Search is on to find the most enterprising place in Scotland

The search to find the most enterprising place in Scotland began today, with the launch of the Enterprising Britain competition. Now in its fourth year, the competition celebrates and rewards the most enterprising areas in the UK: those places where enterprise has helped transform the community and led to improved economic prospects in the area.

Managed by Make your Mark on behalf of the Department of Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR) in partnership with Scottish Enterprise, it is run in two phases, regional and national, with twelve regional winners selected from the nine English Development Agencies and one each from Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales.  

The Scottish winner stands to gain a substantial monetary prize and a place in the UK final in London.  All entries for the Scottish regional competition must be received by 18 April. Once the 12 regional winners from across the UK have been selected, they will be visited by members of a high profile national judging panel including entrepreneurs Peter Jones and Lynne Franks, who decide which place should be crowned the national Enterprising Britain 2008 winner.

Peter Jones, well known for the BBC's Dragon's Den, said: "As an Enterprising Britain judge, I have been extremely impressed by the strength, determination and innovative thinking demonstrated by those people who have used enterprise to transform the social and economic fortunes of their community. The Enterprising Britain Competition is a great chance for enterprise success stories from across Scotland to shine and I urge people to enter."

Last year's Scottish winner was Edinburgh Science Triangle, a collaborative marketing project that promotes the breadth of science capabilities in Edinburgh and the Lothians to attract new investment and encourage interaction between industry and universities.

Barry Shafe, project director of Edinburgh Science Triangle, said: "Our win in the Scottish heat of the Enterprising Britain competition was appreciated by all the stakeholders in recognition of their hard work and has proved to be valuable in drawing widespread attention to Edinburgh".

Terry Currie, senior director for Growing Businesses at Scottish Enterprise, commented: "Communities that embrace enterprise are able to offer their residents healthy opportunities for starting a business, creating jobs and wealth for the local area and beyond. Scotland needs more of these enterprising areas; we want to encourage everyone involved in projects like Edinburgh Science Triangle to enter this year's Enterprising Britain competition."

For more information about Enterprising Britain 2008 and details of how to enter, visit the Enterprising Britain website or contact:

Gillian Grant
Email: gillian@opalgen.co.uk
Tel: 01506 844 611.

Notes to editors

About Scottish Enterprise
Scottish Enterprise is the main economic development agency for Scotland covering 93 percent of the population from Grampian to the Borders. The Scottish Enterprise Network consists of Scottish Enterprise and 12 Local Enterprise Companies. Working in partnership with the private and public sectors the Network aims to build more and better businesses, to develop the skills and knowledge of Scottish people, and to encourage innovation to make Scottish business internationally competitive.

For more information visit the Scottish Enterprise website.

Case studies from all Enterprising Britain 2007 regional winners are available.

For more information on the Enterprising Britain competition please visit the Enterprising Britain website or contact:

Nicola Green
Geronimo Communications
Tel: 020 7299 8764 / 07863 543 951
Email: nicola.green@geronimocommunications.com

For more information on the involvement of the Regional Development Agencies (RDAs) in Enterprising Britain, contact:

Alison Culshaw
RDA Secretariat
Tel: 020 7654 1552
Email: alison.culshaw@rda-secretariat.com

For more information on the European Enterprise Awards (EEA) please visit the EEA website or contact:

Nicola Green
Geronimo Communications
Tel: 020 7299 8764 / 07863 543 951
Email: nicola.green@geronimocommunications.com

For more information on the Government's enterprise policy, please contact the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform press office. Tel: 0207 215 5614. (Out of hours, Tel: 0207 215 3505).

  • Enterprising Britain is a nationwide competition that celebrates and recognises enterprise achievement throughout all the regions of the UK.
    For more information please visit the Enterprising Britain website

  • Enterprising Britain is open to all places (in the UK) that can demonstrate how they have transformed the community through enterprise in the last two years. All entrants must represent an identifiable geographic area, such as a town, a city, a parish or neighborhood and be able to demonstrate that enterprise is central to the economic and or social transformation of the place.

  • The competition runs nationally across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and operates in two stages: a regional nomination stage and a national competition between the regional finalists

  • The regional heats for the competition run from 18 February 2008 to 31 May 2008. The 12 regional winners were visited by members of the judging panel over the summer

  • The Enterprising Britain 2007 winner was North Staffordshire Regeneration Zone and the runner-up was The Paper Trail

  • The Enterprising Britain 2006 winner was West Kilbride Craft & Design Town.
    For more information visit the West Kilbride website

  • The Enterprising Britain 2005 winner was Sherwood Energy Village, Ollerton.
    For more information visit the Sherwood Energy Village website

  • The overall winner and runner-up of Enterprising Britain 2007 were entered into a Europe-wide competition - the European Enterprise Awards

  • The European Enterprise Awards are inspired by the Enterprising Britain Competition, and aim to reward local and regional initiatives that are improving business prospects. The Awards are open to the 25 Member States of the European Union as well as Bulgaria, Iceland, Norway, Romania and Turkey

Contact Information

Ruth Andrew

Ruth.Andrew@scotent.co.uk