Entries open for the 2020 Scottish Rural Awards

Nominations are now being accepted for the Scottish Rural Awards 2020, organised by Scottish Field Magazine and the Scottish Countryside Alliance.

Small and medium-sized Scottish businesses are being asked to enter themselves or nominate a friend for a Scottish Rural Award 2020.

The deadline to enter will be Monday, 4 November.

Organisers from Scottish Field magazine and the Scottish Countryside Alliance are pleased to announce the new award titles for the 2020 Scottish Rural Awards, which are:

• Best Scottish Artisan Food Award
• Best Scottish Artisan Drink Award
• Rural Business Diversification Award
• Best Rural Business Start-Up Award
• Best Farming Business Award
• Best Rural Employer Award
• Rural Hospitality Award
• Best Rural Innovation Award
• Best Rural Skills Educator Award
• Most Sustainable Rural Business Award
• Best Rural Tourism Initiative Award
• Rural Hero Award
• Lifetime Achievement Award
• NEW FOR 2020: Best Countryside Digital Innovator Award

There is also an extra category for the 2020 awards: Best Countryside Digital Innovator. The winner will be crowned for successfully championing digital projects and products across the agricultural, rural and tourism sectors in Scotland.

The awards mark the culmination of five extremely successful years of rewarding local heroes, innovative businesses and enterprising community projects which make the Scottish Rural Awards the most sought-after rural awards in Scotland.

Finalists will be invited to attend a black-tie three-course dinner held in spring 2020.

Last year’s awards were presented by Dougie Vipond and were held at Dynamic Earth, Edinburgh. Among the winners were Donna Ker-Ramsay (Rural Hero), Island Bakery Organics Ltd (Artisan Food) and Fishing for Litter – Kimo UK (Conservation and the Environment). Click HERE to find out all of the winners.

It couldn’t be easier to enter the awards. Businesses and individuals can nominate themselves or a friend on the website. It only takes five minutes to fill in our online form to register your nomination.

Enter at HERE.

Businesses have until Monday 4 November to put forward their nomination. Businesses can either self-nominate or be nominated by a friend, family member, customer or member of the public.

The full criteria for each award, along with nomination forms, are available on the Scottish Rural Awards website, www.scottishruralwards.org. It is free to enter a nomination.

As an added bonus, every nominee will receive a free copy of Scottish Field magazine.

The ultimate benchmark of success in Scotland’s countryside, the Scottish Rural Awards are now in their sixth year and are partnered by Scottish Field Magazine and the Scottish Countryside Alliance.

Richard Bath, editor of Scottish Field, said: ‘The Scottish Rural Awards go to the heart of Scottish Field’s commitment to showcase the best that Scotland’s countryside has to offer. That is why it has been an enormous pleasure to be a part of an awards that has grown in stature with every passing year.’

‘Our involvement with the SRA has also been an educational process: judging the awards each year has revealed the extraordinary levels of innovation and energy of the people who live in rural Scotland. In turn, the awards have given those dynamic custodians of Scotland’s rural economy the public recognition which they so richly deserve.’

Jamie Stewart of the Scottish Countryside Alliance said:
‘Land-based businesses contribute over £2 billion to the Scottish economy. Despite the multiple challenges they face, they are hugely valuable brand ambassadors for Scotland, and many provide vital support to their local communities. These awards give Scotland a chance to recognise the resilience, innovation and contribution that rurally-based people and businesses make to its success.’

Finalists will be announced at the beginning of December 2019, with winners revealed at the Scottish Rural Awards ceremony and gala dinner, which will take place in spring 2020.