Celebrating Scotland's Social Enterprise Champions
On November the 6th the 15th annual Social Enterprise Scotland Awards were held in Voco Grand Central Glasgow. The awards are delivered by Social Enterprise Scotland and proudly honour the remarkable impact of social enterprises and the employees, volunteers and partners who drive positive change throughout Scotland.
The First Minister, John Swinney gave the opening speech and said, "The social enterprise movement for me has always been a movement very close to the heart of Scotland. It is about finding a way which we can work together in local communities and across the country to ensure that our business models are taking forward in a different fashion."
He highlighted that social enterprises in achieving this, "they are doing so in a way that respects and takes forwards practically the values of inclusion, of cohesion, of togetherness that so matters so much in Scottish society."
Social enterprises play a huge role in our economy, employing over 90,000 people within in Scotland so the fact that this sector has the opportunity to celebrate this sector is important.
The full list of winners can be viewed here, but well done to the below winners who are based within the Edinburgh & South East City Region;
Social Enterprise of the Year - BRAG Enterprises Category criteria - For a social enterprise that has demonstrated a clear vision, excellence in impact, customer service, and management, plus that little something extra in terms of creativity and innovation.
Tech for Good - DataKirk Category criteria - For a social enterprise that is using technology to achieve its social impact
Social Enterprise Employee Champion - Erin Hutton, Scran Academy Category criteria - This award recognises an individual working in a social enterprise that goes above and beyond to make a difference.
Buy Social Scotland Market Builder - ESES Communities Category criteria - For a social enterprise, public sector body or private sector organisation that has demonstrably made efforts within its own organisation and remit to create more opportunities to buy from social enterprises.
Thrive East Lothian CIC were announced as the winners of the Social Innovation Challenge. This award, delivered by First Port is a programme which aims to 'fund and support innovators to kick-start solutions that tackle some of the most pressing challenges of our time'.
We were honoured to win the 'Buy Social Market Builder' category at the prestigious Social Enterprise Awards Scotland 2025 ceremony in Glasgow.
This award recognises 'driving real change in procurement across Scotland by actively opening up markets and creating new opportunities for social enterprises to thrive through buying'.
At Capital City Partnership and as part of the Edinburgh & South East City Region Deal, our priorities are reducing inequalities and maximising opportunities for all in our region. This all links into our focus on Community Wealth Building which led to us creating our Social Business Directory, with an aim to enable suppliers and contractors to better engage with socially focussed businesses to strengthen supply chains and retain spend locally.
Well done to all the finalist and winners - we are fortunate to have such a thriving Social Enterprise Network in Scotland.
All the winners are now in the running for the UK Social Enterprise Awards 2025 taking place in London on the 26th of November - so best of luck to all!
