Pitched against two hugely inspiring finalists, Craig Grant had some stiff competition. It is his forensic approach to every aspect of his poultry business, combined with a willingness to work with others to build knowledge and expertise, that marks him out as the winner.
Throw any question at him about his costs of production and he either knows the answer immediately - down to three decimal places in some instances - or can work it out in seconds.
He knows that when you are dealing with 40,000 free-range birds and supplying a major retailer that attention to detail and meticulous record keeping is what keeps you ahead of the game.
In just five years Craig has established a profitable poultry business on the 290ha arable and pig farm run by his father and uncle near Fraserburgh in Aberdeenshire.
He runs the family's two 12,000-bird houses on a self-employed basis and also operates his own 16,000 Big Dutchman multi-tier unit which he built in his own right after securing grant funding in 2010. All the houses utilise grain grown on the main farm. Eggs are sold to Morrisons through its local packing station, Farmlay Eggs.
After 10 years travelling the world as an engineer in the oil industry Craig has seen what life is like away from farming and it is evident that it shapes his whole approach.
He says it gave him confidence in working with different people from different cultures and an understanding of how business in general operates.
It means he places a strong emphasis on the need for good communication with his buyer and is constantly looking for opportunities to tweak his system so he can increase efficiency, drive down costs or improve bird welfare.
He is not someone who is afraid to try out new techniques - for example modifying the speed of his egg belts to cut collection times and working with contacts in the feed industry to trial new diets.
"Attention to small details make all the difference with regard to profit at the end of the day," he says. The results are there to be seen - Craig's birds are all laying eight to 10 eggs over target, which translates to extra profit.
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