Spirit of Scotland Awards: We've got talent

• All the winners, including Gerry Boyle, front row, second from right, who received the Top Scot award on behalf of his sister, Susan

IT WAS South African-born chef Pete Gottgens who captured the spirit of the evening. "As a foreigner to Scotland, I have got to thank Scottish ingredients for bringing me up here," said Gottgens, who won the Glenfiddich Spirit of Scotland Award for food in a year when the country collected 14 Michelin stars.

Gottgens left behind a career in leading London restaurants to start anew at the Ardeonaig Hotel on Loch Tay. "I was a chef in London, and we were always bringing Scottish ingredients down to London, and someone once said to me: 'Go where all the ingredients are.' So I followed my heart. Without good staff, good support and great suppliers, nothing like this would have been possible. Thank you, Scotland."

Gottgens picked up his award alongside writer Ian Rankin and actor Peter Capaldi, two of the winners in eight categories in the 12th Glenfiddich Spirit of Scotland Awards held at Prestonfield House Hotel, Edinburgh. The West Lothian singer Susan Boyle, currently enjoying spectacular chart success, won the overall Top Scot title.

The night, compered by Kirsty Wark, celebrated Scotland's particular brand of talent. It was backed by two of the country's leading brand names: Glenfiddich and The Scotsman, the awards' media partner.

Like several other winners, Gottgens won via a public vote, which seemed to reflect support for some lesser-known but local favourites who are clearly on the way up. He edged past other high-profile nominees such as Edinburgh chef Tom Kitchin, just as a Highlands shinty legend elbowed out golf and bobsleigh champions in sport, and the founders of Jupiter Artland, an extraordinary new contemporary sculpture centre on the outskirts of Edinburgh, won in the art category. Nicky and Robert Wilson have poured millions of pounds of their own money into an inspired new addition to the capital's art attractions, featuring works by Anish Kapoor and Antony Gormley, among others, and offering a special focus on education and school visits. But their rivals for the top art prize included two Turner Prize winners, Martin Creed and Richard Wright, the latter of whom won his award a day before the Spirit of Scotland ceremony.

"Thank you for this," Mr Wilson said. "We have been amazed by all the visitors we have had and the comments and wonderful feedback. We are amongst an amazing group of Scottish artists and it's a huge honour."

Sally Gordon, whose great-great-grandfather, William Grant, built the Glenfiddich distillery, revealed that William Grant and Sons, owners of Glenfiddich, were recently named International Spirits Challenge Distiller of the Year for the fourth time in five years.

"It has been an extraordinarily challenging year," she said, "but one in which the people of Scotland did what they do best: get their heads down, work hard and continue to succeed. Even in an impossibly difficult climate, it is still possible to achieve success."

The Scotsman's editor, John McLellan, said: "I don't know if there's anything that differentiates the spirit of Scotland from any other proud and ancient nation, but I do know that this is a country that has produced a steady stream of energetic and talented individuals who have long enabled this country to punch above its weight."

One of the highlights of the night came when Susan Boyle's brother, Gerry, accepted the Top Scot award on behalf of the newly minted superstar, who was unable to attend because she was promoting her record-breaking album in Paris. "I'm just a wee bit proud of my wee sister," he said, to thundering applause. Jokingly, he recalled the night she rather offhandedly told him that she'd made an appearance on Britain's got Talent. He asked how she'd done. "She said, 'I think I did all right.' The rest is amazing, as everybody knows."

Peter Capaldi, picking up his award from Daniela Nardini, said this made up for missing the Scottish Baftas – he was on a plane en route to Los Angeles when they were given out – where he won the best actor award for the hit film In The Loop. This time he flew in from London, where he's working on the radio series News at Bedtime, a comic version of the Today programme in which he plays the "Jim Naughtie" character.

"I've lived in London longer than I lived in Scotland, so it's very, very nice to be asked to join in and come back. Even though I'm not actually living here, I'm contributing to the industry," he said. When Nardini teasingly insisted she wasn't handing over his statue until he swore at her in the style of his famous character, Malcolm Tucker, he declared: "No swearing tonight", before recanting and bellowing, 'Oh, f*** off then'.

He added: "How do you think my mother feels? People pass me in the street and say can you tell me to f*** off and I do. Sometimes I mean it." Calling it a proud honour, the actor, of Italian-Scottish origin, said: "I'm not sure what the spirit of Scotland is, but I think it does exist and I benefited from it. My grandparents, like Daniela's, came here as economic migrants from Europe and they found the spirit of Scotland and they added something to it."

Musician and composer John McCusker, picking up the award in the music category, took a different tack. "When I first started playing traditional music, it felt as if nobody else played it," he said. "Of course, they were, but it felt like that at the time I was playing in school. My nickname was 'Fiddle', and people thought I was a weirdo." The landscape is dramatically different now, he said, citing Glasgow's Celtic Connections festival and the fact Phil Cunningham teaches a degree course at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama.

Business winner Richard Dixon, the Vets Now founder whose company has grown into a network of 34 clinics, supporting more than 400 veterinary practices, looked round the converted banqueting hall, bedecked with giant gold ribbons and tables swathed in black velvet, each one sporting a bottle of Glenfiddich frozen artfully in a mammoth block of ice. "Apparently, this is a stables, but I have never been in a stables like this before," he said. "It is truly magnificent." He joked that he might have won the popular vote because his entry photograph included a dog.

Environmentalist Mike Robinson, of Stop Climate Chaos Scotland, celebrated "an incredible year for climate change and Scotland", adding: "What I really want for Christmas is a decent deal out of Copenhagen, a legally binding contract." With Scotland a world leader on real legislation, he said, "Copenhagen will be a step in the right direction. My worry is I want it to be a big step, and it might only be a small one".

Shinty legend Ronald Ross clinched his award after scoring an extraordinary 1,000 career goals.

"I won this in 2003, when I had scored 94. I never ever thought I'd get back again," he said. "It just shows that, if you work hard and train hard, there's always things down the corridor for you. Tonight is just amazing. When I won in 2003, I was hyper for months. Kirsty Wark must be lucky for me, because I never thought for one minute I would get back."

Standing at the podium to pick up his prize in the writing category, Ian Rankin kept saying that he hadn't expected to win and hadn't prepared a speech. "We were all sitting at our table, saying it's got to be Carol Ann Duffy, the first Scottish female poet to be writing for the Queen. But it's not her. It's me! It's fantastic."

WINNERS AT A GLANCE

TOP SCOT: Susan Boyle

SCREEN: Peter Capaldi

WRITING: Ian Rankin

ART: Nicky and Robert Wilson – Jupiter Artland

BUSINESS: Richard Dixon – Vets Now

ENVIRONMENTAL: Mike Robinson – Stop Climate Chaos Scotland

FOOD: Peter Gottgens, Ardeonaig Hotel, Loch Tay

MUSIC: John McCusker

SPORT: Ronald Ross, shinty