The awardscelebrate leadership excellence across all sectors of society.

Nominations are being sought from third sector organisations for the Institute of Directors (IoD) awards 2017.

The awards celebrate leadership excellence across all sectors of society.

The deadline for submissions is 12 December, with the winners set to be announced at a ceremony in Glasgow in March 2017.

This year’s Third Sector Director of the Year award was won by Jen Paice, chief executive of tenancy deposit scheme SafeDeposits Scotland.

We want to hear about Scotland's business success stories

Louise Macdonald, chief executive of Young Scot, Josh Littlejohn of Social Bite and James Wells of Emms International were also finalists. Macdonald went on to win Female Director of the Year, and then just last month picked up UK Third Sector Director of the Year.

Meanwhile, Edel Harris, chief executive of Highland based social care organisation Cornerstone, was successful in the Aberdeen & Grampian Regional Director category.

The presence of the third sector was notable throughout the awards, with finalists in nine out of 15 categories.

An IoD spokeswoman said: “All nominees, whether from major corporates, family businesses, SMEs, the public sector, charities or social enterprise, are at the heart of driving the growth, innovation and collaboration which are key to Scotland’s success.

“We want to hear about Scotland's business success stories.”

Nominations can be made via the IoD website.