THE Royal Bank of Scotland has been unveiled as this year's main sponsors of the Scottish Borders Business Excellence Awards.

Organised by the Scottish Borders Chamber of Commerce, the ceremony recognises the best of the region's businesses.

Chamber chair Jack Clark told us: "We have been quite taken aback by the interest shown by potential sponsors this year which indicated how these awards have grown over the last four years.

“RBS were very much involved last year with Malcolm Buchanan being our guest speaker and since then we have met with Ross McEwan.

"This has culminated in their becoming our main sponsors and we are delighted to have them on board."

As well as the overall sponsors of the event, Mr Clark was also full of praise for the ten individual category sponsors.

He added: "It is the local and regional support which has overwhelmed us and now each of the ten awards categories has its own sponsor – Bruce Stevenson Insurance, Business Gateway, Davidson Chalmers, Scottish Borders Council, Reiver Recruitment, NFU, Scottish Borders Social Enterprise Chamber, Developing the Young Workforce (Borders), South of Scotland Local Export Partnership and NS24."

The nominations process for each award category will be opened over the coming weeks.

Malcolm Buchanan, Scotland Board chair of the Royal Bank of Scotland, said: “As a supporter of customers, communities and businesses across the Borders, the Royal Bank of Scotland is delighted to become a key partner and headline sponsor for the Borders Chamber of Commerce Awards.

“These awards offer an opportunity to celebrate the wealth of skill and depth of talent which exists across the region and offer a platform to showcase the qualities and resource which have made it such an important part of Scotland’s business landscape.

“We are sure this year’s event will be a great success.”

The awards ceremony will take place at Springwood Park in Kelso on Thursday, November 1.