— Exclusive use hospitality venue, Winton House in East Lothian, recognised for its commitment to environmental excellence at Scotland’s leading sustainable business awards —
Winton House, based near Pencaitland just outside Edinburgh, beat off stiff competition from businesses across Scotland to win the Best Micro Business Award at this year’s VIBES 2012 awards ceremony which was held at the Glasgow Marriott Hotel.
Now in its thirteenth year, the Vision in Business for the Environment of Scotland (VIBES) awards programme recognises the commitment, actions and achievements of Scottish companies in reducing their impact on the environment.
The Best Micro Business is chosen from all the entries submitted to the VIBES Awards 2012 with less than 10 employees. The exclusive use private and corporate events venue was one of nine winners selected from 34 shortlisted organisations. Winton House, which pursues a corporate social responsibility (CSR) strategy, was also shortlisted in the ‘SME Management’ category.
Sir Francis Ogilvy, owner and factor at Winton House said: “The Winton team is really delighted to have won this award. We are committed to a management style that encourages environmental diversity across all our products, often exceeding best practice. Our long term ambitions are to have a prosperous estate which supports businesses and communities, and plays a constructive part in the county.
”Winton has always aimed to operate sustainably. For us, it is part of our ethos: wherever we can, we aim to employ local people, use local suppliers and source locally here in East Lothian. We also try to minimize our waste, recycle where we can and encourage biodiversity across the estate.
“Winton’s new biomass heating system is going live in the next few days. This burns wood chips made from low grade timber from the estate and heats Winton House and five other houses.
Gillian Bruce, VIBES chair, said: “I would like to congratulate Winton House on its award win. The company’s hard work and dedication has made a significant contribution to Scotland achieving its 2020 carbon reduction targets.
“Our judges were very impressed with their commitment to reducing the environmental impact of the business and I would encourage other businesses across the country to follow this lead.”
The team at Winton House were particularly pleased to find themselves alongside the other winners who were Mainetti UK, Castle Group Scotland Ltd, Branston Ltd, Bpi.Recycled Products, Lothian Buses plc, Enviroco Limited, Ewgeco, Kingdom Housing Association Ltd and Peter Lederer, chairman of The Gleneagles Hotel, who won the Lifetime Achievement award for his commitment to improving environmental performance, particularly within the tourist sector.
David Wilson, director of Energy and Climate Change at the Scottish Government provided the keynote speech at the event, who, amongst other things, said how pleased he was that the new Green Investment Bank had just been launched and is setting up its base in Edinburgh.
VIBES is a strategic partnership between: Scottish Water, Scottish Environment Protection Agency, Zero Waste Scotland, Carbon Trust, CBI Scotland, Co-operative Development Scotland, Green Business Partnership, Highlands and Islands Enterprise, Scottish Enterprise, the Scottish Government and Energy Saving Trust, Scotland.
Notes for Editors:
About the VIBES awards: to view the full VIBES 2012 shortlist, please visit: www.vibes.org.uk/vibes-shortlist
