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2008 Event

Around a thousand people gathered to celebrate some of the brightest and best of North-east business at this year’s Northern Star Business Awards 2008.


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Organised by Aberdeen & Grampian Chamber of Commerce, the event which was held at the P&J Arena at the AECC, was the biggest yet in the five year history of the awards and combined a glamorous mix of business and entertainment.

John Lewis took the Overall Business Award in the larger business category while AVC Media Enterprises took the Overall Award in the smaller business category. The overall award reflects a company’s performance across all the other categories.

John Lewis Aberdeen has distinguished itself nationally as being one of only two companies in the John Lewis chain to achieve profit growth this year (the other was Oxford Street, London). The company was also shortlisted in the socially responsible and customer service categories.

AVC, with 89 employees, is now one of the largest media and communications agencies in the North-east of Scotland and has a worldwide portfolio of over 1,500 clients,
Anne Robertson,   Leader of Aberdeenshire Council was presented with the President’s Award for Councillor of the Year from Chamber President Mike Salter for her significant commitment and   contribution to promoting both the North-east as a region and the economic ambitions of Aberdeenshire in particular.

Another woman in the spotlight was Lesley Wilson of Johnston Carmichael who won the Woman of the Year, a new category this year organised in conjunction with Engage. Also hotly contested this year was the Rising Star Award which went to John Murray, Operations Manager at Dominion Gas who was described by judges as not just a Rising Star but a Shooting Star.

Rising stars of the future also had a say in another award, the Student Placement Award which was won by Geoprober Drilling.  The company was nominated by Radoslaw Bialek, a Management with Marketing student at The Robert Gordon University, as a way of saying ‘thank you’ for his positive experience during his placement.

Another drilling company, KCA Deutag Drilling has its global achievements recognised when it won the Achievement in Internationalisation Award.

Socially Responsible Company of the Year Award went to Mackenzie PR who provide free PR support and have raised thousands of pounds for local cancer charity Clan.

The Commitment to People Development Award went to Prospect Flow Solutions in recognition of their staff initiatives, while the Customer Service Award went to AMEC for its approach to work with its customers.

Another winner this year was the All Energy conference which won the Renewable Energy award in recognition of it contribution to raising the profile of the renewables industry and bringing in around £1million to the North-east economy this year.

Energy industry support companies also did extremely well this year with Monitor Management Control Systems lifting the Best Use of ICT Award and Offshore Hydrocarbon Mapping winning the Commitment to Research and Development Award.

The event was hosted by Kate Thornton, best known as the first presenter of the television talent show the X Factor, who took some rare time away from her young son Ben to travel to Aberdeen for the awards.

Joining Kate on stage was the headline entertainment act of the evening, international soul diva Jocelyn Brown whose blistering performance set the stage alight with an act which included her signature tunes Keep on Jumping and Somebody Else’s guy.

Also performing for the record crowd last night was Only 4 Men Aloud, a segment of the Welsh male voice choir Only Men Aloud who won this year’s BBC series Last Choir Standing and who will perform at the Royal Variety Performance Later this year.
Chamber Chief Executive Geoff Runcie said:
“We’ve had a truly exceptional night tonight with some outstanding winners who thoroughly deserved their place on stage.  Our finalists represented all sectors of our business community and each one is a significant contributor to our economy. We had a lot of newcomers pick up awards this year and we are delighted with this trend as it reflects the buoyancy and vibrancy of the North-east business community.

“Our Northern stars were matched by our stars from the entertainment world. It is this blend which makes the Northern Star such a unique event. This has been our biggest and best to date and we are already looking ahead to what we can do next year.
“All I’ll say is Watch this Space – and book your tables now.”