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