The European Business Awards is now in its second year.

Chief Executive of the Institute of Commercial Management (ICM), Tom Thomas, recently returned from a day’s judging in Paris, spent selecting the winner of the 2008 European Business Awards ‘Business Innovation of the Year’ category.

Now in its second year, the Awards is a fully independent programme, which recognises and celebrates business excellence across the 27 EU member states.

The winners will be announced at a special presentation luncheon to be held at Paris’ InterContinental Paris Le Grand hotel on Tuesday 11 March 2008. Each of the six category finalists will be honoured with the coveted ‘Ruban d’Honneur’, designating them as one of Europe’s leading organisations.

Those to make the final ten in the ‘Business Innovation of the Year’ category are: Amadeus; Beluga Group; BT; Daimler Mobile Kids; Deutsche Post; Grisoft; Intamac Systems Ltd; Lietuvos draudimas; Openet; and Sykes Global Services EMEA.

Commercial development

The final winner will be selected for demonstrating “a proven ability to create, grow and develop innovations or processes that substantially improve the commercial performance or prospects of the company.”

Tom was invited to judge the category as he is an experienced judge for the UK National Business Awards – one of the most prestigious business accolades in the UK.

He is extremely pleased to have been invited to be a judge for the second year in succession, and was impressed by the calibre of the entries. He said: “The quality of the finalists was very high and the presentations observed by the panel were of an incredibly high standard – showcasing the amazing diversity of innovations being developed by European businesses.”

Tom will attend the awards ceremony in Paris in March, along with ICM Chairman, Dr Alistair Somerville Ford.

For further information on the European Business Awards, visit http://businessawardseurope.com

By Natasha Piscitelli