GBEA winner – Medium to Large Business Award – Scotchmans Hill

Scotchmans Hill is the Bellarine Peninsula’s oldest and largest winery.

Established in 1982, the company is well-known for its award-winning premium cool maritime climate wines and its long-standing ranking among James Halliday’s Top 100 Australian wineries.

Overlooking Port Phillip Bay, its Drysdale site houses a bistro and cellar door experience, with a boutique menu of locally sourced produce on offer, while a French provincial-inspired homestead serves as a wedding and events destination.

Meanwhile, its portfolio boasts six distinct wine brands, comprising a total of 53 wines, with a new label presently in development for an expected February release date.

Beyond its own wine production, Scotchmans Hill provides contract winemaking and agricultural services to other vineyards and wine brands, sharing its knowledge and expertise with other businesses in the region to help them thrive.

And with the industry, and the drinking habits of consumers, continuing to evolve, the business understands better than most the need to innovate and grow.

This has seen Scotchmans Hill invest significantly in its vineyards, cellar door and marketing in recent years, while the installation of a cutting-edge bottling line has enhanced the business’s production capabilities, enabling it to package wines independently.

Continuing this success, Scotchmans Hill is this year’s recipient of the Medium to Large Business Award, sponsored by EML.

The award recognises a business operating with 21 or more full-time employees.

“The judges thought Scotchmans Hill ticked all the boxes for a large business, from massive achievements and investments in the Geelong region, to winning awards, new bottling lines [and] targeted marketing strategies,” chair of the judging panel Simon Flowers said.

Mr Flowers also praised the business for the role it plays in helping other wineries in the region to produce and win awards, along with its “great customer service” across the different areas of the business, and its “very robust” financial management procedures and controls and risk strategies.

“This award recognises an outstanding business who are doing amazing things representing the Geelong region,” he said.

Scotchmans Hill was also one of seven businesses shortlisted for the title of Business of the Year.

For the team, the award is welcome recognition for the hard work they have put in over the past decade to rebuild the business after it came out of receivership with a change of ownership in 2014.

For more information, head to scotchmans.com.au

Sponsored by EML.

EML is the premier injury management partner of choice for employers and government agencies and is this year’s sponsor of the Medium to Large Business Award.

With more than a century of experience, EML is a trusted partner for employers seeking claims management expertise and personalised service to help their injured workers recover and return to work.

Its team of more than 3,500 employees Australia-wide is guided by a noble mission: to help people get their lives back.

Proudly Australia-owned and operated, EML allocates a significant portion of its profits annually to fund research, training and resources through the Mutual Benefits Program to create safer workplaces and improve recovery and return to work outcomes.

More than $121 million has been invested through the program over the past decade, benefitting not only EML’s customers, but also the wider community.

Over the past 10 years, $17 million has been invested in Victoria alone.

Since establishing its presence in Victoria in 2016, EML has grown to employ more than 520 professionals across offices in Geelong and Melbourne’s CBD and provides support to more than 52,000 employers in Victoria, including Cotton On and McColls Transport.

EML