Skipinnish records duo named as Scotland's Shell LiveWIRE Young Entrepreneurs of the year 2005

Two young businessmen from Tiree and Spean Bridge were last night named as Shell LiveWIRE Young Entrepreneurs of the Year at the Scottish finals. Angus MacPhail, 25, and Andrew Stevenson, 27, of the Highland-based record company Skipinnish Records stood out from the nine other Scottish finalists at the event held at the Oran Mor Auditorium in Glasgow.

Skipinnish Records produces and distributes high quality music from the Highlands using a range of young aspiring and established musicians. Since setting up their business around 18 months ago, they have succeeded in penetrating the international market through a successful concert in Korea, and having outlets for their music in Canada and New Zealand.

They also had a gig at the Royal Concert Hall in Glasgow on the 6th May 2005 which was very successful, as well as regularly appearing live on the BBC's Robbie Shepherd Take the Floor radio show. Angus and Andrew's music has been used on Artworks Scotland, Balamory, Obair Latha as well as several other BBC and independent television programmes. Their early successes have been achieved through their talent, good business sense and sound grasp of their cash flow. 

Skipinnish Records was originally formed to help Angus and Andrew produce the first CD for their band. From this they discovered a gap in the market and now provide help to artists looking to produce and record their own CDs and albums. The business was supported by Argyll and the Islands Enterprise (AIE) in the form of advice and a £3250 business start-up grant.

The runner-up was Dynamo Games from Tayside, a mobile phone applications developer. The eight other finalists at last night's event were: Techmobile, Western Isles; Chim Chimeny, Highlands; White Spark Promotion, North East; Crème de la Crepe, Fife; Tangent Multimedia, Lothian; Carry Freedom, Ayrshire; Adustum Ltd, Dunbartonshire; and Barhand, Glasgow.

Angus and Andrew won £3000 for winning the event and Dynam Games won £2000. Both businesses will now go through to the UK finals to be held on 22nd June in London.

Last month, Angus and Andrew beat off stiff competition from six other young Argyll entrepreneurs who had recently set up their own businesses to win the regional Shell LiveWIRE awards for their area and the £1000 prize money. The regional event was organised by AIE and supported by Shell UK.

Skipinnish Records has big plans for 2005, including a marketing venture to Nova Scotia, Canada, in October, so their prize money will be put to good use to reinvest in recording artists and promotional material.

Commenting on their success in getting so far in the awards, Angus said: "This is a great honour to win such a prestigious competition, especially as we were up against nine of Scotland's top new entrepreneurs. It also gives what we are doing a huge amount of credibility and will help to raise awareness of our business."

Andrew and Angus' AIE business adviser Sandy Slater said: "Andrew and Angus have made an excellent start to their business and have already established a good reputation amongst artists. They have a niche product which is in demand in several overseas markets as well as those closer to home. They understand and are respected in the music industry, but the key to their success is that they have a good grasp of the business issues. I am confident that they will soon become major players in their industry."

Chief executive of AIE, Ken Abernethy said: "Angus and Andrew are an impressive business combination that would stand out in any company, and on behalf of AIE I congratulate them both for winning this award, and of course wish them the best of luck at the UK finals next month. They are a shining example of how a successful Highlands and Islands business can compete on a national and international stage."