Our CEO, Craig Campbell, was a judge for the Scotland Dealmakers Awards 2025, celebrated at a dinner last week in Glasgow and hosted by broadcaster Colin Murray. Here Craig shares his views on the experience and what it tells us about the economy.
Across nearly 100 entries – twice last year’s volume – the shortlist that emerged reflects not only ambition, but a market in transition.
One of the most striking features in the submissions was their diversity. Small sub-scale deals (sub-£10m) sat beside cross-border transactions and major buyouts. Sectors ranged from life sciences, energy transition, cleantech to manufacturing, professional services and digital ventures. This mix is telling: Scotland’s corporate landscape is no longer defined by the usual suspects alone, but increasingly by innovation and reinvention.
That shift is backed by broader data. Investment in Q1 2025 saw a remarkable surge in funding despite a slight drop in volume. The total value more than doubled, and Scotland captured 7% of all UK deals. Meanwhile, the themes of energy transition, tech scale-up and private equity buy-and-build strategies recur throughout as focal areas.
From my vantage point, judging is not about ‘the biggest deal’, but recognising the full spectrum of excellence. My lens is shaped by my own experience, especially through 25 years in industry – 15 years at Deloitte Corporate Finance to founding my consulting practice in the same field, and now leading the Turner family business which is focused on investing in mid-market industrial and service companies.
In each phase, I learned that what defines a deal is less its headline value, and more the strategic intent, the execution through inevitable adversity, and the lasting consequence for growth.
In reviewing entries, I looked for deals where management teams had a plan and executed it with precision and entrepreneurial flair; perhaps overcame structural or regulatory hurdles; where advisers brought creativity, not just finance; where outcomes embedded value not just for sellers and buyers, but for employees and Scotland’s broader economy.
I was particularly attentive to deals in the sustainability, energy or tech realm — categories where Scotland is staking a future — and considered whether the transaction genuinely enables forward momentum.
The closeness of many categories reinforced how tight the competition was. I congratulate all those shortlisted. The entries this year are not just a reflection of individual achievement, but a testament to Scotland’s corporate and financial worlds evolving under pressure.