Babcock takes Scottish Engineering’s top honour at annual Glasgow awards

The awards, held at the Hilton Glasgow, saw nine companies and 11 young engineers recognised for performance, growth, innovation and skills development.

Babcock took the headline award for its engineering work spanning naval shipbuilding, advanced manufacturing and defence infrastructure support.

Scottish Engineering’s chief executive Paul Sheerin added: “Babcock is a standout example of Scottish engineering delivering at scale and with real national impact.

"Their work delivers and supports a wide range of critical national security infrastructure for the UK and its partners across the globe, and this is advanced manufacturing of real ambition that demonstrates the innovation, resilience and skills that underpin the strength of our sector.

"My sincere congratulations to everyone at Babcock on being named Scottish Engineering's Company of the Year 2026, and to all our award winners on their much-deserved success this evening.”

Other business winners included Aberdeen-based Balmoral Comtec, which received the President’s Award, and Guala Closures UK, which won the innovation category following its major manufacturing investment in Gartcosh.

Emtec Energy collected the energy transition award, while Sappi Rockwell Solutions was recognised for manufacturing excellence.

Growth and transformation awards went to Cairnhill Structures and ATL Turbine Services respectively, while Booth Welsh won the skills excellence category.

Invinity Energy Systems picked up the export award for its work developing vanadium flow battery technology in Scotland.

The young engineer awards highlighted emerging talent across the sector.

Iona McCulloch of Leonardo was named Young Engineer of the Year for her role leading development of an integrated testing solution designed to remove capability gaps and operational bottlenecks.

Ellen Taylor of Thales UK was runner-up.

The graduate apprentice award went to Taylor Barr of Ritchie Precision for work introducing Industry 4.0 principles to manufacturing operations.

Tyler Trevisani of Babcock won the modern apprentice category.

The awards, now in their 34th year, are designed to recognise businesses and individuals making a significant contribution to Scotland’s engineering base at a time when manufacturers continue to face recruitment pressures, rising costs and growing demands around innovation and productivity.