Following on from the announcement of our member semi-finalists in our 2016 Awards, we are delighted to announce the non-members who have made it through to the semi-finals.  With more entries than we have ever received in previous years, the Judges have had a challenging time narrowing down the entries from many excellent entries.  Our Judging Panel is, as always, chosen from our Executive Team and is this year chaired by Rod McMillan who is joined by fellow Ambassadors Martin Mutch, Gaynor Turner and winner of our 2014 Most Innovative Business Award winner & Ambassador, Mike Christopherson.

Commenting on the Award entrants, the judges said:

“This year, for the first time ever, the Awards have been open to non-members as well as members and  we have been very impressed with the calibre of applicants this year,  It is always high, but this year has stepped up another gear and there were applications from a diverse range of industry sectors.  The passion of the entrants shines through on their entry forms and it has been a pleasure to find our more about their businesses.  Our congratulations to the members who have been shortlisted to the semi-finals and to those who weren’t, don’t be too disappointed, you can always re-apply next year.  We look forward to stage 2 when yet another challenge ensues, shortlisting down to 2 finalists for each Award.”

The semi-finalists are, in alpabetical order:

Gavin Bell of Blue Cliff Media

Pamela Laird of Fin and Co

Cara Mackay of Gillies & Mackay

Malcolm Mackay of United Employment Lawyers

Ryan McCabe of Odro

Sheryl Newman of Appetite for Business

Barry Park of OEM Group

Yva Yorston of Boost Business Support

The semi-finalists now have their Stage 2 forms to complete, as well as submitting a 3 minute video explaining more about their businesses – that’ll be a whole lot of fun!  On behalf of all of us at WeDO, we wish you all the very best of luck and our congratulations on having made it through to the semi-finals.

Early Bird tickets for the Awards Dinner which takes place on Friday the 18th of November at The Sheraton Grand Hotel are on sale until 5pm on Friday the 14th of October, you can find out more and book HERE.  It’s a fantastic evening celebrating the success of Scottish entrepreneurs and of course, with networking at the heart of WeDO, is a great opportunity to meet fellow business owners.  It’s not all about business however, we all work hard and need time to let our hair down so we also have a Blushbooth photobooth where guests can have fun with highly entertaining props as well as our regular DJ who plays a wide range of music from every era.  We look forward to seeing you there!