The Business Awards are organised and run by the British-Swiss Chamber of Commerce (BSCC)

Eligibility

Companies are eligible to enter if they comply with the two following criteria:

• Companies must have a legal entity in either the UK or Switzerland but not necessarily be of UK or Swiss origin/ownership
  and
• Companies must have been involved in doing business between Switzerland and the UK for at least 2 years

Application Process

During the application period (4th April until 15th June 2013), we welcome eligible companies to enter one or several of the four Award Categories. Applicants fill out a form that is designed specifically for the respective category. This form covers all criteria for the judging process.

Nominations Committee

The nominations committee consists of six people in total. They are of different functions, industries, and geographical areas and have a connection to British-Swiss business relations. They are all independent of any applicants and are able to take an objective perspective. If a committee member has a connection with a nominated company then he/she is excluded from discussions on submissions for the relevant categories.

The nominations committee members will be the first ones to read the applications. They will be divided into two groups. Every group will cover two categories, which means that every application is read by 3 people.

A systematic approach is applied by the nominations committee to the evaluation of the applications. For every category a detailed grid is applied to each entry. These evaluation criteria will be communicated transparently on the application forms so applicants know exactly how they will be assessed. The nominations committee will allocate points (0-5) for each evaluation criterion.

The applications will then be compared in every category by the number of points they scored. The five best ones will be passed on to the judges. If the results are tight, the nominations committee consults and decides together which five companies should be on the short-list.

If a nominations committee member is unsure how to evaluate certain parts of the application, he or she is encouraged to call the contact person at the nominated company and ask for further information.

The 2013 Nominations Committee

Gitta Altmann, Partner, Thomas Eggar LLP incorporating Pritchard Englefield, London
Andrew Cornford, Counsellor at the Observatoire de la Finance, Geneva
Geoff Linsell, Managing Director, Moving Brands, Zurich
Christopher Marriott, Partner, Blackden Financial, Geneva
Iain Martin, Managing Director, I.J. Martin & Co Ltd, Executive Coaches for Global Business Leaders, Zurich
Thorsten Terweiden, Head of the Swiss Business Hub UK, London

Judges

Five judges elect the winners of the awards. Each of the four categories will have a head judge who has expertise in that particular category. In addition, there will be one overall chair judge. The judges will receive the original applications together with the assessments made by the nominations committee which they will consult while evaluating the 5 companies from the short-list.

Initially, every head judge chooses the 3 finalists for his or her category out of the 5 short-listed companies. This choice is checked by the chair judge. If they don’t agree, a third judge will be consulted for his or her opinion. Again, if any judge wishes to have more information on the applicant, he or she is encouraged to call the contact person at the company.

Secondly, the judges elect the category winners. The head judge shares his or her assessment of the three finalists of his or her category with the other judges and gives a recommendation. The other judges assess all the finalists to counter-check the choice. This process is overseen by the chair judge.

The 2013 Judges

Chair Judge - Professor Thomas Hoehn
Head Judge - Company of the Year: Dr Guy E. Waldvogel
Head Judge - Small Company of the Year: Reto Frei
Head Judge - Innovation 2013: Jesús Martin-Garcia
Head Judge - Corporate Social Responsibility 2013: Professor Francisco Szekely

Timeline