Prepress
Canon announces winners of pan-European Business Leap Competition
Friday 05. November 2010 - Canon Europe, world leader in imaging solutions, has announced the winners of the pan-European Canon Business Leap Competition. At a special ceremony at Canons technology showcase, Canon EXPO 2010 in Paris, representatives of the three winning companies - from Sweden, Belgium and France - were presented with trophies in recognition of their achievements.
The winner – Nässjötryckeriet AB (Sweden) – and two runners-up – Moeyaert W. NV (Belgium), and La Crysalide (France) – were chosen by an independent panel of business consultants and received their awards from David Preskett, European Professional Print Director, Canon Europe.
Commenting on the winning entry, the judges noted: “The panel was very impressed with the plan from Nässjötryckeriet AB to make the leap to becoming a provider of marketing and corporate communications. A well conceived, constructed and insightful strategy, supported by intelligent assumptions and strong yet believable numbers, gave us confidence that the plan was sufficiently ambitious, achievable and sustainable to take top place. This honour was thoroughly deserved and we look forward to hearing of their continued success.”
With regards to the second placed entry, the judges remarked: “Moeyaert W. NV proposed a consolidation plan of three businesses that showed vision, leadership and ambition in equal measure. The panel agreed that this was a sensible and pragmatic approach to prevailing market conditions that should ensure the future prosperity of the parties involved. The plan shows that thinking out of the box can offer viable solutions to difficult situations.”
The third placed entry received the following commendation from the judges: “Based on sound research and a Corporate Social Responsibility value proposition that involves the use of only environmentally certified materials, La Crysalide presented a plan which, in the panels opinion, would give the business every chance of the success that a venture such as this richly deserves. Well structured and presented, the plan clearly demonstrates that the team has the capability to execute this differentiated and viable strategy.”
On receiving the award for the winning entry, Per Simonsson, Managing Director, Nässjötryckeriet AB, commented: “We are thrilled to have won the Canon Business Leap Competition. Because of the amount of hard work we put into our plan, we had hoped that we might have a chance of success, though, having seen the high standard of the entries of the runners-up, it was clear that the competition was tough. So to be chosen as the winning entry is fantastic for us. Id also like to say that we are grateful to Canon for arranging the competition as it inspired us to review our business model and gave us the motivation to compile a new business plan for our company.”
Mark Lawn, European Marketing Manager, Professional Print, Canon Europe, said: “On behalf of Canon Europe, Id like to congratulate the three winning companies on their achievement. However, in acknowledgement of the time and resources required to submit an entry, I also want to commend those who didnt win for the investment they made and urge them not to be dissuaded from putting their plans into action.
“The Business Leap Competition was established,” continued Lawn, “to support Canons theme for the professional print market for 2010 – Leap. Leap was, and indeed still is, a vital call to action for our industry. From the comments made by the judging panel, its clear that the winning entries embody the more entrepreneurial and innovative approach we advocated to developing their businesses. We hope that they will be an inspiration to others in the industry. We wish the three companies the very best of luck with the exciting times that lie ahead and want to reiterate that Canon is committed to supporting them – as with all our customers – in their goal of turning their business plan into a successful commercial venture.”
Canon will now arrange for the winners to take delivery of their prizes:
First prize – a fully configured, Canon imageRUNNER ADVANCE C9070 PRO light production engine with Essential Business Builder support
Second prize – a 44- inch Canon imagePROGRAF iPF8300 large format printer, with starter package and Essential Business Builder support
Third prize – a bespoke Essential Business Builder consultancy package, delivered by an independent expert
The total value of the prizes is in excess of 100,000 Euros.