THE Glasgow Times is featuring the six candidates hoping to be voted Glasgow's Favourite Business for 2024. 

This year's nominees are Boveda Hair & Beauty, Café Gandolfi, Clyde 1, Glasgow Film Theatre, Nursery Story and Waverley Excursions Ltd. 

The award, sponsored by this paper, is part of the Glasgow Business Awards organised by Glasgow Chamber of Commerce.  

"We both grew up listening to this radio station so to be part of it at its most successful time is amazing," George Bowie says of Clyde 1.  

Bowie at Breakfast presenters George and Cassi Gillespie say its "great" for the station to be one of this year’s nominees for Glasgow’s Favourite Business.  

George said: "It’s a legendary Glasgow company and it’s our 50th year so it’s nice that’s recognised.  

"We won station of the year at the ARIAS two years in a row but it’s really nice to get recognised in your own patch, it’s amazing. 

"I care about what people in Glasgow think about the radio station, that’s the important thing."

Cassi added: "The awards we’ve managed to win over the past few years have been internal in the industry so it’s nice to be recognised by the people of Glasgow."

(Image: Gordon Terris, Newsquest)

Launching on at 10.30pm on December 31, 1973, as Scotland’s first commercial radio station, Clyde 1 has been an important part of the daily lives of Glaswegians for more than half a century. 

And love for the station isn’t going anywhere as figures have revealed that this year it has its highest number of weekly listeners for 22 years, reaching 706,000 weekly listeners in the last two RAJAR quarters*. 

George, who joined Clyde 1 in 1988, says the figures are "incredible" because nowadays there is so much choice for listeners.  

He said: "22 years ago there was about half a dozen stations on the dial, now you can turn on your digital radio and there’ll be about 100 stations to choose from so to have those listeners in this day and age is incredible.  

"There’s probably not another station in the world that’s been going this long where you can look at the graph now and the graph 20 years ago and it’s the same.  

"It’s an incredible feat for any company.  

"When I heard about that I thought ‘that canny be right’ but it was and it’s amazing, but that just shows how much it means to people in Glasgow and the West of Scotland."

(Image: Gordon Terris, Newsquest)

Cassi, who says she grew up listening to George on her way to school, says she believes Clyde 1 is so popular because the hosts resonate with listeners.  

She said: "I live breathe and sleep Clyde 1 and I’m so delighted that we are number one for Glasgow and the West.  

"I feel that when we’re out and about, I feel that from the people that walk our streets, I think we have so many passionate listeners and we’re passionate about what we do.  

"You’ll go into cafes playing Clyde 1, shops playing Clyde 1, you’ll speak to somebody who was listening that morning.  

"It’s local news, local travel, they know what they’re going to get when they tune in and I think that really helps as well because people waking up in this city want to know exactly what’s happening here and nowhere else. 

"Our bosses trust George and I, I trust George, George trusts me, our listeners trust us back and that’s what makes it so good, that’s the beauty of it."

With popular shows and features such as the 5K Minute, Superscoreboard, and The GBXperience, Clyde 1 has become an important part of the daily lives of listeners.  

George also credits them with helping to shape the stations shows.  

He said: "People at gigs come up and say ‘I listen to you every morning’, it’s part of their routine – they'll play the 5K minute, they’ll phone in for a tune, or they’ll listen to GBX at the weekend, it’s part of people’s lives.  

"It was part of my life when I was a boy, I used to listen to Radio Clyde, Cassi listened to me."

He continued: "There’s something special in here, we can just say something on air, something random, and you’ll get calls about it.  

"We just think that’s the norm because it happens every day, but its uniquely Glasgow.  

"People get involved in the show and everyone’s got a say."

 

*Source: RAJAR 2024 Q1 & Q2 published figures based on Clyde 1 TSA.  

The winner of The Glasgow Times Award for Glasgow's Favourite Business will be revealed at the annual Glasgow Business Awards at the DoubleTree by Hilton Glasgow Central on Thursday, October 3, 2024. Voting closes at noon on August 30, 2024. 

Place your vote for The Glasgow Times Award for Glasgow's Favourite Business HERE or www.glasgowbusinessawards.com/glasgows-favourite-business-poll/.