The NatWest Great British Entrepreneur Awards, which is now in its sixth year, is intended to recognise the hard work and inspiring stories of British entrepreneurs.

Of the nine Scottish companies to win awards in 2018, two Scottish tech firms stood-out, taking home the prestigious Great British Entrepreneur of the Year: Scotland & Northern Ireland and UK Small Business Entrepreneur of the Year awards.

Gordon Merrylees, head of entrepreneurship at NatWest, said: “It has been so inspiring to see the number and calibre of entries this year, which proves that the entrepreneurial spirit is alive and well across the whole of the UK.”

“I want to extend my huge congratulations to all the winners of this year’s categories and hope that their businesses continue to grow and thrive in the future. We look forward to continuing our support with entrepreneurs to help make their growth and scale possible”

Great British Entrepreneur of the Year: Scotland and Northern Ireland

Dr Graeme Malcolm OBE, CEO and co-founder of M Squared, a leading developer of photonics and quantum technology, took home the award for Great British Entrepreneur of the Year: Scotland and the North.

Malcolm told DIGIT: “To win our Great British Entrepreneur Award for Innovation is a huge reward for a Scottish company – particularly on Burns Night!

“It’s a badge of honour for the efforts that the team puts into making the business grow and changing society through transformative technology.

“When innovative businesses are recognised for their entrepreneurship, it’s a victory for science and technology in the business community.”

In 2017 M Squared was also awarded a Business Innovation Award by the Institute of Physics and was listed in the Deloitte Technology Fast 500™ EMEA list, which ranks 500 of the fastest-growing technology, media, telecommunications, life sciences and energy tech companies in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

The Glasgow-based firm is responsible for developing practical quantum technologies, novel microscopes for neuroscience and regenerative medicine and new threat-detection equipment for the security and defence sector.

Malcolm was awarded an OBE for his services to Science and Innovation in the 2015 New Year Honours list and he received The Swan Medal from the Institute of Physics. In 2017 he was recognised as one of Britain’s game-changing entrepreneurs in the Maserati 100.

UK Small Business Entrepreneur of the Year

Leah Hutcheon, CEO and founder of Appointedd, a market-leading supplier of online booking and scheduling solutions, won the UK Small Business Entrepreneur of the Year.

Hutcheon said, “It is a fantastic honour to be recognised as the UK Small Business Entrepreneur of the Year at an exciting time for Appointedd.”

“Being a small team doesn’t impede our ambition and we are thrilled to be working with organisations of all shapes and sizes all over the world during a time that is transformational for tech and industries such as retail and financial services.”

This victory comes after a year of positives, Hutcheon won International Growth Business of the Year at the Business Women Scotland Awards 2016 and was a runner up in the Innovation Entrepreneur of the Year award category. Appointed was also ranked in the Top 5 for software in the 2017 IP League Table.