Success for Skyscanner and FanDuel at the Scottish Business Awards

There was major success for Skyscanner at the 2015 Scottish Business Awards, with the global travel search site being crowned Scottish Company of the Year,

Based at Edinburgh’s Quartermile, the organisation beat off stiff competition to walk away with the accolade, which recognises a company’s commitment to jobs growth and social responsibility, among other factors.

Skyscanner has been based at Quartermile since 2012 and employs 300 people in its Edinburgh office, as well as a further 300 around the world.

A spokesperson for Skyscanner said the company is delighted to have won the award in the face of such strong competition.

“There were so many of Scotland’s impressive businesses shortlisted across the award categories, all of whom we hold great respect for.

“We’ve grown from a spark of an idea to an international business with 10 offices across the world and 50m monthly visitors to our site. This award is in recognition of this success, and we’re very proud and humbled to be in receipt of it.”

There was further success for another Quartermile-based organisation, FanDuel, which was victorious in the hotly contested Tech Company of the Year category.

It was the latest in a string of successes for FanDuel, which scooped four gongs at the annual DigiTech Awards in June, including Digital Technology Business of the Year.

The Edinburgh-founded company offers daily fantasy sports contests to players in North America and recently signed a 15-year lease to occupy the top three floors of the £50m, seven-storey Quartermile 4 office building, relocating from Quartermile 1.

Nigel Eccles, CEO and Co-founder of FanDuel, said: "We are delighted to have won. We have a strong engineering team here in Scotland and this award is testament to their hard work and commitment to making a product that is enjoyed by millions of fantasy sports players.

“The standard of shortlisted candidates in the Tech Company category was very high and reinforces Scotland's rapidly growing reputation as a hub of digital expertise."

Both Skyscanner and FanDuel alike were lauded for their extraordinary growth and international success in recent years, with judging panel chairman, Sir Tom Hunter, expressing his delight at the quality of entrants seen across the board.

Sir Tom commented: “This underscores the absolute point that Scotland can lead the world; everyone pitching for an award is a winner in my book and boy do we need these winners to succeed.

“It's a true inspiration to see just what Scotland can produce in entrepreneurship at the Scottish Business Awards."

The sold-out event was held at Edinburgh’s EICC and attended by several dignitaries from the worlds of sports, business and entertainment, featuring contributions from George Clooney, Chris Evans and Sir Chris Hoy.

It was hosted by comedian Rob Brydon, with the judging panel including Dragon’s Den star and entrepreneur Shaf Rasul, technology guru Chris van der Kuyl, and People’s Postcode Lottery UK managing director Jo Bucci.

All profits from the event, which are expected to total more than £1 million, will be donated to a range of charities across Scotland and the rest of the UK, including Scottish Edge, the Social Bite Fund, and Not On Our Watch.