Midton honoured for Helping It Happen
Mid Argyll acrylics firm picks up top award ‘It’s lovely recognition for the team’s hard work... I’m very proud of what the team and the business has achieved through the worst crisis of its 40 years in business.’
Lochgilphead business Midton has been named a winner in the national Helping It Happen Awards 2021.
The bespoke acrylic manufacturer scooped the Business Resilience Award for the way it adapted quickly and efficiently during the Covid crisis.
Now in its fifth year, the Helping It Happen Awards have become firmly established in recognising the role of businesses, estates and community groups which are helping rural Scotland thrive. The awards are managed by rural business organisation Scottish Land and Estates and sponsored by GLM.
The Barclays-sponsored Business Resilience Award is a new award category for 2021 which celebrates businesses which have adapted, survived and thrived during the pandemic.
The independent judging panel said it liked the way Midton had quickly adapted to keep its staff and start producing PPE and screens during the pandemic, all while addressing environmental issues through its recycling and scrappage scheme.
Like many small businesses, Midton had to adapt and diversify during Covid-19 to survive.
It developed a range of shields and PPE for the NHS and other businesses.
Sustainability is important to the company and working on the basis of a scrappage scheme, it offers customers cashback on the material cost of all shields they produce.
Midton then recycles this material and reuses it in the manufacturing process.
The diversification took a very different form to the highend awards it produces for the likes of the Royal Television Society and Formula One, and staff had to adjust quickly to a changed marketplace.
Midton fought off stiff competition from two other finalists - Kula Coffee Hut from Duffus Estate in Morayshire and Ferry Fish based in Dumfries and Galloway.
This year, there were 10 award categories, with another Lochgilphead business – MacLeod Construction Ltd – making the final in the Rural Business Award category.
MacLeod just missed out, but the company was quick to congratulate the winner, forestry equipment supplier Jas P Wilson of Dalbeattie, as well as its neighbour Midton on their success. Midton director Graham Ramsay said: ‘It’s lovely recognition for the team’s hard work after a challenging but rewarding year.
‘It was great to see how the team pulled together after the Covid shutdown in March 2020, helping the business rapidly diversify and support our local community during scary and uncertain times.
‘I’m very proud of what the team and the business has achieved through the worst crisis of its 40 years in business.
‘It’s been a challenging journey, from the panic of closing the doors in March 2020, worrying how the business would survive the pandemic, to the business now thriving and being busier than ever.
‘The pandemic allowed us time to diversify and improve the brand and marketing, which has allowed the business to come through the pandemic stronger than ever. Our future is circular economy; new recycled products for existing and new clients.
‘Continual expansion is the aim, with investment into sustainability and new technologies while continuing to support our local community.’
Sarah-Jane Laing, chief executive of Scottish Land and Estates, offered congratulations to the winners.
She said: ‘The independent judging panel had a really tough time deciding who should be crowned in each category.
‘All the winners have made a considerable contribution in their own way to rural Scotland, and their environmental impact is always at the forefront of their minds.
‘The Helping It Happen Awards quite rightly celebrate those farms, organisations and estates going the extra mile to make a positive contribution to their local community and wider Scotland whether that’s through climate action, providing jobs and training or building affordable housing.
‘This contribution is crucial to ensure that Scotland has a successful green recovery from the Covid pandemic.’
The winners were announced during a virtual ceremony on the evening of Wednesday October 27, which can be viewed on the SLE website.