This year, for the first time, organisers of the European Business Awards have introduced a new video element to the awards and also a brand new online public voting system. The company video with the highest number of votes for the UK will automatically get through to the next round of voting and become a National Champion.
The public vote takes place between 6th September and 17th October 2012, which gives each company just over 40 days to get as many votes as possible. All National Finalists from the UK have produced a video submission, which has been uploaded onto the European Business Awards website (www.businessawardseurope.com).
UK National Finalist Hi-Tech Mouldings is asking supporters to visit the website to view all the videos for the UK and vote for their favourite.
Richard Brown, operations director at Hi-Tech Mouldings, said: “With just over 40 days for people to vote online for their favourite video, we are hoping that the public will get behind us and take some time to view our video and cast a vote. We enjoyed making our video submission and believe it gives us an opportunity to explain the background to our business and highlight why we are successful despite the current economic conditions. We hope that anyone interested in business will enjoy watching our video and vote for us.”
In addition to the public vote, a panel of expert judges will be viewing the videos and will award National Champion status to between five and 20 other organisations from the UK. Judging of the National Finalists will take place from 6th September with National Champions being announced in November 2012.
Adrian Tripp, CEO of the European Business Awards, said: “This new process provides a greater opportunity for companies to engage with supporters in their own country as well as presenting their achievements to a wider audience across Europe. These videos show some of the most successful and sustainable companies in Europe and we hope that anyone interested in business will take some time to watch the videos, either from their own country or from other countries and then vote for their favourites.”
Between November 2012 and January 2013, the National Champions will be reassessed by a third panel of judges made up of Europe-wide business leaders, academics and entrepreneurs who will award the top 110 organisations the coveted Ruban d’Honneur status. Finally, after face-to-face presentations, the Ruban d’Honneur recipients will be honoured and the names of the overall winners will be revealed at a Gala awards ceremony in April 2013.