09 June 2016
Six Scottish businesses have been nominated for the 2016 European Business Awards for the Environment (EBAE) following their success at the Vision in Business for the Environment of Scotland (VIBES) Awards.
In total 10 UK companies were put forward by The Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufacturers and Commerce (RSA) Environment Awards Forum to represent the UK in the EBAE.
The EBAE recognises outstanding, new or innovative contributions to sustainable development and the UK entrants will compete for a prize against winners from 28 other countries on the European stage. The winners will be announced at a ceremony in Tallinn, Estonia in October this year.
The six nominated Scottish businesses are Bridge Biotechnology, Celtic Renewables, CMS Window Systems, Jessie Mac’s, Todd Fish Tech (Lobster Pod) and Peel Tech. Each impressed VIBES judges with their innovative and committed approach to sustainability and it is hoped that they will continue this success in Estonia later this year.
The news coincides with the launch of the 2016 VIBES Awards which are open for entries until Thursday 30th June. Now in its 17th year VIBES recognises and rewards companies employing environmental best practice in their daily activity to cut down on resource use, increase sustainability, improve reputation, enhance competitiveness, support wider sustainable developments and benefit their overall bottom-line.
Gillian Bruce, chair of the VIBES Awards, commented; “It is a real achievement for Scotland and for the VIBES Awards that over half of the UK’s entrants for the EBAEs are previous VIBES winners.
“I would like to congratulate all of the nominated companies for their success in reaching this stage of the EBAEs and wish them every success in the competition.”
The remaining four UK nominees include Anglesey Sea Salt, Cafeology, LINPAC and Clearfleau.
All UK Entrants are selected from the winners and runners up of RSA Accredited award schemes, including Scotland’s VIBES Awards. VIBES, which is free to enter, is the only Scottish based RSA Accredited award scheme. By selecting finalists in this way, it means that those chosen for Europe are ‘the best of the best’; the most far-sighted, responsible and innovative companies from across the country.
Dr Malcolm Aickin, Chair of the RSA Environment Awards Forum, said: "The UK has always made an excellent showing in Europe providing significantly more winners than any other country. This year the entrants represent a very broad range of activity and diversity of achievement. Their collective strength gives high hopes that our winning record will continue.”
For further details about this award visit: http://www.rsaaccreditation.org/index.php/european-awards