Twenty years of the "Spirit of Enterprise Award"

This Award has been presented to North East Businesses for nearly twenty years.

It is presented in memory of Alick Buchanan Smith, who was the MP for Kincardine and Deeside from 1983 until his untimely death in 1991. He was committed to enterprise and the small businesses of his local constituency. The first Award was presented by Kincardine & Deeside Enterprise Trust to Tom Ironside, Furniture Maker.

 In 2011 the Award was presented to Scotland’s oldest befriending charity – Befriend A Child by Alick’s widow Janet.

The charity made a bold move by recruiting fund-raising and marketing staff when other third sector organisations were cutting back. The gamble paid off, and in the past year Befriend A Child has supported a record number of children and been able to access new pockets of funding by carrying out a detailed case review which showed that many young people had backgrounds of substance misuse. The additional funding has allowed the charity to work outside of Aberdeen city for the first time. They were praised for identifying and responding to the differing needs of vulnerable children in rural areas, and the way in which it has developed strategies for closer links with the business community.

Past Winners of the Alick Buchanan Smith Spirit of Enterprise Award