The CIS Excellence Awards – the country’s leading competition for the hospitality, catering and tourism sectors – is introducing three categories to recognise businesses and individuals who innovated, collaborated with others or helped local communities between March and July.

“From mid-March until the Government allowed them to re-open, hospitality operators all over Scotland were faced with some of the toughest challenges they have ever encountered,” said Andrea Nicholas, Chair of the CIS Awards Advisory Board.

“Many saw an opportunity to help others, either by joining forces, adapting products and services or offering their premises and staff to assist those who needed it most during the crisis.”

The Innovation Award is aimed at companies and individuals who created an innovative product or service as a direct result of Coronavirus which has had a positive effect on staff, customers, clients and/or the local population or general public. The Collaboration category will reward co-operation which improved a product or service, or been of greatest help to customers. The Social and Community Award is for the best support for a local community during lockdown.

In further boosts for the sector, the CIS Awards’ organisers also announced that judging of its 2020 Awards will go ahead, with the presentation ceremony and dinner scheduled for next February, and that its 2021 Awards will be judged in the Spring and presented next Autumn.

Entries for this year’s awards should be submitted by 3^rd September. For more information, see cis-excellenceawards.com, email nominations@cis-excellenceawards.com or phone 0800 130 3731.

Apart from the three new awards, there are 17 other categories including those for hotels, restaurants, pubs, chefs, hospitality educators, staff retention, sustainable businesses, healthy eating and food tourism.