Bluebeam Cegal magazine OGV 2023 Calendar 2024 events
Trailblazing north-east entrepreneur shortlisted  for top honour at national technology awards

A respected north-east entrepreneur has been shortlisted for a prestigious honour at a national business awards events in recognition of her commitment to overcoming adversity and inspiring other women into the technology sector.

Sheryl Newman, managing director of learning and technology consultancy Appetite for Business, is a finalist for the Leader of the Year category at the Scottish Women in Technology (SWiT) Awards.

The winners of this year’s awards will be announced at the Radisson Blu Hotel, Glasgow on Wednesday, October 24 as part of a ceremony bringing together women from start-ups, multi-million pound businesses and academia.

Believed to be the only finalist based in the north or north-east of Scotland, Sheryl is one of 40 entrepreneurial female business leaders shortlisted across nine categories and will go head-to-head against finalists from Amazon, CodeClan, Getronics and JP Morgan.

Over the years Sheryl has won several awards in recognition of her entrepreneurship and ingenuity to survive during the oil and gas downturn but also for the work she has done to promote STEM-related opportunities for women, particularly in the energy sector.

Sheryl Newman said: “I’m both humbled and delighted in equal measure to be considered in such an amazing shortlist. These awards act as a flagship in Scotland to support the industry in its mission to move the dial on gender.

“It can be tough and lonely at times being a female entrepreneur in the tech sector, but awards programmes like these shine a spotlight on female role-models that can help inspire young girls and women to pursue careers in technology.”

Lynsey Campbell, chair of SWiT, said: "The awards aim to uncover and celebrate trailblazing women working in the technology sector in Scotland and to provide a national platform for those women to not only receive recognition for their work but to also be the role models so desperately needed for the next generation of technologists.”

This latest awards nod for Appetite follows a period of sustained growth for the business. As well as adding four new personnel to the team, it has secured 30 new clients since the turn of the year across a wide range of sectors including education, engineering, aerospace and oil and gas.

In addition to new project wins across Aberdeen, Birmingham and London, the business has benefited from a growing order book in the Highlands – which has led the firm to open a dedicated Inverness base. Appetite has moved into new office space at the IVtwo Business Centre, formerly known as Ness Horizons Business Centre, located at Kintail House, Beechwood Park.

The business has also won a global contract to support a pharmaceutical firm roll-out Microsoft Office 365 and Windows 10. This project will involve user adoption across 14 European counties, the UK, Russia and Australia.

Appetite has also helped several oil and gas companies with Windows 10 and Office 365 user adoption, SharePoint intranet collaboration projects and using SharePoint as an integrated tool to provide digital capabilities to improve processes for greater efficiency, enhanced customer care and managed risk.

Sheryl added: “I’m extremely proud of our team for what we have achieved so far this year with an increasingly diverse mix of clients and sectors helping to drive business success. These recent project awards demonstrate our commitment to help customers drive efficiency and collaboration within their businesses and illustrates our growing expertise within our sector.

“The new office in Inverness will also allow us to better serve our customer base in the Highlands and Islands, which is an important market to me personally given family connections.”

Appetite is a people-focused technology consultancy that specialises in Office 365 and associated applications to supports organisations achieve significant cost savings and process improvements through better understanding of how employees engage and interact with technology.

Published: 10-10-2018

OGV Energy will use the information you provide on this form to be in touch with you and to provide updates and marketing. Please let us know all the ways you would like to hear from us:

OGV Magazine 78 wellpro