Dfor 26 years, the Company of the Year award has rewards unique Belgian companies which have demonstrated remarkable entrepreneurial skills and exemplary management. Impressive companies which, under exceptional conditions, continued to undertake and which nevertheless managed to stay the course. Five of them managed to make a strong impression and can proudly claim to be the 2021 Company of the Year finalists.
Finalist profiles
Five companies are therefore in the running to win the prestigious Company of the Year trophy. Some still quite young, others already with a long, often family history.
There is thus Goumanisto, founded 16 years ago and active in the food sector with all kinds of aperitif and tapas products. A partner of good times, as they define themselves. The company has since grown into a solid and successful company with 75 employees. Iris is a whole different kind of business. A family company founded in 1946, it is active in Facility Management and industrial painting, has 3,200 employees and is present at 11,500 different sites. Iris is also active on the Dutch, Luxembourg and French markets. The candidate Analyst, independent distributor of scientific and laboratory equipment in the Benelux, also has a long family tradition. Founded in 1927, Analis still belongs to the same family. In terms of seniority, however, these are G. Moury Enterprises who win the prize: this Liège construction company founded by Gilles Moury is celebrating its hundredth anniversary this year. Today the fourth generation has taken over the reins. At last, ODOO has been providing software to businesses for two decades. It employs 1,700 people around the world, of which 861 are focused on the Belgian market.
Focus on the customer
The key to the success of these five companies? All of them, without exception, have in common that they place their customers at the heart of their concerns.
At the house of Analyst, we cherish the values of “Respect, Excellence and Passion”. Does the company continually adapt to the market by consolidating its existing representations and launching new activities? At the house of G. Moury Enterprises, it has also become a real habit over the course of history. The third generation thus reshuffled the company in the 1970s to turn the specialist in social housing construction into a listed group. If numbers are important, the main thing is and remains that they are worn by people. And that also means knowing how to question yourself. “The work of our teams is not limited to conditioning good flavors and textures, it also contributes to building a better world”, affirms the ambitious Goumanisto. One of the values ofIris, “Better People”, translates into a career suited to employees. “Better Organization” means daring to question one’s own processes. And all this, according to the third value: “Better Customer”, to give the customer a central position. Growth happens with people, and we know this well at ODOO. This is precisely why the company recruited and trained 1,000 new employees.
Look beyond borders
Showing ambition means, in practice, daring to look beyond our borders. And the way companies profile themselves internationally can be extremely varied. 2021 is, for Analyst, the year of investments. The company has acquired a significant stake in a biotechnology company in order to expand its activities throughout the Benelux. Developing a network on the French and Italian markets (territories which together have more than 120 million inhabitants) is one of the objectives of Goumanisto. At the house of ODOO, almost as many people are employed abroad as at the national level. At the house of Iris finally, it translates into a partnership at European level. The company’s Industry department is present in France, Luxembourg and the Netherlands.
5 finalists, 1 winner
With 5 such unique finalists, the 26e Edition of the Company of the Year promises to be an exciting event. However, like every year, only one candidate will triumph and be elected “Company of the Year 2021”. Join us on December 6 to find out who will lift the trophy.
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