Nine in running for business achievement awards

THE shortlist for the 28th Scottish Business Achievement Awards Trust (SBAAT) has been announced, ahead of a ceremony at Prestonfield House, Edinburgh, on Friday in the company of the Princess Royal.

Founded in 1982, SBAAT has raised close to 3 million for Scottish charities, while recognising achievement and promoting excellence within Scottish business. The Princess Royal is its patron and The Scotsman its media partner.

Mark Berrisford-Smith, senior economist at HSBC Bank, the headline sponsor, will address guests, with Rory Bremner and the Raven Quartet providing entertainment.

Chris Tiso, the new SBAAT chairman, said: "The focus and purpose of the charity has always been clear – to recognise outstanding achievement within the Scottish business community alongside raising much-needed funding for the less well known Scottish charities.

"As we approach our 28th lunch, our sights are firmly set on raising in excess of 100,000 in order to close the gap on reaching 3m before our 30th anniversary."

This year's candidates are:

Young Achiever

• Dr Aydin Kurt-Ellis, chief executive of Lumison.

The business has grown from a small regional internet provider to become a full service, business class ISP with managed hosting network and voice services, as well as data centres in Edinburgh and London.

• Peter Vardy, chief executive of Peter Vardy Ltd.

Following the sale of the family business to the Pendragon Group, Vardy set up his own chain of car dealerships. The company pledges 10 per cent of its annual profits to support a range of local and international organisations through its own charitable foundation.

• Mark-Paul Buckingham, the founder of Reactec.

He set up the firm while working on a PhD in engineering. He has built the company to deliver ground-breaking technologies for the renewables and construction sectors.

Main Award

• Rupert Soames, chief executive of Aggreko.

Joined the board of the temporary power company in 2003 and, via a series of big contract wins, he has taken it into the FTSE-100 list of Britain's leading companies.

• James Milne, chairman and managing director of Balmoral Group.

With an engineering background, he is committed to using technology to underpin the growth of the company, with substantial investment in research and development.

• Tom and Alan Fergusson, joint owners and managers of Scottish-based Fergusson Group.

The firm is a retailer, distributor and processor of solid fuels, and its facility in the south-west of Scotland has been pivotal to the group's growth. The company has worked to establish a growing export operation, and it now supplies nine countries in Europe.

International Award:

• Dr Rabinder Buttar, founder, president and chief executive of Clintec International.

She launched Clintec, a clinical research organisation, from her then home in Germany in 1997. It has developed a presence in more than 40 countries.

• Malcolm Howat, executive chairman of Howco Group.

He founded the company in 1982 and established it as a global supplier to the oilfield services sector, focusing on supply chain management activities.

• Chris Parr, chief executive of Tullis Russell Group.

Parr became group chief executive of the papermaker in 2007. Over the past five years, export sales to 65 countries have grown by 26 per cent to 104m and now represent 68 per cent of total group sales.