Europe’s Best Businesses Selected to Represent Their Nation

European Business Awards announce 2010 Country Representatives*

LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE )--The results are now in for the first round of the European Business Awards in partnership with HSBC. Over 175 companies have been selected to represent nations across Europe and compete in the next stage of the awards to win a prestigious Ruban D'Honneur prize.

*This announcement covers Country Representatives from Czech Republic, France, Germany, Ireland, Malta, Poland, Spain, and Turkey, to view the Country Representatives visit: www.businessawardseurope.com/newsroom . A second wave of country representatives will be announced on Thursday 8th July.

Adrian Tripp, Chief Executive of the European Business Awards, said: "Each year we witness impressive entries from some outstanding companies who have some great stories to tell. This year is no different; the quality of applicants is rising as are the number of entrants, so these organisations who have achieved Country Representative status truly are the best of the best. They will go on to fly the flag for their countries as they battle it out across Europe in the next round to scoop a Ruban d’Honneur."

The Country Representatives will now be judged by a prestigious panel of economists, academics, business leaders, politicians and media owners. They will evaluate the entries and select the top scoring companies to become the Ruban d’Honneur recipients in each category, to be announced on 29th July. The Awards are made possible through the support and sponsorship of forward thinking organisations who are committed to seeing a thriving European Business Community; they include HSBC, Infosys, UKTI and RSM International. Alan Keir, HSBC Group General Manager and Global Co-Head Commercial Banking, added, "The European Business Awards provide a great platform to recognise how businesses throughout Europe have excelled despite the financial uncertainty of the past two years.

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These 175 companies have displayed an impressive ability to innovate and generate financial growth despite economic challenges and we are keen that through the European Business Awards this success and the insights they afford are shared more widely across the EU's business community. We look forward to celebrating alongside these country representatives and wish them every success at the next stage of the rigorous judging process".

Ruban d’Honneur recipients will be invited to attend the final stage of the competition in September when they will be asked to give face-to-face presentations and interviews to a panel of judges who will then determine the overall European Business Award winner in each category.

The Ruban d’Honneur winners will be honoured at the gala Awards presentation ceremony at The Westin Hotel, Paris, on 16th November, where the overall European Business Award category winners will be revealed in front of Europe’s top business leaders, politicians, entrepreneurs, business commentators, and media.