Innovation and Technology award are pioneering security systems firm dns and SK Chare Limited, a company that provides a web-based gift voucher service so that companies can create, sell, electronically send or print their own branded gift vouchers to their customers via a website, by phone, e-mail and in person.

In the Excellence in Skills and Learning category, The Outcomes Partnership is joined by interior-design specialist Sharkey and recruitment agency Staffinders.

Another multiple shortlist nominee is Musselburgh-based digital imaging company Eastern.

The company, which counts the Royal Bank of Scotland and designer clothing emporium USC among its blue-chip clients, is shortlisted in both the Best Performing Business (25 employees and under) and the Business in the Community awards.

Company marketing manager Karen Playfair says the double nomination is an "overwhelmingly positive" reflection on the firm.

She adds: "We are absolutely thrilled to be competing on two fronts at the awards ceremony. Not only do the nominations reflect well on us, they are also an affirmation of our clients.

"We are currently working with USC on rebranding many of their stores so the coming months are bound to be pretty hectic. But anything that raises our profile even further is more than welcome."

Overall, the Evening News Business Excellence Awards serve to formally recognise and reward the drive and energy that is a feature of the successful and burgeoning Lothians economy, which encompasses a massive range of sectors, including technology, financial services, tourism and hospitality, professional services, biotech and retail.

And while there can be only one winner in each category, the over-riding ethos of the Excellence Awards is to acknowledge the contribution that every Lothian-based company makes to the Scottish business scene as well as to their local community.

Past winners of the illustrious accolade include The Witchery, Channings Hotel, Edinburgh International Conference Centre, Montpelliers, BAE Systems and Intelligent Finance - all shining examples of successful businesses whose names and reputations have extended far beyond the Lothians.

The judges will be looking for a clear demonstration of business excellence attributes, such as leadership, objectives and strategy, performance improvement, employee skill levels, financial management, customer satisfaction and supplier relationships.

The winners, whose names will remain a closely guarded secret until the showpiece final, will be the companies that are able to exhibit levels of excellence in both the way they work and the way they think.

John Anderson, chief executive of the Entrepreneurial Exchange and chairman of the judging panel, hailed the high calibre of nominees, saying: "This is my first year of chairing the panel of judges and I have been impressed by the exceptionally high standard of businesses put before us.

"There was strong competition in each category with some particularly well put together submissions, proof positive that we are capable of producing businesses in Scotland that make significant contributions to the economy.

"My only regret was that there was not a larger entry in the International Business category - we need to raise our game and play on the world stage if we are going to make a difference to the lives of the people of Scotland."

He adds: "Choosing winners for these awards was not an easy task and this is testament to the fantastic range of dynamic and ambitious businesses in Lothian and the hard work undertaken on a daily basis by Scotland's wealth creators.

"The debate was intense and it was extremely difficult to make our ultimate decisions. However, we are confident that we have chosen exceptional individuals and worthy winners of these illustrious accolades."

And the nominations for 2005 are...

Best Performing Business (25 employees and under):
Eastern - digital imaging company.
Alister Wood Tait - antique dealer and jeweller.
Big Mouth Media - optimisation and e-marketing agency.

Best Performing Business (26-250 employees):
dns - security systems innovators.
MITIE - building maintenance and improvement company.
Prestonfield House Hotel - top Edinburgh hotel.

Best Performing Business (over 251 employees):
Search Consultancy - recruitment specialists.
Sykes Global Services - consultancy firm.
Bausch & Lomb Scotland Limited - eyecare company.

Business in the Community:
The Outcomes Partnership - software designers.
Football Aid - charitable organisation.
Eastern - digital imaging company.

E-Business:
Heritage Portfolio - online caterers.
The Door Centre - online door suppliers.
Football Aid.

Excellence in Skills & Learning:
Sharkey - interior designers.
The Outcomes Partnership. Staffinders - recruitment specialists.

Innovation and Technology:
The Outcomes Partnership.
dns.
SK Chase Ltd - suppliers of an online gift voucher service.

International Business:
Jump Marketing - Marketing agency.
Sykes Global Services.

Most Entrepreneurial Young Company:
Heritage Portfolio - corporate events and hospitality management company.
Incovo Ltd - communications consultants.
McEwan Fraser - property investment consultants.

Last Updated: 30 March 2005 8:51 AM
Source: Edinburgh Evening News
Location: Edinburgh