NATIONAL CHAMPIONS ANNOUNCED FOR 2015-16 EUROPEAN BUSINESS AWARDS

The European Business Awards sponsored by RSM, Europe’s largest and most significant business recognition programme, has today named 678 companies from 33 countries across Europe as ‘National Champions’ in the first stage of the 2015-16 competition.

A panel of independent judges, including business leaders and senior academics, selected the National Champions after the European Business Awards engaged with over 32,000 companies this year, a 33% increase for the competition now in its ninth year.

Adrian Tripp, CEO of the European Business Awards said: “Congratulations to the companies that have been selected to represent their country as National Champions, they play an important part in creating a stronger business community.”

Jean Stephens, CEO of RSM, the leading global audit, tax and advisory network, said: “The vast range of businesses that have been named as National Champions – from entrepreneurial start-ups to large international corporations – displays the increasing reach of the programme and the abundance of quality businesses across the continent. I would like to congratulate them all and wish them luck in the coming rounds.”

Details of the winners can be found at www.businessawardseurope.com

The next round requires the National Champions to make a presentation video, telling their unique story and explaining their business success. The judges will view all of the National Champions’ videos, and award the best of this group the coveted ‘Ruban d’Honneur’ status. Ruban d’Honneur recipients will then go on to be part of the grand final in 2016.

Separately, the National Champion videos will be made public on the European Business Awards website www.businessawardseurope.com as part of a two stage public vote, which will decide the ‘National Public Champions’ for each country. Last year over 170,000 votes were cast as companies from across Europe were publicly supported by their clients, staff and peers, as well as the general public.

Supported since their inception by lead sponsor and promoter RSM, the seventh largest audit, tax and advisory network worldwide with a major presence across Europe, the European Business Awards was created to support the development of a stronger and more successful business community throughout Europe. Additional sponsors and partners of the Awards include ELITE, the UKTI and PR Newswire.

In the 2014/15 competition, all EU member markets were represented plus Turkey, Norway, Switzerland, Serbia, Croatia and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Their combined revenue exceeded €1.5 trillion, and together they generated profits of over 60 billion Euros and employ over 2.5 million people.

For further information about the European Business Awards and RSM please go to www.businessawardseurope.com or www.rsmi.com

Ends

EBA: Vanessa Wood at the European Business Awards on +44 (0) 796 6666 657 or email vanessa.wood@businessawardseurope.com

RSM: Gillian Hawkes at the RSM newsroom (gillian.hawkes@rsmi.com) or Cubitt Consulting: Georgia Way at georgia.way@cubitt.com or on +44 (0) 20 7759 1195

About the European Business Awards:

The European Business Awards’ primary purpose is to support the development of a stronger and more successful business community throughout Europe. For all of the citizens of Europe, our prosperity, social and healthcare systems are reliant on businesses creating an even stronger, more innovative, successful, international and ethical business community - one that forms the beating heart of an increasingly globalised economy.

The European Business Awards programme serves the European business community in three ways:

• It celebrates and endorses individuals’ and organisations’ success

• It provides and promotes examples of excellence for the business community to aspire to

• It engages with the European business community to create debate on key issues

www.businessawardseurope.com.

THE EUROPEAN BUSINESS AWARDS FACT SHEET

• The European Business Awards is Europe’s largest and most significant cross-sector business recognition programme and is now in its ninth year

• The competition is free to enter and open to organisations of all sizes and from any industry sector

• RSM is the lead sponsor of the Awards, and it has supported them since their inception. RSM is the seventh largest audit, tax and advisory network worldwide with a major presence across Europe

• This year the Awards engaged with over 32,000 businesses in 33 countries across Europe

• Last year there were over 150 judges and the equivalent of 285 days of judging for the three phases of judging and the two public voting phases generated over 170,000 votes

• In the 2014/15 competition, all EU member markets were represented plus Turkey, Norway, Switzerland, Serbia and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Their combined revenue exceeded €1.5 trillion, and together they generated profits of over 60 billion Euros and employ over 2.5 million people.

• The 2014/15 competition has generated widespread global media coverage, leading to over 5,000 items of coverage across print, broadcast, online and social media, resulting in an advertising value of over €17million and reaching millions of business people. Coverage has included The Financial Times, Reuters, Bloomberg, Euronews, Wallstreet online and many leading European titles.

• There were over 500,000 unique visits to the EBA website during the voting period www.businessawardseurope.com during the competition  

About RSM

RSM is the 7th largest network of independent audit, tax and advisory firms, encompassing over 112 countries, 700 offices and 37,400 people internationally. The network’s total fee income is US$4.4 billion. RSM is the 6th largest provider of tax services and audit and accounting services worldwide.

RSM is the lead sponsor and corporate champion of the European Business Awards promoting commercial excellence and recognition of entrepreneurial brilliance.

RSM is a member of the Forum of Firms. The objective of the Forum of Firms is to promote consistent and high quality standards of financial and auditing practices worldwide.

RSM is the brand used by a network of independent accounting and advisory firms each of which practices in its own right. RSM International Limited does not itself provide any accounting and advisory services. Member firms are driven by a common vision of providing high quality professional services, both in their domestic markets and in serving the international professional service needs of their client base. www.rsmi.com

About UK Trade & Investment:

UKTI works with UK based businesses to ensure their success in international markets through exports and encourages and supports overseas companies to look at the UK as the best place to set up or expand their business. www.gov.uk/ukti

About ELITE:

ELITE is an integrated service designed to help SMEs prepare and structure for the next stage of growth through access to long term financing opportunities.

ELITE targets SMEs with a sound business model, clear growth strategy and a desire to obtain funding in the near future.

ELITE offers an innovative approach, including a training programme, a working zone supported by a tutorship model and direct access to the financial community through dedicated digital community facilities. It is “capital neutral” to any financing opportunity, providing access to Private Equity and Venture Capital Funds, debt products, etc. ELITE was successfully launched in Italy in 2012 and in the UK in 2014. It now accounts for more than 200 companies of different sizes and sectors, more than 150 partners and more than 70 long term investors. It is a European platform deeply rooted in each domestic market, through partnership with local institutions combined with the opportunity to access international support and advice.

It will be a community of excellence: companies, advisors, investors and stakeholders with an interest in supporting SMEs. The larger the community, the wider the range of business and growth opportunities offered to ELITE members.

About PR Newswire

PR Newswire is the leading global provider of PR and corporate communications tools that enable clients to distribute news and rich content. We distribute our client’s content across traditional, digital and social media channels in real time with fully actionable reporting and monitoring.

Combining the world's largest multi-channel, multi-cultural content distribution and optimisation network with comprehensive workflow tools and platforms, PR Newswire enables the world's enterprises to engage opportunity everywhere it exists. PR Newswire serves tens of thousands of clients from offices in Europe, Middle East, Africa, the Americas and the Asia-Pacific region, and is a UBM plc company.

For more information on PR Newswire please visit www.prnewswire.co.uk