Moray Chamber Awards: Seafield Arms Hotel, Mackenzie and Cruickshank, The Humble Burger, RAF Lossiemouth and Lynda Robertson honoured
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A SERIES of businesses and community stalwarts received recognition for a successful year at the Moray Chamber Awards on Wednesday night.
The event, hosted by Shan Saba at the Seafield Arms Hotel, attracted businesses from all corners of Moray as five awards were handed out.
The Humble Burger, in Elgin, won Most Promising Enterprise, Small-Medium Enterprise of the Year went to the Seafield Arms Hotel and the Corporate Social Responsibility Award was won by Mackenzie and Cruickshank in Forres.
RAF Lossiemouth received a special recognition award before the biggest cheer of the night came for Lynda Robertson – of Pozzi Newsagents – who was presented with a surprise Lifetime Achievement Award.
A standing ovation greeted the announcing of Mrs Robertson's award win.
Lynda has worked at Pozzis for a number of decades and has helped introduce numerous young people to work the world of work. She described herself as "overwhelmed" after the award win.
She said: "I was extremely surprised and overwhelmed. I was very honoured to be the first recipient of this award.
"I'd just like to thank my staff who have worked with us over all the years, the customers and everybody that has paid a part in the 35 years of being in business."
Moray Chamber's CEO Sarah Medcraf was delighted for all five winners, and pleased with the night's success overall.
She said: “We have had a really special evening, and I am delighted we were able to shine the spotlight on so much success across Moray.
"In really difficult times businesses are showing time and time again they can overcome hurdles and flourish."
A fine example of that is Elgin business The Humble Burger, which began as a food van and has quickly developed into a popular eatery with a premises in Bishopmill.
Husband and wife team Mike and Jennifer McEwan run the business together, with a team of 12 working with them.
Jennifer said: "It's really overwhelming and we are very shocked and surprised. We didn't expect it but it's a lovely surprise.
"It's a testament to the team we work with. It's as much their prize as it is ours, so we will go back and have a wee celebration with them.
"Other than enjoying home cooking, we didn't have any professional experience. We have been working really hard and it's worked so far."
Small-Medium Enterprise of the Year went to the evening's host venue, The Seafield Arms, before Mackenzie and Cruickshank won the Social Corporate Responsibility Award.
Ailie Flett, manager of The Seafield Arms, started with the company Regency Car Sales at the age of 16, before moving to Morlich Homes and working up to the role of hotel manager in 2018.
She said: "It's a team effort. We have worked hard for the award so it's been good. I'm proud of the team and what we have achieved."
Peter Wilson, of Mackenzie and Cruickshank, explained how his team invested £750,000 building a sustainable extension – while keeping everything local.
"We collected this award because when we did the £750,000 extension we took the view of only using people from Moray," he said.
"It achieves so many objectives. It keeps local people employed, stops lorries coming from all over the country and it's money that goes back into the local economy."
The special recognition award went to RAF Lossiemouth for the level of employment the base has brought to Moray. The award was accepted by Station Commander Jim Lee.
In a speech, he said the base appreciates the support it receives from the local community and from Moray Chamber.
