European Business Awards announce 2009 Ruban d’Honneur Winners

The European Business Awards have unveiled the companies and individuals selected to receive the prestigious Ruban d'Honneur in 2009.

Ninety-nine leading businesspeople and organisations made it onto the winners list, which recognises excellence and innovation in European enterprise.

“This has been an eventful year for the European business community. While some might have focused on pessimistic economic forecasts, our winners have chosen to respond with a blend of inventiveness and industry that has defied the downturn,” said Adrian Tripp, Chief Executive of the European Business Awards.

“Clearly it is not all doom and gloom out there. Despite challenging trading conditions, the European Community is home to a raft of small, medium and large business success stories.”

With a combined turnover of €573billion, the 2009 Ruban d'Honneur winners seem set to buck the economic trend. According to statistics gathered by the European Business Awards, this year's nominees recorded an average annual profit growth of 56%.

“These awards revolve around business success, entrepreneurialism, innovation and ethics – all concepts we strongly believe in promoting. This year's entrants have demonstrated to us that the European business scene is still very much alive,” said Isidoro Unda, CEO of leading global credit insurer Atradius.

B.G. Srinivas, Senior Vice President and Member of Executive Council at Infosys, a global leader in the next generation of IT and consulting services, added: “The quality of entries this year despite the economic backdrop, have demonstrated a business environment in Europe that fosters talent management, gritty commercialisation and agility, that have enabled organisations to execute existing projects and in some cases completely re-engineer their business models for success.”

All ninety-nine Ruban d'Honneur recipients must now prepare to appear before a second judging panel of highly regarded academics, heads of state, industrialists, entrepreneurs and media commentators drawn from across the 27 member European States. The interviews will take place over two weeks between January and February 2009 at Atradius' offices in Rome and the overall winners in each of ten categories will be announced at the Awards ceremony in Rome on 7th April 2009, in front of Europe's top business leaders, politicians and media.

“The standard of entries is very high this year proving that European business is still very active and prospering. There are some remarkable companies in the running and choosing the overall winners from the final shortlist of ninety-nine is going to be an extremely difficult task for the judging panels,” said Jean Stephens, CEO of RSM International, one of the worlds largest auditing and consulting networks.

David Hardy, International Sales and Marketing Director at bigmouthmedia, Europe's largest independent digital marketing agency, added: “This promises to be an exciting year for many companies. The new winners' list is packed with success stories from organisations of all sizes, and it is clear that European business still has a lot to shout out about.”

Full Winners List:

The Business Innovation of the Year Award

B & K Timber Structures, Belper, UK

Centre of Registers & Information Systems, Tallinn, Estonia

Dexxon Groupe Holding, Gennevilliers, France

FreeFlow, Tralee, Ireland

Honeywell, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Imooty Ltd. & Co. KG, Berlin, Germany

Intelligent Energy, Loughborough, UK

Nunwood, Leeds, UK

SES ASTRA S.A., Betzdorf, Luxembourg

Tennant Company, Antwerpen, Belgium

The Business of the Year Award

AT4 wireless S.A., Malaga, Spain

Bank Pekao SA (Bank Polska Kasa Opieki SA), Warszawa, Poland

beCogent Limited, Airdrie, UK

Asseco Slovakia, a.s. Bratislava, Slovakia

Hallin Marine Subsea International Plc, Hamble, UK

IDE Group, Edinburgh, Scotland

Q-Cells SE, Bitterfeld-Wolfen, Germany

Sotheby's International Realty France, Paris, France

StepStone, Guildford,UK

TelecityGroup, London, UK

The RSM International Entrepreneur of the Year Award

ACE Enterprise Slovakia, Bratislava, Slovakia

BrewDog, Fraseburgh, UK

Europa Technologies Limited,Cobham, UK

Gameloft, Paris, France

Global Ethics Ltd, London, UK

MENDEZ CHAIN SL- NIGHTBRA, Tenerife, Spain

Secusmart GmbH, Duesseldorf, Germany

TelecityGroup, London, UK

Wonga.com, London,UK

Bacterfield OU, Tallinn, Estonia

The Award for Corporate Sustainability

Acciona S.A., Madrid, Spain

Brakes Group, Ashford, UK

Enel SPA, Rome, Italy

Hewlett-Packard, Boblingen, Germany

ING, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Kingfisher Plc, London, UK

Lilly France, Suresnes Cedex, France

Ricoh Europe, London, UK

SIVECO Romania, District 1, Romania

Terna Spa, Roma, Italy

The Environmental Awareness Award

Data Electronics Services Ltd., Dublin 22, Ireland

Dell, Bracknell, UK

East Midlands International Airport, Derby, UK

Enel SPA, Rome, Italy

Ertl Glas AG / ertex-solar GmbH, Amstetten, Austria

Kingfisher Plc, London, UK

Manchester Rusk Company Ltd, Sharston, UK

Maximillion, Edinburgh, UK

Ricoh Europe, London UK

Telekom Austria TA AG, Vienna, Austria

The Customer Focus Award

Air Berlin PLC, London, Germany

Carteco S.A., Kallithea, Greece

Dell, Limerick, Ireland

Deutsche Telekom Kundenservice GmbH, Bonn, Germany

Estonian Energy Telenetworks: Televorgu AS, Tallinn, Estonia

Goetz-Gebaeudemanagement RSL GmbH & Co KG, Regensburg, Germany

ICUnet.AG, Passau, Germany

Lloyds TSB Scotland, Edinburgh, UK

Manchester Rusk Company Ltd, Sharston, UK

Rackspace Managed Hosting, London, UK

The Infosys ICT Effectiveness of the Year Award

Bigpoint GmbH, Probst, Germany

Bright Grey, Edinburgh, UK

Centre of Registers & Information Systems, Tallinn, Estonia

Dexxon Groupe Holding, Gennevilliers, France

Estonian Energy Telenetworks: Televorgu AS, Tallinn, Estonia

FreeFlow, Tralee, Ireland

LEMICOM s.r.o. Prague 5, Czech Republic

LMG, London, UK

Microsoft Malta Limited, Mosta, Malta

Percana Group Ltd, Dublin, Ireland

The Bigmouthmedia Marketing Strategy of the Year Award

Bank Pekao SA (Bank Polska Kasa Opieki SA), Warszawa, Poland

DVLA, Swansea, UK

First ScotRail, Glasgow, UK

Graphisoft R&D zrt., Budapest, Hungary

IDE Group, Edinburgh, Scotland

LMG, London, UK

Optivo GmbH, Berlin, Germany

Societe Generale, Paris Cedex 18, France

Sony Europe, Kingston-upon-Thames, UK

UNICEF Arbeitsgruppe Frankfurt am Main, Frankfurt, Germany

The Atradius Growth Strategy of the Year Award

Ashtead Plant Hire Company Limited (A-Plant), Warrington, UK

Bright Grey, Edinburgh, UK

De Nederlandse Energie Maatschappij B.V., Rotterdam, Netherlands

GYS, Saint Berthevin, France

Huxley Associates, Amsterdam, Netherlands

Mellon Poland Sp.z o.o, Warszawa, Poland

Petroleum Experts Ltd, Edinburgh, UK

TotalPDA Ltd, Glasgow, UK

Webhelp, Paris, France

Webmart Ltd, Oxfordshire, UK

The Employer of the Year Award

Bank Pekao SA (Bank Polska Kasa Opieki SA), Warszawa, Poland

beCogent Limited, Airdrie, UK

Dell, Limerick, Ireland

Deutsche Telekom Kundenservice GmbH, Bonn, Germany

FedEx Express, Melsbroek, Belgium

HSBC Invoice Finance (UK) Ltd, Worthing, UK

Huxley Associates, Amsterdam, Netherlands

Lilly France, Suresnes Cedex, France

Q-Cells SE, Bitterfeld-Wolfen , Germany