APA News

  • Glasgow Scientific Services win prestigious Covid-19 Response award at Scottish Public Sector Awards Ceremony


    Joanne Love preparing to collect alcohol from Edrington to allow GSS to make much needed hand sanitiser.


    Glasgow Scientific Services have won a prestigious Covid-19 Response Award at Scottish Public Sector Awards.  The virtual ceremony took place on the 16th December
    The award was in recognition of the outstanding public health contribution by GSS manufacturing and distributing laboratory grade hand sanitiser products for front-line council and health and social care staff throughout the pandemic.
    The Scottish Public Service Awards celebrate the daily contribution made to Scotland’s civic society from within the civil service, Scottish Government, Scottish Parliament, local government, health and social care sector and the broader public sector.
    The 40 strong team was assisted by a generous donation of high strength alcohol from international spirits firm Edrington, which made the manufacture of their initial batches of sanitiser possible following Lord Provost Philip Braat’s high-profile appeal for a variety of PPE donations as supplies ran low. Firms like Clydeside Distillery and AG Barr followed suit donating alcohol and bottles respectively to the Scientific Services team.

    Glasgow’s Lord Provost said: “Having liaised with many officers in the team during the pandemic, I am fully aware of their tireless efforts. This recognition is nothing short of what they deserve.”

    Joanne Love, capped for Scotland more than 190 times, works as a chemical analyst within Scientific Services and was involved in taking delivery of the first batch of alcohol donated by the Scotch Whisky firm Edrington. Jo said: “I’m glad to be able to do my bit. We all want to get through this pandemic safely and I know all the staff are extremely proud of their contribution and to be recognised by reaching the finals for this prestigious award.

    The winners, across 13 categories were declared at a virtual ceremony on Wednesday 16 December. The judges were:

    Ken Macintosh MSP, Scottish Parliament’s Presiding Officer; Mandy Rhodes, Managing Director, Holyrood Communications Ltd; Gillian McGregor, Director, Scotland Office, UK Government; David McGill, Assistant Chief Executive, Scottish Parliament; Anna Fowlie, Chief Executive, SCVO; Sarah Gadsdenm, Chief Executive, Improvement Service; Alec Harley, Scotland Lead, Leidos; Stephen Boyle, Auditor General and Lesley Fraser, Interim Director General Organisational Development and Operations, Scottish Government.


    Duncan Scott, a chartered chemist and Scientific Services Group Manager explained the production process and its challenges. He said: “Throughout the course of this Pandemic we were working a variety of shifts to deal with the daily changes in requirements of the services we provide. We were working flat out to prepare and label thousands of bottles of hand sanitiser, giving advice on sanitising products and sanitising cleaning processes as well as continuing to provide our other analytical services to our clients. The sanitiser was manufactured from alcohol that had to be denatured and mixed with other reagents to meet World Health Organisation (WHO) alcohol rub specifications. There were two basic types that are acceptable, one iso-propanol based and the other ethanol based. Both the manufacture and labelling of the sanitiser follow stringent guidelines”.

    Full details of the Shortlist and Winners can be seen by following this link