Internationally recognised as the premium platform for showcasing Europe’s brightest businesses, the European Business Awards (EBA) is an independent awards programme designed to recognise and promote excellence, best practice and innovation in the European business community.
Celebrating its fourth successful year, the European Business Awards highlight and promote examples of individuals and organisations that achieve outstanding results across a variety of disciplines – from environmental concern to customer focus – results that set them apart as leaders in Europe. It seeks to identify and recognise companies that set the benchmark, provide inspiration and are an example to all others.
Every year, its research team spends six months analysing over 7,000 companies across Europe to nominate businesses that demonstrate commercial success, innovation and business ethics. Towards the end of February, the EBA announced that 6pm Ltd had been selected for inclusion in the 2010 European Business Awards. The researchers were particularly impressed with the corporate social responsibility policies championed by The 6pm Charity Initiative and exemplified by The 6pm and Santu Wistin IT & Resource Centre for children, demonstrating an understanding with regard to how these activities can benefit the company itself, its employees, and the wider community.
Of the companies selected for inclusion, 25 country representatives for each European Union member state will be announced by 8 July. Following a second round of the competition, 100 Ruban d’Honneur winners will be announced on 29 July. Ruban d’Honner recipients will be honoured and the names of the award winners revealed before 400 of Europe’s top business leaders, entrepreneurs, business commentators and media at the awards ceremony in November.
“We believe that the Santu Wistin project was a success because it was genuine. We set up the 6pm Charity Foundation as we wanted to help make a sustained difference and to help give children the possibility of a brighter future. I am proud of what we have achieved and am grateful to all the other organisations that supported this initiative, as well as our employees, without whom the Foundation would not exist. This is a true reflection of the culture and work ethic of 6pm,” said Ivan Bartolo, principal director of 6pm Ltd.
The 6pm Charity Initiative was set up in early 2007 and the Foundation was
formally registered in 2008. The 6pm Foundation was set up to provide sustained and substantial support to underprivileged children and families in Malta and in the UK. The 6pm and Santu Wistin IT and Resource Centre was inaugurated on 1 October last year and is now open to the public three times a week, with more than a 100 children making use of the facilities every week. The Foundation is now
seeking to identify its next project.