Thirteen Falkirk district businesses among winners at Scotland's Business Awards for Falkirk and Stirling

Scotland’s Business Awards hosted their annual Falkirk and Stirling regional awards at the Macdonald Inchyra Hotel in July. The awards celebrate the best of business in the region.

Among the winners on the night were a number of local businesses covering a wide range of categories. Following the regional awards the category winners will now go on to compete against other regional winners later this year in a bid to become the national winner.

It’s something that’s all too familiar for The Lonely Broomstick on Falkirk’s High Street. The store, run by Leslie Lenaghen and his mum Doris, was named Best Gift Shop on Sunday night. It’s the second year in a row the shop has secured the regional title and last year it went on to win the Scottish title. In a post on Facebook, the owners thanked everyone who voted for them to win for a second year.

It wasn’t just retail that was recognised at the awards. Two town centre cafes were also among the local winners.

The Allotment Cafe in the Howgate Shopping Centre won the Best Eatery category, while Finnegans was named Best Cafe.

Erdal Ozer, owner of The Allotment Cafe, said on Facebook: “Congratulations to our team. To our community, thank you for all your support and votes really appreciated. We will continue to do what we do.”

And a post on Facebook from the Finnegans team said they were “overwhelmed” to have won, adding: “To everyone in our amazing team, incredible customers supporting our business and the generosity of our donors and volunteers who help us feed local families and children each month. Thank you!”

Piece of Cake by Lucia, based in Falkirk’s West Bridge Street, won the award for Best Bakery. She said: “My family and friends do so much to help me and my business, a lot behind the scenes too. I would be so lost without them. This win is for all of us as a team and all my customers. I couldn’t do this without the amazing support from all of you guys.”

There were awards for local businesses in the hair and beauty industry too.

Renella was named Best Salon Falkirk with the team thanking those who voted for them on social media.

Cloud Nine Beauty won the award for Best Beauty Salon, with a Facebook post describing it as “definitely a pinch me moment”. It went on: “Still can't believe I won. Can’t thank my team for being my rock over the last year.

I couldn't have done it without all my AMAZING clients. Thank you for all your support.”

The award for Best New Hair Salon went to October Hair and Beauty. Owner Sophie Allison, who opened the Bank Street salon last August, said online: “Thank you so much to every single person that voted for us, it means the world. I have the best group of girls alongside me and I couldn’t be more proud of you all.”

There were two awards for By Bardsley on High Station Road. They won Best New Beauty Salon and Best Nail Salon.

A Facebook post from the salon said: “Want to thank all of our AMAZING girls for making it possible to win these awards! Can’t believe we won two awards within only six months of opening! We want to thank all of our unreal clients for being the best people to create such an amazing environment within our salon also and well done to everyone who was nominated for these awards you deserve this award too. We are over the moon.”

The Bannatyne Spa in Falkirk won the Best Multi-site Beauty Salon. Manager Gemma McGregor said: “I’d like to thank everyone who voted for us, and of course, the fantastic spa team. It’s brilliant that our clients have voted for us and I hope they will continue to support us as we go forward to the national finals.”

Central Superhero Parties and Events won Best Events Suppliers at the awards.

Winner of Best New Business was Victoria Gardiner from Carron with her Dog Grooming Co.

After winning the regional and national finals in the best service category last year, Central Cleaning Services were named Best Cleaning Business at Sunday’s event.

For the third year in a row Lemetti’s chip shop in Camelon’s Main Street was nominated in the Best Fish and Chip Shop category – and this year they took home the trophy.

A spokesperson for the business said: “The staff are very proud of this achievement and are glad their hard work had paid off. We would like to thank all our customers who voted for us as we appreciate their support.”