Greek ‘National Winners’ honoured at British Ambassador’s Residence in Athens

The best businesses from Greece were honoured at an exclusive event last night hosted by RSM Greece and the British Ambassador, Kate Smith CMG, at her Residence in Athens, for The European Business Awards sponsored by RSM.

The 11 businesses were chosen by a panel of independent judges, including senior businesses and academic leaders as the best in the Awards’ categories, and they will now go on to represent their country in the final stage of the competition.

At the event, business leaders came together to celebrate and network with their peers after being successfully named as ‘Ones to Watch’ in a list of business excellence published in December last year, all hoping to be named National Winners.

The National Winners are:

Socialab - The Award for Innovation

EpsilonNet - The Digital Technology Award

ELVIAL - The ELITE Award for Growth Strategy of the Year

IKTINOS HELLAS SA - The Germany Trade & Invest Award for International Expansion

Koukakis Farm S.A. - The Business of the Year Award with Turnover of €0-25m

medbest - The Business of the Year Award with Turnover of €26-150m

Attica the department store - The Business of the Year Award with Turnover of €150m or higher

REZOS BRANDS S.A. - The Customer and Market Engagement Award

Owiwi Private Company - The New Business of The Year Award

AB Vasilopoulos - The Social Responsibility and Environmental Awareness Award

AKROLITHOS - The Workplace and People Development Award

British Ambassador, Kate Smith CMG said: ”We were delighted to host the European Business Awards Event at the British Residence, with guest speaker Kyriakos Mitsotakis. It was a great opportunity to celebrate some of Europe's most innovative, successful, responsible and extrovert companies - who also happen to be Greek! - and to emphasise the strong business links between our two countries.”

RSM firms provide audit, tax and consulting services to clients across the globe. Within Europe, RSM firms have experts in 43 countries who work as an integrated team, sharing skills, insight and resources, as well as a client-centric approach that’s based on a deep understanding of clients’ businesses.

Mr Athos Stylianou, Managing Partner, RSM Greece said: "The fact that 11 Greek companies are National Winners this year in such an esteemed competition, demonstrates the high level of Greek entrepreneurship and for this we are very happy and proud.

“For a rather small country like ours, to have 11 National Winners across the whole of Europe is without a doubt a significant success. Greece is amongst very few countries which have more than 10 winners and we have the same number of winners as Germany, France and Sweden. Best of luck to all National Winners and Congratulations for coming this far!"

The National Winners will face further judging in their chosen category, and the final category winners will be announced at the European Business Awards Gala Final in Warsaw, Poland on 23 May 2018.

Separately companies in the competition are also competing in a public vote to be named ‘European Public Champion’ at the Gala Final. The public vote is open and reaches people from across the globe. Last year the public vote generated almost 250,000 votes. To view the videos and vote for your favourite company please go to: www.businessawardseurope.com

The European Business Awards is now in its 11th year and its primary purpose is to support the development of a stronger and more successful business community throughout Europe. Last year it engaged with over 33,000 businesses from 34 countries. Sponsors and partners include RSM, ELITE, Germany Trade & Invest and PR Newswire.

Ends

For further press information or for case studies/interviews, please contact:

EBA: Vanessa Wood at the European Business Awards on +44 (0) 796 666 6657 or email vanessa.wood@businessawardseurope.co or; grace.harley@businessawardseurope.com

RSM: Gillian Hawkes at the RSM Executive Office - gillian.hawkes@rsm.global

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. 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

The European Business Awards is now in its 11th year. Last year it engaged with over 33,000 businesses from 34 countries. Sponsors and partners include RSM, ELITE, Germany Trade & Invest, PR Newswire, Bureau Van Dijk, SDL Managed Translation. www.businessawardseurope.com.

Twitter: @rsmEBA Facebook: www.facebook.com/businessawardseurope LinkedIn: the company page “The European Business Awards”

About RSM:

RSM is the sixth largest network of independent audit, tax and consulting firms, encompassing over 120 countries, 800 offices and more than 43,000 people internationally. The network’s total fee income is US$5.1 billion.

As an integrated team, we share skills, insight and resources, as well as a client-centric approach that’s based on a deep understanding of our clients’ businesses. This is how we empower them to move forward with confidence and realise their full potential.

RSM is a member of the Forum of Firms, with the shared objective 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.rsm.global

About ELITE:

ELITE is a full-service programme designed to share best practice and increase growth opportunities for fast growing companies, with a focus on understanding the capital markets. ELITE is an innovative programme based on exclusive training and a tutorship model, supported by access to the business and financial community. Its aim is to prepare companies for their next stage of growth and investment. For further information on the programme, companies and the full list of partners, please go to: www.elite-growth.com

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

About Germany Trade & Invest:

Germany Trade & Invest is the economic development agency of the Federal Republic of Germany. The company helps create and secure extra employment opportunities, strengthening Germany as a business location. With more than 50 offices in Germany and abroad and its network of partners throughout the world, Germany Trade & Invest supports German companies setting up in foreign markets, promotes Germany as a business location and assists foreign companies setting up in Germany.

Other partners and sponsors:

Bureau Van Dijk: Bureau Van Dijk is a Moody's Analytics company which captures and treats private company information for better decision-making and increased efficiency. With information on over 275 million companies in all countries worldwide it is the resource for private company data. Certainty is a highly-prized commodity in business and BVD provides its customers with the best quality data available. Register for a free trial at www.bvdinfo.com

SDL Managed Translation: SDL is the global innovator in language translation technology, services and content management. For the past 25 years, SDL has created transformative business results through nuanced digital experiences with customers around the world. For more information about language services and technology, or with help going global quickly and efficiently, please email mantra@sdl.com or visit www.sdl.com/managed-translation

Founder Patrons: The four Founder Patrons are AirX, Megazyme, Alpha Trains Group and Remedica; all members of the European Business Awards community. These successful businesses are gleaming examples of the Awards’ core values: Success, Innovation and Ethics. Through patronage, they help to foster and create more successful companies and business communities in Europe. For more information about the founder patrons please visit /patrons