Four Greek companies were selected last month among the top 110 European companies distinguished on February 7th as the finalists and “Ruban d ‘Honneur” 2015/2016 recipients of the prestigious European Business Awards (EBAs). The businesses advanced to the next and final phase of the competition, which will announce the winners in each of the 11 categories at the Awards Gala Final on 17 June, in Milan.
The four Greek companies that qualified to the final are:
- Coffee Island, a company, founded in 1999, that has developed a strong franchise network listing 262 stores in Greece and Southeast Europe (entered for the ELITE Award for Growth Strategy of the Year)
- Megas Yeeros, a company established in 2007 with the vision to make yeeros meat a global product (entered for the Import/Export Award),
- Pharma – Data, an R&D and Business Development company specialized in the design and development of new pharmaceutical products worldwide (entered for the Award for Customer Focus)
- Vikos, one of the most renowned and reputable companies in the bottled water market since 1990 (entered for the Business of the Year Award with Turnover of €26-150m
The European Business Awards, sponsored by RSM audit, tax and advisory network, is Europe’s largest and most significant cross-sector business recognition programme, now running its ninth year competition for 2015/2016, with the purpose to support the development of a stronger business community throughout Europe by shining a light on excellence, innovation, ethics and best practice of the most successful companies. Its ‘National Champions’and “Ruban d ‘Honneur” finalists are selected by an esteemed panel of around 150 independent judges madeup of European business and political leaders, academics and entrepreneurs, who will also decide the overall winners. The“Ruban d ‘Honneur” title is given to the top ten companies from all over Europe for each of the 11 categoriesof the awards (The RSM Entrepreneur of the Year Award, The Employer of the Year Award, The Award for Customer Focus, The Award for Environmental & Corporate Sustainability, The Business of the Year Award with Turnover of €0-25m, The Business of the Year Award with Turnover of €150m or higher, The Business of the Year Award with Turnover of €26-150m, The ELITE Award for Growth Strategy of the Year, The Import/Export Award, The Chairman’s Selection, The UKTI Award for Innovation).
36 Greek companies were initially distinguished as ‘National Champions’, holding for Greece the 6th place in total distinctions by country, among a total of678 ‘National Champions’ from 33 countries across Europe. A panel of independent judgesselected the ‘National Champions’ after the EBAs engagedin this 9th year of holding the awards with a record breaking total number ofover 32,000 participating companies (33% more than the previous year) in and around Europe.The judges evaluated them for their dynamism, philosophy and culture, based on a video that they prepared and uploaded on the website of the EBAs, as well as from written answers that they gave during the first phase of the competition.
In anonline video public vote running alongside the independent judging part of the competition, the Greek company “Loux” – a company with a longstanding course in the soft drinks market -was named earlier this month (March 7)as the ‘National Public Champion for Greece’ in the 1st phase of public voting between 11 January and 26 February 2016, after almost 160,000 people voted online for their favorite business based on the video presentation, submitted by over 400 companieson EBAs website. There are now 32 ‘National Public Champions’ competing for a second public vote that runs until 26 April. The company from across Europe with the most votes at the end of this period will be announcedas the ultimate ‘European Public Champion’ at theEBAs Gala Final on June 17.
TAGS: BUSINESS & TRADE | ECONOMY & DEVELOPMENT | FOOD & DRINK | INNOVATION | PRODUCTS
