Jamie Smith, founder and managing director of Ice Factor Ltd has won the regional Director of the Year Award 2009 for Highlands and Islands at a glittering awards ceremony held by the Institute of Directors (IoD) in Glasgow on March 5 2009.

His win was announced in front of more than 300 winners, finalists and assorted guests by the event's host, Scotland Today presenter Shereen Nanjiani.

Ice Factor Ltd is the biggest indoor ice climbing facility in the world, and features the UK's largest articulated rock climbing wall at its base in Kinlochleven.

Helen Whitham, managing director of GoEco in Shetland, won the Young Enterprise Scotland Director Award. GoEco is a Young Enterprise group from the Anderson High School in Shetland.

GoEco produce organic canvas bags which are not only environmentally-friendly in themselves but are printed using natural dyes and an environmentally-friendly dyeing process and are sourced from a Fair Trade company with an ethical trading statement.

The IoD Director of the Year Awards were conceived in 2004 by IoD Scotland, to recognise and celebrate excellence at director level within the private, public and voluntary sectors, and across the Scottish regions. Led by IoD Scotland, this year's awards are also backed by Determined to Succeed, Highlands and Islands Enterprise, Microsoft, the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations, Scottish Enterprise, MCL, Napier University and the Crowne Plaza, Glasgow.

Finalists and guests at the ceremony, which was held at the Crowne Plaza hotel, heard from Jim Mather MSP, Minister for Enterprise, Energy and Tourism and Dr Neville Bain, Chairman of the Institute of Directors, who is an author of four books covering general management, governance and utilising people effectively.