22 organisations have been shortlisted across the five award categories which are as follows: Innovation in Education, Investor of the Year, Exporter of the Year, China Welcome of the Year and Entrepreneur of the Year.
The final category - Entrepreneur of the Year - is new to the 2020 awards and is an opportunity to celebrate an outstanding individual who has shown exceptional entrepreneurship in growing their business in China and/or Scotland.
An independent judging panel has shortlisted entrants for each Award as follows:
The five entrants for the Award for Innovation in Education, sponsored by Huawei, are:
The three companies shortlisted for the Investor of the Year Award are:
- Carbon Science Holding Group Ltd who have invested in several Scotland-based life science companies and one new material company in 2019
- Huawei for their investment and development of the Huawei Edinburgh Research Centre
- PolyDigi Tech Ltd for investment in the Data Driven Innovation Project and Blockchain Identity Lab
The five companies shortlisted for the Exporter of the Year Award, which is sponsored by Bank of China UK Limited, are:
- Babcock LGE, an Engineering, Procurement and Project Management business that designs and supplies systems for new build liquefied gas ships built in China and Korea
- Calnex Solutions, a developer of leading edge electronic test and measurement equipment and software, supplying China’s telecoms and networking industry
- Care Visions Group for its pioneering dementia service model projects in China
- Edrington for their recent growth in China with an industry-leading portfolio of super premium spirits
- Holland & Sherry, a premium fabric exporter supplying luxury fabric to more than 200 tailors in Mainland China
The five businesses shortlisted for the China Welcome of the Year, sponsored by the Scottish Confucius Institute for Business and Communications, are:
- Gretna Green, a 5-star Visit Scotland rated attraction and family run business since 1885 catering to increasing numbers of Chinese visitors
- Johnstons of Elgin, producers of fine cashmere and wool products offering Mandarin-led tours of the only vertical mill in Scotland
- Laings, Winner of the Award in 2018, is a prestigious family run jeweller established in Scotland in 1840, now with a significant Chinese clientele
- S-CITA, the Scotland-China Innovation and Technology Association, for their work in bringing one of China’s leading environmental organisations to Scotland and fostering of subsequent commercial outcomes
- WangPing Travel Limited, one of the first Chinese tour operators in Edinburgh, established in 2001, providing Chinese tourists with guided tours of Scotland
The four individuals shortlisted for Entrepreneur of the Year, sponsored by Laings, are:
- Josh Hutchinson of ARX Maritime, a company specialising in risk management solutions for the maritime industry
- Rachel Jones of SnapDragon Monitoring Ltd, a company specialising in protecting businesses from counterfeiting crime
- Thorranze Cheung of Red Unit, a design studio in Scotland specialised in providing innovative and tailored Chinese market entry solutions
- Yvette Jelfs of Yvette Jelfs Ltd, an established British hat designer, working with some of the best international designers and fashion houses now breaking into the Chinese market.
The winners of the awards will be announced in a ceremony following the China-Britain Business Council Chinese Burns Supper, in partnership with the University of Glasgow, on Thursday 30th January at the Grand Central Hotel in Glasgow.