Member Article

Alex Smiles Ltd - Shortlisted Finalist (National Business Awards with Orange)

Alex Smiles has been announced as a shortlisted finalist of the National Business Awards.

Over 150 of Britain’s most innovative and sustainable public and private sector businesses have been announced today, Tuesday 2nd August, as finalists of the National Business Awards in partnership with Orange. Organisations shortlisted this year range from the well-known Debenhams, JD Wetherspoon, moneysupermarket.com, BSkyB, Majestic Wine and Supergroup – through to the rising stars of Ovo Energy, Door-Stop, ShortList Media and HeartSine Technologies.

The combined turnover of all finalists this year was £96bn, – if the National Business Awards finalist organisations were a country they would be a top 50 country in the world just behind Romania and ahead of New Zealand. Almost three times the size of Luxembourg.

Martin Stiven, Vice President of Business at Orange, part of Everything Everywhere, said:
“The National Business Awards, now in their tenth year, embody the core principles of business excellence, innovation and ethics, all of which are central to Orange’s company values. Reaching the finals of the National Business Awards is no mean feat and I am delighted that the calibre of entrants keep on improving. All finalists have demonstrated exceptional drive, resilience and innovation during challenging economic conditions. Many congratulations to all finalists and best of luck with the next stage of the competition, I very much look forward to the live judging in September and October.”

The ICAEW Sustainability Award
• Alex Smiles Limited, Sunderland, SR4 6DD
• Anglian Water Services Limited, Huntingdon, PE29 3NZ
• Autodesk, Farnham, SURREY, GU9 7DR
• Brakes Group, Uppermill, OL3 6LZ
• BRE, Watford, WD259XX
• Everything Environmental Ltd, Winford, BS40 8HJ
• InterfaceFLOR, London, SE1 3TQ
• Kyocera Mita (UK) Ltd, Reading, RG2 0BS
• Office Friendly Dealer Association, Sheffield, S9 1ST
• Reed Elsevier, London, WC2N 5JR

Finalist will now prepare to make their presentations in person before an independent, expert judging panel in September and October at the offices of Coutts & Co at 30 St Mary Axe.

The judges are:
Mr Gerry Boyle, Head of Business Relations, Oxfam
Mr Robin Fieth, Executive director, finance & operations, ICAEW
Mr Oliver Greenfield, Head of Sustainable Business and Economics, World Wildlife Fund
Ms Isabel McAllister, Director/Head of Sustainability, Cyril Sweett

“The economic climate continues to present UK businesses with an unprecedented challenge: it is therefore particularly encouraging that the entries in this year’s National Business Awards have shown no drop in quality or performance. Congratulations to all finalists for demonstrating tremendous strength in their ability to adapt and innovate which no doubt reflects the resilience and optimism that are the hallmarks of UK enterprise”, said Baroness Bottomley of Nettlestone, Chair of Judges, the National Business Awards.

Organised by UBM plc, winners will be honoured at the National Business Awards gala dinner at the Grosvenor House Hotel, London, Tuesday 8th November, where George Osborne, the Chancellor of
the Exchequer will deliver this year’s welcome address. Visit www.nationalbusinessawards.co.uk for a full list of all 2011 finalist

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Gill Usher .