WHEN Andrew Scrimgeour’s moment of glory arrived, he was not even in the in the room to enjoy it.

In fact, when he and his company AJS Labels did the double and won Sussex Company of the Year and Sussex Boss of the Year he was not even in the country.

He had good reason not to be at The Grand to collect the gongs, as the seasoned company director was in India volunteering with a small grass-roots charity which supports impoverished children into education.

Mr Scrimgeor said: “One side of my life is the go-getting hard-working businessman, and the other side is doing stuff for charity.

“I’m very proud of what we do in India. It’s about giving people a leg up rather than a hand out.

“It was just a bit unfortunate that I has to miss my moment of glory!”

The latest in an award-winning lifespan, which includes the British Printing Industry Federation Company of the Year 2011, AJS picked up the gongs at the Sussex Business Awards.

The Littlehampton boss was volunteering for FEAST (For Education and Social Transformation), based in Southern India, which has helped 3,000 poor children go to school in an area devastated by the Tsunami.

His charitable instincts, which he shares with his wife Jayne, go back to their idealistic university days, and as a graduate he worked for a development company in South Africa.

As his career progressed he became marketing manager at William Sinclair and No Print Labelling and later managing director at Jarvis Potter, Tinsley Robor Labels and global media giant AGI.

But after a successful corporate career Mr Scrimgeor was desperate to fulfil a long-held ambition to run his own company.

So when the opportunity came up, he took the bold decision to buy AGI’s UK label printing arm, a floundering business which had clocked up losses of more than £334,000 over the previous year.

He explained: “I left the comfort of the big corporate world which was a pretty scary thing to do. I had a big salary and benefits, but I gave it all up for what was then seen as a no hope company.

“Everyone thought I was crazy.”

AJS was losing £350,000 a year but he took the plunge and managed to turn its fortunes around.

He added: “I had no money to invest but I used one of the skills I do have, which is to motivate and inspire people.

“By the end of the year had brought it back into profit and we’ve now turned it into incredibly successful business.”

AJS employs ex-offenders, to stop the scrap heap getting "bigger and bigger”, which is “not good for anyone”.

The company works with big-name clients such as Nestlé, The Body Shop and L’Oréal – as well as Ditchling vineyard Court Garden and city distillery Brighton Gin.