FIRST ROUND OF NATIONAL CHAMPIONS ANNOUNCED BY EUROPEAN BUSINESS AWARDS

One Hundred of Europe’s Most Dynamic CompaniesThrough to Next Round of Awards Programme

The organisers of the European Business Awards (www.businessawardseurope.com) have today announced the names of 100 National Champions from 18 European countries who will go forward into the next round of the prestigious 2012/13 Awards programme.  The remaining National Champions will be announced after a series of exclusive country events being held across Europe. These events will be hosted throughout November by the British Ambassador to each specific country in association with the UKTI (UK Trade & Investment) and awards’ sponsor RSM International.   

National Champions have been announced from Austria (5); Belgium (2); Bulgaria (7); Czech Republic (8); Estonia (1); Finland (4); Hungary (5); Italy (8); Latvia (5); Lithuania (5); Malta (2); Poland (10); Portugal (9); Romania (2); Slovakia (3); Slovenia (5); Spain (14) and Sweden (5). All 100 successful companies can be viewed here.

These successful businesses have been chosen as some of the very best in Europe and will now compete for the coveted Ruban d’Honneur status. Between now and January 2013, an esteemed panel of judges made up of Europe-wide business leaders, academics and entrepreneurs will assess all National Champions before making their announcements in the New Year. 

This year, for the first time, entrants in the European Business Awards submitted a video case study. All case studies were uploaded onto the European Business Awards website and an online voting mechanism was introduced to allow the public to choose their favourite videos in each country. Over 35,000 votes were cast with one company per country automatically going through as a National Champion. The European Business Awards’ website had over 100,000 unique visitors during the public vote and is fast becoming an online resource for anyone interested in business across Europe. 

Adrian Tripp, CEO of the European Business Awards says, “The video element of the 2012/13 awards has allowed our panel of expert judges to gain a much deeper understanding of the business strategies of all the National Finalists. It is because of this that the judging has been particularly tough this year. It really is an exceptional accolade to be picked as a National Champion and together with our sponsors and supporters, we’re looking forward to seeing how all the National Champions announced today perform in the next round.”

Details of the remaining National Champions from Cyprus, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, The Netherlands and the UK will be announced in early December, with Turkey following in the New Year. The names of the overall winners will be revealed at a Gala awards ceremony in April 2013, where all Ruban d’Honneur recipients will be honoured.