We were very nearly in Edinburgh Castle to meet our Scottish and Northern Ireland finalists: in the Contini restaurant next door to the Castle forecourt at the top of the tourist-filled Royal Mile. 

Veteran judges Ian Ritchie — a prominent Scottish tech investor – and former Award winner Irene McAleese of See.Sense in Northern Ireland joined John Porteous of Charles Stanley to meet four finalists. 

These were, in relatively low-tech consumer sectors, two very attractive ventures, Highland Soap and Scottish Bee, which markets Heather Honey; in the energy sector, Renewable Parts, which provides recycled components for wind turbines; and in the highest of high-tech healthcare, Sonrai Analytics from Belfast, an AI-driven ‘digital pathology’ spin-out from Queens University. 

All very persuasive presentations. Onwards to the final judging…