Yekemi Otaru and Sarah Downs, co-founders of Aberdeen-based Doqaru, have been named Small Business of the Year Entrepreneurs in the Great British Entrepreneur Awards 2022 grand final.
The ceremony, held at Grosvenor House in London, saw 1,400 people join together to celebrate a collective £2 billion generated in turnover and more than 17,000 jobs.
Doqaru was among 12 Scottish entrepreneur-led companies who went home with prizes in categories from health & beauty to family business.
There was also success for Gregor Sey of Aberdeen company Boozy Events who picked up the Young Entrepreneur of the Year accolade.
Boozy Events services include mobile cocktail bars, virtual cocktail-making classes, corporate events and hybrid virtual/in-person events.
Doqaru, a sales enablement consultancy based at Balmoral Hub, are no strangers to award wins with Ms Otaru and Ms Downs also being named Social Entrepreneur of the Year at the Scottish Women’s Awards last month.
Ms Downs said: “It’s a huge honour to have received this prestigious award.
“The last few years have been a rollercoaster and this provides fantastic recognition for us as co-founders and our team for all their hard work.”
‘Biggest and best awards yet’
Over the 10 years, there have been a number of big names to receive accolades, including Shaun Pulfrey of Tangle Teezer and Diary of a CEO host and Dragons Den star Steven Bartlett.
Great British Entrepreneur Awards founder Francesca James said: “Celebrating Britain’s ambitious, driven and inspirational entrepreneurs for a decade has been an honour, and we’ve learnt so much from hearing all of their unique stories and perspectives.
“The extraordinary circumstances of the last few years have tested the resilience of our business communities, and the challenges were enough to give many entrepreneurs an excuse to give up.
“Instead, our award winners did the opposite and, through ingenuity, innovation and the ability to adapt, they thrived.
“These challenges certainly haven’t gone away, and the next few years will present new obstacles to overcome – but one only needed to look around the room at our tenth anniversary to see some of the truly special founders and doers, to gain confidence that this snapshot of the economy can go on and adapt again.”