Record Success at Rocco Awards 2018

A sell-out crowd of 500 people witnessed 17 Awards presented at Rocco 2018 on Friday 16th November at the Normandy Hotel Renfrew. Renfrewshire’s principal business event now in its 15th year was sponsored by Paisley.is, the new destination brand for Paisley and Renfrewshire. Chamber President Tom Johnston welcomed the audience warmly and showcased the chamber’s achievements in the last year.

Cabinet Secretary for Finance Derek Mackay MSP spoke as a special guest and emphasised the economic success and future investments coming to the area, acknowledging the vital contribution of the Chamber to the local economy.

 

Deputy Council Leader Jim Paterson gave the main sponsor address and highlighted the opportunities showcased via the Paisley.is destination website, considered the place to find out all that is happening in Paisley and Renfrewshire. The audience were given paisley.is branding toolkits and encouraged to use the new brand on their own media channels to help promote Renfrewshire to the world.    

 

The ROCCO raffle raised a record-breaking £11,000 with individual pledges of £1000 each from intu Braehead and the Normandy Hotel for local charities and good causes with main beneficiaries St Vincent’s Hospice and Paisley YMCA’s digital fabrication project.

 

The outstanding entertainment was provided by talented emerging artists from Scottish Opera; Mezzo-soprano Bethan Langford, pianist Erika Gundesen and soprano Lucy Anderson. General Director Alex Reedijk emphasised the importance of young people building on three sell-out shows of Pagliacci in the summer at Paisley Opera House. He noted the support of the community in bringing these performances to life. Rocco favourite Fred MacAulay hosted and was enthralled by all three performers. The Rocco audience were in awe of the talented artists who received thunderous applause. The Rocco Twitter Wall proved a great hit with all the guests and saw #2018Rocco trending on the night reaching almost 300,000 accounts and 1.1 million impressions…

 

ROCCO Award for Excellence in Customer Services – sponsored by the Scottish Leather Group:
Winner – Polly Rose Ltd

 

ROCCO Award for Developing the Young Workforce West – sponsored by Developing the Young Workforce (West):
Winner NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde – Workforce Employability Team

 

ROCCO Award for Innovation & Technology – sponsored by Creation IP:
Winner – Terumo Aortic

 

ROCCO Award for Excellence in Manufacturing – Sponsored by University of the West of Scotland:
Winner – Rolls-Royce Plc

 

ROCCO Award for International Trade – sponsored by Glasgow Airport:
Winner – Bridge of Weir Leather Company Ltd

 

ROCCO Award for Invest in Renfrewshire – sponsored by Invest in Renfrewshire / Renfrewshire Council:
Winner – Carli’s Kindergarten Ltd

ROCCO Award for Most Promising New Business – sponsored by Business Gateway:
Winner – Shore Wraps Ltd

ROCCO Award for Renfrewshire’s Favourite Business – sponsored by the Paisley Daily Express:

Winner – Pandamonium Playcentre

 

ROCCO Award for Excellence in Tourism – sponsored by Paisley.is:

Winner – Ingliston Country Club & Hotel

 

ROCCO Award for Family Business of the Year – sponsored by the Malcolm Group:
Winner – Ingram Brothers Ltd

ROCCO Award for Young Business Person of the Year – sponsored by West College Scotland:
Winner – Andrew McMillan & Ryan McIlravey – FE Live Audio

ROCCO Award for Employer of the Year – sponsored by Rolls-Royce:
Winner -Ingliston Country Club & Hotel

ROCCO Award for Community Champion of the Year – sponsored by Engage Renfrewshire & Royal Bank of Scotland:
Winner – Klas Care C.I.C. Ltd

ROCCO Award for Outstanding Business <5 employees – sponsored by intu Braehead:
Winner – FE Live Audio Ltd

 

ROCCO Award for Outstanding Business  <25 employees –  sponsored by Renfrewshire Council:
Winner – Allstaff Ltd

ROCCO Award for Outstanding Business >25 employees – Sponsored by Terumo Aortic:
Winner – Wholesale Domestic Equipment Company Ltd

ROCCO Award for Business Leader of the Year – sponsored by Diageo:

Winner – Jonathan Hinkles – Managing Director, Loganair Ltd

Commenting on the awards, Chamber chief executive Bob Grant said “Rocco 2018 will be remembered as a Rocco record-breaker. The event sold out in record time, we had a record number of awards and raised a record amount for our two Rocco charites.

 

A massive thank you to all our sponsors, those who donated raffle prizes and a hearty congratulations to all who made the shortlist and our 17 worthy winners.

 

The success of our 15th Rocco reflects the growth we see in the Renfrewshire economy. Paisley.is proving to be a fantastic selling point for Renfrewshire with our new destination brand already gaining global traction as the go to place for news of activity and investment.

 

You can view all images on our Facebook page and comments on #2018Rocco.  I encourage all Rocco winners to utilise their win across their PR channels. Thank you to the entire Chamber team for all their work before and on the night to ensure our 500 guests had a great time.  Special thanks to principle sponsor Paisley.is, Diageo who supplied our drinks reception, Cameron Presentations & Gap TV for all the AV, Mark from Flash Bang Booth, The Printbrokers for the program, Gary from NS Design for the excellent social media coverage and the Normandy Hotel for the superb meal and service.

 

Finally, thank you to Scottish Opera. It was a privilege to watch performances from three 2018/19 Emerging Artists: mezzo-soprano Bethan Langford, pianist Erika Gundesen and soprano Lucy Anderson. Planning for Rocco 2019 is already underway, and we hope to see you enter and attend next year.”