A Dundee gaming pioneer paid a spine-tingling tribute to his home city and its residents last night as he accepted the outstanding contribution of the year gong at the 2017 Courier Business Awards.
Chris van der Kuyl, whose company 4J Studios has sold millions of copies of its version of Minecraft, arrived at the Apex Hotel ceremony on Saturday night to be handed the “tremendous honour” merely hours after flying back from New York City.
With no prior knowledge that he would receive the award, the businessman was given a standing ovation by the 700-strong audience in the specially built waterfront marquee.
Taking to the stage he gave a rousing speech to the audience hailing the “unbelievable spirit” of Dundee, its residents and business community.
He also referred to 2018, the year of V&A Dundee’s opening, as a key year for the city.
“This city is unbelievable, it has an unbelievable spirit and a spirit which has been underplayed for a number of years”, he said.
“It is coming out of that now. It is coming out with not only it’s head held high but a vision for what we are about to do. That will know no bounds.
“We need to attract the best talent in the world to come to Dundee. We create the best talent at our universities.”
He added if the city also recruited “the best” talent there will be “no limit to what we can achieve”.
Mr van der Kuyl also told of how he turned down the opportunity to move to Silicone Valley in the US for work in his youth to stay in Dundee.
He said: “I came back and said you know what I don’t want to go there, because I have met better people in Dundee than anybody that I met in Silicone Valley. All they need is the opportunity.
“It is starting to happen.”
His words were met by rapturous applause on more than one occasion, after which he received a second standing ovation.
The businessman also said the night was “more amazing” for Dundee’s own Clark’s Bakery – which won overall family business of the year – adding that they “make the best pies”.
