An inspirational north-east businesswoman has been recognised with a national award for her role in an Aberdeen company’s continued success.
Sheryl Newman, managing director of technology consultancy Appetite for Business, received the Business of the Year honour at the Corn Exchange, Edinburgh as part of the ASB National Business Awards.
Organised by the Association of Scottish Businesswomen (ASB), the awards are open to business and professional women throughout Scotland and celebrate the achievements of women working across all sectors.
Appetite is a people-focused technology consultancy that specialises in Office 365 and associated applications to supports organisations achieve significant cost savings and process improvements through better understanding of how employees engage and interact with technology.
This marks the second time that Appetite has won the Business of the Year honour, having previously clinched top prize in 2014 prior to a management buy-out that saw Sheryl take sole control of the company in 2016.
Sheryl Newman commented: “For myself and the team to have won this award, especially against the backdrop of a very tough business environment, feels just wonderful.
“I feel lucky and humbled to have shared this stage with some truly incredible women. Receiving this award solidifies our vision for the future and, together with my colleagues, we look forward to continuing to scale the business whilst supporting our customers.
“I want to say a huge congratulations to all of the other winners and those shortlisted on the night. I can’t thank the Association of Scottish Businesswomen enough for creating a platform to showcase inspirational female-led businesses from across the country.”
Lyndsey Greer Phillips, ASB president, said: “I’m absolutely delighted to welcome such high-calibre finalists. I know the judges had a very difficult time deciding between all these amazing businesses and inspiring women.
“The Association of Scottish Businesswomen is so incredibly proud to play an integral role in shining a spotlight on the many successful and inspiring women in our business communities by facilitating the awards and giving the opportunity to praise and reward the most talented women for their achievements in business.”
Sheryl has won several awards in acknowledgment of the work she has done to promote STEM-related opportunities for women, particularly in the energy sector. In October, she was named Leader of the Year at the Scottish Women in Technology (SWiT) Awards.
She is also co-founder of Girl Geek Scotland, a bespoke community which supports women working in the country’s technology sector. This led to her invitation to join Intellect’s Women in IT Forum, the UK trade association for the IT, telecommunications and electronics industries.
Over the past year, Appetite has grown its team from three to nine people and secured more than 30 new clients to extend its reach across a diverse range of sectors including energy, pharmaceutical, food and drink and recruitment both in the UK and internationally.
In July, the business was recognised by the Learning and Performance Institute (LPI) as one of the UK’s top 20 highest performing learning providers. The company received LPI gold accreditation for the seventh consecutive year, including achieving perfect scores (100%) for client value proposition, business integrity, learning consultancy, online learning and people development.