13 BEST BUSINESSES IN EUROPE ANNOUNCED

The 13 winners of the 2013/4 European Business Awards sponsored by RSM International were announced last night at an exclusive awards ceremony held in Athens, attended by business leaders, politicians and academics from across Europe.

The prestigious business competition engaged with over 17,000 businesses in 31 countries, culminating in ten category winners and a ‘European Public Champion’- the winner of the public vote which, in total, generated over 93,000 votes this year from across Europe.

Two further awards presented by RSM were The Chairman’s Selection Award and a Lifetime Achievement Award.

Jean Stephens, CEO of RSM, a leading global audit, tax and advisory network, said: “The aim of these awards is to promote and showcase business excellence and to help to create a stronger European business community. The extraordinary entrepreneurialism, innovation and business success we see illustrated by this year’s winners shows what can be achieved in challenging market conditions. They are all a credit to their country and we wish them every success for the future.”

Adrian Tripp, CEO of the European Business Awards, added: “It has been a long road for our finalists; starting at entry early last year, through a three-stage judging process, and two phases of public voting to reach the final here in Athens, where we have named the best of the best. We hope many other businesses will learn and create opportunities from this success. Huge congratulations to all our winners.”

The ten category winners were judged by an esteemed panel of European business leaders, academics and entrepreneurs and were involved in a process which included written submissions, video entry judging and face-to-face interviews. This year’s European Business Awards, the seventh in its history, included businesses from all EU member markets plus Turkey, Norway and Macedonia and their combined revenue exceeded €1 trillion and generated profits of over €50 billion.

Supported since their inception by lead sponsor and promoter RSM International, the seventh largest accountancy network worldwide with a major presence across Europe, the awards programme is an independent competition designed to recognise and promote excellence, best practice and innovation in the European business community. It connects the best in European business, across borders, business size and sector and provides an active platform to inspire debate and shape future trends in the European business community. The Awards are also supported by Millicom, the UKTI, Infosys and BP Target Neutral.