Award Recipients

Scotland’s world leading crystal glassware company, Glencairn Crystal is honoured to receive the King’s Award for Enterprise – the fourth time in the company’s history it has been awarded this prestigious accolade. This year the business has been recognised for its excellence in the category of Innovation.

Founded in 1981 and based in East Kilbride, Glencairn Crystal Studio Ltd is a family-owned business employing over 70 people. The company specialises in premium crystal and glassware for both business and consumer markets, with unrivalled expertise within the spirits industry.

Renowned for its pioneering design, craftsmanship and manufacturing, Glencairn Crystal creates luxury, high-end bottles and decanters featuring intricate metalwork, unique application processes and state-of-the-art engraving techniques. It has successfully scaled up artisan techniques for commercial production, blending hand-crafted artistry and ground-breaking technical innovation.

By embedding world leading invention and highly bespoke branding into its proprietary decanters and bottles, Glencairn works with spirits companies, globally, to elevate the value of their brands, showcasing the craftsmanship that has gone into every one.

For over 20 years, it has also produced the iconic Glencairn Glass – the first glass designed specifically for whisky. Recognised as the official glass for whisky in the UK, and throughout the industry internationally, it is the world’s favourite whisky glass used by millions of consumers and distilleries around the globe.

The company first received the Queen’s Award for Innovation in 2006 for the Glencairn Glass, followed by the Queen’s Award for International Trade in 2012 and 2017. Scott Davidson, New Product Development Director, says: “We’re delighted to have been recognised for our work with The King’s Award for Innovation. To be granted such a prestigious award for the fourth time is incredibly special. As a family run business for more than 40 years, we have a valued team of talented employees who have innovation at the core of everything we do. This award is a testament to the passion, creativity and dedication of everyone here at Glencairn Crystal, and to our mission of pushing the boundaries of what’s possible for our customers in crystal and glass.”