FIFE has been crowned the ‘Most Enterprising Place in Britain’.

The Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS) announced on Friday that the region came top in this year's Enterprising Britain Awards.

The awards have been running for 15 years and celebrate the work of public sector and UK government-backed organisations that support and encourage entrepreneurial spirit, with entrants competing in five categories – Promoting Entrepreneurial Spirit, Building Enterprise Skills, Improving the Business Environment, Support for Exporting and the Most Enterprising Place in Britain.

Regions across the UK competed and, in addition to the Most Enterprising Place in Britain award, Fife Council won the Promoting Entrepreneurial Spirit category for its achievements, which included supporting young people to develop entrepreneurial skills and get into education, training or employment and creating an environment and programmes that are helping businesses grow.

Government minister Lord Duncan said: “Businesses in Fife have proved they can compete with – and beat – the best in Britain.

"I'm delighted that Fife has been named the Most Enterprising Place in Britain.

“The UK government is supporting their enterprising spirit.

"Our modern Industrial Strategy helps to ensure that businesses across Scotland and the UK are supported and continue to thrive."

The Kingdom is playing a key part in developing two city deals in Scotland: Edinburgh and South East Scotland; and the Tay Cities.

The UK Government, working with the Scottish Government and local partners, remains on track to agree a city deal with all seven of Scotland’s cities.

Fife Council’s co-leaders, Cllr David Alexander and Cllr David Ross, said: “These awards show what can be achieved by applying an innovative approach to supporting businesses.

"We are fully committed to continually improving the prospects for our young workforce and in supporting the growth of enterprise across Fife.

“We are delighted that Fife is rightfully getting recognition for creating an excellent environment to support our business community to develop and grow, which, in turn, are creating quality opportunities for our local communities.

“Fife Council and its business partners continue to work tirelessly to create fairer economic growth, where everyone benefits, provide good employment opportunities and secure investment in the region.”

Bob Garmory, chair of Developing the Young Workforce Fife, added: “Fife is closely linking education and learning with employers to help us develop our young workforce, get more young people into education, training and employment, and empower future business leaders.”

Jamie Hepburn, Scottish minister for Business, Fair Work and Skills, said: “This is welcome news for Fife and demonstrates the effectiveness of the strong working relationship between the Scottish Government, Fife Council and the Fife Economy Partnership to enable inclusive economic growth.

"The Scottish Government has provided £6 million worth of support through the Fife Task Force which has delivered enterprise initiatives and business growth projects, such as the Business Resilience Programme and the Glenrothes Enterprise Hub, and will provide modern industrial premises for business, such as the Levenmouth Business Units and Queensway Business Units.

"The Scottish Government continues to work alongside Fife Council to maximise the area’s undoubted potential.”

The award winners will be formally recognised at the Enterprising Britain Awards ceremony which will be held at a House of Commons reception on 30 October.

Summary of Fife Council’s award-winning achievements: A Culture of Enterprise Framework is inspiring a new generation of entrepreneurs in Fife supported by school and college providers; employability support is aligned with Scottish school curriculum to prioritise STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) subjects and a dedicated Developing the Young Workforce Fife (DYW) team has been introduced; support has been given to the development of new Foundation Apprenticeships within Fife; a leadership development programme is now in place hosted within a new Enterprise Hub; business growth opportunities are being enabled and a comprehensive industrial estate regeneration programme is underway; Glenrothes is home to Fife’s main concentration of specialist manufacturing and engineering companies, with over 130 businesses.