"Company of the year" award archivos - Cámara Oficial de Comercio de España en Bélgica y Luxemburgo

XI edition of the Company of the Year Award announced

Cámara BeLux — Thu, 22 May 2025 14:00:13 +0000

XI edition of the Company of the Year Award announced

The Official Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Belgium and Luxembourg announces the XI edition of the Company of the Year Award. An honor that aims annually to promote the Spanish economic and business development in the BeLux region, rewarding the experience and demonstration of leadership and competitiveness of companies in their sector of activity.

The deadline for submitting nominations is September 15 at 12:00 noon (Brussels), and they must be presented in writing to the Secretary General, signed by the legal representative of the company.

The jury will be composed by the Board of Directors of the Chamber, which will take into account the public image of the firm, its contribution to promote the “Spain Brand”, the internationalization projects, the social commitment or the improvements produced throughout its trajectory, among other indicators.

As in previous editions, the winner will be announced on our website, where it will join the list of winners in the last nine years: Air Europa (2013), Indra (2014), Orona (2015), everis (2017), Grupo Social ONCE (2018), Cacesa (2020), FCC Construcción (2021), Bankinter Luxembourg (2022), Zabala Innovation (2023) and Sener (2024).

You can check the terms and conditions in the following document.

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Sener receives the Chamber’s “Company of the Year 2024” award

Cámara BeLux — Tue, 03 Dec 2024 08:00:24 +0000

Sener receives the Chamber’s “Company of the Year 2024” award

The engineering and technology industrial group Sener received yesterday the “Company of the Year 2024” award, granted by the Official Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Belgium and Luxembourg. The award ceremony took place during the X Edition of the awards and highlighted Sener’s cutting-edge work in the aerospace and defense sector in these countries. In this way, the Chamber promotes one more year the national economic and business development in Belgium and Luxembourg, rewarding the experience, leadership and competitiveness of Spanish companies.

The event was attended by H.E. Mr. Alberto Antón Cortés, Ambassador of Spain to the Kingdom of Belgium; Pablo López-Álvarez, President of the Official Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Belgium and Luxembourg; Andrés Sendagorta, President of Sener; Rafael Orbe, General Director of Defense at Sener; and Fernando Horcada, Director of EU and NATO Programs and of Sener’s Aerospace and Defense Representation Office in Brussels, together with more than a hundred authorities from European institutions and the EU innovation ecosystem.

The Spanish Ambassador to the Kingdom of Belgium, H.E. Mr. Alberto Antón Cortés, emphasized in his speech that “it is an honor to present this award to Sener and to celebrate the recognition of its experience, leadership and contribution to Spanish economic and business development in Belgium and Luxembourg. Its track record has not only boosted its success, but has also strengthened the global position of our industry and contributed to the international visibility of the Spanish brand in innovative and strategic sectors”.

In the words of Pablo López-Álvarez, president of the Official Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Belgium and Luxembourg, “it is particularly satisfying to present our award to this exemplary company, which was founded almost 70 years ago as a maritime technical office, being the first Spanish engineering company registered as such”.

Excellence in bilateral collaboration

For his part, Andrés Sendagorta, president of Sener, said: “We are grateful to the Chamber for this award, as well as to all the Spanish authorities in Brussels who have facilitated our local establishment. We will continue working to be a reference in Europe and we foresee that our representative office in Brussels will grow progressively, reinforcing our collaboration with the Belgian and Luxembourg industry”.

Sener, founded in 1956 as the first Spanish engineering company registered in Spain, today has approximately 4,000 professionals in five continents, offices in 18 countries and production centers for the aerospace and defense market in Spain and Poland. In addition to these markets, Sener has a recognized track record in energy, infrastructure and mobility and data centers.

Since the opening of its Brussels office in 2019, Sener has actively collaborated with around 30 Belgian companies on 18 European defense projects and 12 European space projects. As an example of these collaborations, Sener led the consortium that won the HYDEF project, co-funded by the EU and led by Spain under the coordination of SMS for the development of a hypersonic missile interceptor system, in which the Belgian company SONACA participates as a relevant partner. In addition, Sener also leads COMMANDS, for the development of technology to facilitate intelligent cooperation between manned and unmanned military ground vehicles, which is also co-financed by the EU).

In addition to these collaborations, Sener is leading the Proba-3 mission of the European Space Agency (ESA). It is one of the first ESA missions led by Spain and, in addition to generating valuable scientific knowledge about the solar corona, it will achieve an unprecedented technological milestone, as it will demonstrate that formation flying between satellites is possible. Belgian companies, especially SPACEBEL and Redwire, have played an important role in this mission; the latter has collaborated in the integration of the satellites at its facilities in Kruibeke, near Antwerp.

In collaboration with Luxembourg industry, Sener is leading a multinational very low orbit satellite project, coordinated by the European Defense Agency (EDA) and called VLEO. Among others, the Luxembourg companies SPARK and LIST, as well as the Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology, are participating.

Premio Empresa del Año 2024

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The Chamber grants Cacesa the Company of the Year Award 2020

Cámara BeLux — Mon, 05 Feb 2024 16:52:24 +0000

The Chamber of Commerce grants Cacesa the Company of the Year Award 2020

Last Thursday, 1 February, the Chamber of Commerce presented its 2020 Company of the Year Award in Madrid to Cacesa, the company that received this distinction in the VI edition of the award.

Due to the covid pandemic, the award ceremony could not take place in 2020 and, therefore, the winning company had not received the trophy in physical format until now. Thus, the commercial and operations director of Cacesa, Rodrigo Peñas, finally received the award last week from the secretary general of the Chamber, Marta González Benguria.

In this way, the Chamber was able to recognise in person the great trajectory of Cacesa and its relevance in the international and European market, especially in Belgium. The award is intended to reward the international presence of a company with more than 30 years of history, with operations in the 5 continents and with one of the most advanced courier systems in the market.

On behalf of Cacesa, Rodrigo Peñas expressed in an interview with the Chamber his satisfaction after the announcement of the award: “The award fills us with pride and gratitude towards a country that welcomed us as one of its own from the first day. The authorities, the airport community, suppliers, collaborators… all have helped us a lot”.

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The Chamber presents its “Company of the Year 2023” award to Zabala Innovation

Cámara BeLux — Tue, 28 Nov 2023 13:47:18 +0000

The Chamber presents its “Company of the Year 2023” award to Zabala Innovation

The Official Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Belgium and Luxembourg recognises, in the IX Edition of its “Company of the Year” awards, the exemplary trajectory of Zabala Innovation (www.zabala.es), coinciding with the 20th anniversary of the opening of its offices in Brussels.

Through this award, the Chamber aims to contribute to the promotion of Spanish economic and business development in Belgium and Luxembourg, rewarding the experience and demonstration of leadership and competitiveness of companies in their sector of activity.

With this award, the Chamber of Commerce recognises the innovation management expertise of Zabala Innovation, a consultancy firm that has maintained sustained growth since its creation in 1986 and today has more than 470 professionals, 13 offices in five European countries (Belgium, France, United Kingdom, Portugal and Spain) and more than 10,000 client entities.

On Monday 27 November, the Deputy Director of DG Research & Innovation of the European Commission, Signe Ratso, together with the President of the Chamber, Pablo López-Álvarez, presented the award to Zabala Innovation, in an event that brought together around a hundred people from the European institutions and the EU innovation ecosystem.

During the event, López-Álvarez reviewed the history of the Chamber’s Company of the Year award, mentioning the previous winners, and explained the merits of Zabala Innovation to receive it this year. The Spanish Ambassador to Belgium, Alberto Antón Cortés, then took the floor briefly to give an overview of the state of trade relations between the two countries.

The evening continued with a speech by Signe Ratso, who highlighted the need to continue promoting innovation and industrialisation as key factors for improving competitiveness in Europe. In front of the audience, Ratso defended the importance of continuing to invest in innovation and for institutions to listen to key industry players in the process.

Erik Zabala, CEO of Zabala Innovation, expressed his enthusiasm after receiving the award: “We are very proud and grateful to the Official Spanish Chamber of Commerce”, and recalls that it was in 2003 when his father José Mª Zabala, founder and current president of the company, “had the vision and courage to open an office in Brussels in order to be close to the European Commission and provide a better service to our Spanish customers”.

In his speech, Jose María Zabala stressed the importance of investment in innovation: “A region or a country does not innovate because it is rich, but it is rich because it innovates. Let us continue to support investment in innovation and industrialisation, as drivers of advanced societies and guarantors of the well-being of their citizens”.

Entrega Premio Empresa del Año - Zabala Innovation

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The Chamber awards Bankinter Luxembourg with the prize of Company of the Year 2022

Cámara BeLux — Tue, 04 Jul 2023 16:01:10 +0000

The Chamber awards Bankinter Luxembourg with the prize of Company of the Year 2022

Last 3 July the Official Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Belgium and Luxembourg awarded Bankinter Luxembourg with the Company of the Year 2022 Prize. In this eighth edition, the award was given to Bankinter Luxembourg for its leadership and competitiveness within its sector and its contribution to projecting the “Marca España” in Luxembourg. This is the first time that the Chamber has awarded the prize to a Spanish company located in the Grand Duchy.

Through this recognition, the Chamber wanted to acknowledge Bankinter Luxembourg for its great trajectory since it landed in the Grand Duchy ten years ago to complement its private banking strategy. This award also highlights the international presence of Bankinter Luxembourg. It was the first Spanish bank with a banking licence to operate in Luxembourg, the country with the highest credit rating from the three rating agencies and which holds, among other achievements, second place in the world ranking in terms of both the volume of investment funds deposited and the highest GDP per capita ratio.

The award ceremony, which took place at the Cercle Münster, began with the speech of the Spanish Ambassador to the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, His Excellency José María Rodríguez-Coso, who emphasised the positive evolution of Spanish companies towards internationalisation. The ambassador also praised the Grand Duchy as a first class financial and political centre, as well as the growth of the Spanish presence in Luxembourg in recent years and congratulated Bankinter Luxembourg for the award.

The president of the Chamber, Pablo López-Álvarez, joined the ambassador in congratulating Bankinter Luxembourg as “a source of national pride in this first class banking, financial, political and diplomatic centre that is Luxembourg”. The commitment and interest of Bankinter Luxembourg was also pointed out given that “since its arrival in the Grand Duchy, Bankinter has played a dynamic role in promoting Spanish interests in Luxembourg and has collaborated closely with the Chamber on numerous fronts”. He also congratulated Bankinter for the example of good work and Spanish business leadership it has set during its 60-year history.

The award was presented to María Dolores Dancausa, CEO of Bankinter, by Joseba Arriortua, Vice-President of the Chamber. Dancausa expressed her gratitude for the award, recalling the Bank’s track record and pointing out Bankinter’s good performance in Luxembourg. She highlighted the financial results of recent years and the strong growth in all lines of business. The Bank closed the 2022 financial year with a record result as a result of a greater commercial drive and a capacity to attract business that has led the Bank to grow in all the lines, customer segments and different geographies in which it operates. At the end of 2022 the Bank maintained its leadership among listed banks in terms of profitability and asset quality, and its strengthened solvency remained well above regulatory requirements.

Bankinter is the fifth largest bank in the Spanish financial system in terms of size, as well as fifth in terms of market capitalisation and profits, and is among the top banks in terms of profitability. In addition to its branch in Luxembourg, it has a presence in Portugal and Ireland.

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Bankinter Luxembourg, chosen as “Company of the year 2022”

Cámara BeLux — Fri, 16 Dec 2022 09:53:26 +0000

The Official Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Belgium and Luxembourg recognises, in the VIII Edition of its “Company of the Year” awards, the great track record of Bankinter Luxembourg, which landed ten years ago in the Grand Duchy to complement its private banking strategy.

Through this award, the Chamber aims to contribute once again this year to the promotion of Spanish economic and business development in Belgium and Luxembourg, rewarding the experience and demonstration of leadership and competitiveness of companies in their sector of activity.

Thus, the Chamber has highlighted the international presence of a company that was the first Spanish bank with a banking licence to operate in Luxembourg, the country with the highest credit rating by the three rating agencies and which holds, among other achievements, second place in the world ranking in terms of both the volume of investment funds deposited and the highest GDP per capita ratio.

Bankinter chose Luxembourg because it is a country that fosters a solid culture of investor, economic and regulatory protection. The regulatory environment and the quality of supervision are two of the main reasons why financial firms choose Luxembourg as their EU headquarters.

For Héctor Esteban, General Manager of Bankinter Luxembourg, this award is “recognition of our activity in this country, where we were the first Spanish institution to set up our own bank. From this jurisdiction we have been able to offer a global and clearly differentiated financial proposal to our high net worth clients, as well as having a much more in-depth perspective of the international financial markets, which has been enormously useful for us”.

You can read the full article here.

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FCC Construcción chosen as “Company of the Year 2021”

Cámara BeLux — Mon, 22 Nov 2021 16:49:01 +0000

The Official Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Belgium and Luxembourg recognises, in the 7th edition of its Company of the Year Award, the great track record of FCC Construcción and its relevance in the international and especially in the European market.

With this award, the Chamber rewards the international presence of a company with more than 120 years of history, with activities in more than 25 countries around the world and whose strategic lines are based on innovation, technology and sustainability. Pablo López Álvarez, President of the Chamber, underlines that “the Haren mega-prison work is an ambitious Spanish engineering project in Belgium in which green technological innovation and the social dimension are cornerstones. This combination has meant that the jury has had no doubts in choosing FCC as the Company of the Year Award”.

In October 2018, FCC won the contract for the design, construction, financing, operation, maintenance and concession, for 25 years, of the new Haren prison complex, located near Zaventem Airport (Belgium). This construction, that has been classified by the Belgian government as the largest infrastructure under construction in the country, will be completed in the second half of 2022 and will involve an investment of more than 382 million euros.

This new penitentiary infrastructure will replace the prisons of Saint-Gilles, Forest and Berkendael. It will cover an area of 116,000 square metres and will be able to accommodate up to 1,190 inmates.

Haren is FCC’s first concession project in Belgium and joins many other national and international projects developed by the company, including urban transport infrastructures (roads, metro, high-speed, railway lines…) and non-residential building projects (hospitals, sports, cultural, social and health infrastructures, etc.). For Pablo Ovejas, FCC Construcción’s Country Manager for Belgium and the Nordic countries, “this award is an incentive to continue developing our activity in Belgium, thus being able to continue contributing to the growth of the country’s economy, contributing to the local value chain with our social values and environmental protection, and ultimately improving the quality of life of its citizens”.

You can read the full press release here.

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The Official Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Belgium and Luxembourg announces the VII Edition of the Company of the Year Award

Cámara BeLux — Tue, 14 Sep 2021 12:42:23 +0000

The Official Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Belgium and Luxembourg has opened the call for nominations for its Company of the Year Award 2021, which recognises the experience, demonstration of leadership and competitiveness of companies with commercial activity in Belgium and/or Luxembourg maintaining a business relationship with Spain.

In 2013, on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the Chamber, the Board of Directors decided to create this award to contribute annually to the promotion of Spanish trade and business development in Belgium and Luxembourg.

Previous awardees include Indra, Orona and Grupo Social ONCE.

The deadline for applications is 15 October 2021 at 12:00 (Brussels). The jury will announce the award-winning company through the Chamber´s official website within a maximum period of one month.
You can check the rules here.
More information: secretariogeneral@e-camara.com

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Cacesa chosen as Company of the Year 2020

Cámara BeLux — Tue, 10 Nov 2020 13:09:33 +0000

The Official Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Belgium and Luxembourg recognizes, in the VI Edition of its “Company of the Year” awards, the great trajectory of Cacesa and its relevance in the international and European market and especially in the Belgian one.

With this award, the Chamber of Commerce rewards the international presence of a company with more than 30 years of history, with operations in the 5 continents and with one of the most advanced messaging systems in the market. Cacesa has known how to adapt, at all times, to the needs of the market and its customers and has demonstrated leadership and competitiveness within its sector. In Belgium, the company has been able to accredit its quality and state-of-the-art technology for the massive and agile data processing and information exchange with customers, suppliers and customs authorities, deriving an image of excellence for the benefit of the Spanish industry.

The Spanish company is 75% owned by Iberia, which, since 2011, has been part of IAG, one of the world’s largest airline groups. It is a logistics operator specializing in transporting goods by air, land and sea with 6 complementary areas of services ranging from customs management to transport for e-commerce, a sector in which Cacesa has grown dramatically in recent years thanks to its collaboration with major online shopping platforms and the increase of this industry since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic.

In 2019 they began their international expansion to other countries of the European Union and established at Liège Airport its third logistics hub for the reception and processing of e-commerce goods, logistics centre that this year has seen a large increase in the volume of parcel services. The advanced technological tools that they have developed internally, as well as their know-how, are their spearheads and have allowed them to advance into other markets, such as the one that is opening after Brexit. This has been the reason for the opening of the new delegation in Mouscron (Wallonia), to carry out the e-commerce customs activity between the European Union and the United Kingdom from the 1^st of January. Without a doubt, for Cacesa, Belgium is the most important country after its Spanish parent company and its objective is to continue advancing in new activities and investments to be developed in the country throughout the following years.

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The Chamber Awards the Grupo Social ONCE the 2018 Company of the Year Prize for Its Inclusive Model and International Leadership

Cámara BeLux — Sat, 10 Nov 2018 10:34:44 +0000

The Chamber Awards the Grupo Social ONCE the 2018 Company of the Year Prize for Its Inclusive Model and International Leadership

On November 6, the Official Chamber of Commerce of Spain in Belgium and Luxembourg awarded the Grupo Social ONCE, in its V edition, the Company of the Year Award 2018 in an act that took place in the residence of the Embassy of Spain in Brussels. Through this award, the Chamber annually awards the promotion of trade and business development in Belgium and Luxembourg.

With this award, the Chamber wanted to recognize the Grupo Social ONCE for its unique business model in the world and for its leadership at an international level. His active participation in Brussels within various business and disability organizations at European level, demonstrates his commitment to the integration process. This award aims to contribute to strengthening business ties of the Grupo Social ONCE through the provision of goods and services to companies in the Belgium and Luxembourg markets.

In addition, its constructive and ambitious contribution to the community legislative process, seeking the right balance between the business and social dimension and its partnership with the European Commission through Operational Program for the Training and Employment of Persons with Disabilities – two decades being a example of good practices-, have also been reasons for this concession.

The ceremony began with the words of the Ambassador of Spain in Belgium and President of Honor of the Chamber, Beatriz Larrotcha who said that this award was an appropriate decision: “Grupo Social ONCE is more than a company, it is a cooperation between institutions and companies (…) the ONCE is the image we want to show abroad, for this reason it is an honor to give them this award “.

The president of the Chamber, Juan Rodríguez-Villa, joined in the congratulations of the ambassador and described the ONCE foundation as a “revolutionary movement” that has achieved a progressive improvement in social advances and levels of inclusion: “It is a modest award, which recognizes the merits of the Spanish company. Grupo Social ONCE works for social normalization and inclusion, for them it is easy to recognize the feeling of pride”.

Pride that also shared the Minister of Economy and Business, Nadia Calviño, who has a strong link with the foundation and who was responsible for delivering the award. “The ONCE foundation is a unique model for eight decades. It is a model that shows its commitment to Europe and its collaboration with the European Commission (…) This award is granted for its contribution to the Spain brand. I only have two words, admiration and gratitude”.

The president of the Grupo Social ONCE, Miguel Carballeda, accepted the award. During his speech he wanted to remember his years as a seller of ONCE coupons and thanked the award on behalf of all his colleagues at the foundation: “Who would have told me that after selling coupons for 10 years, I would be here today collecting this award on behalf of my colleagues. (…) We (Grupo Social ONCE) have to remain the best company, to be a reference for citizenship, for all those people who come daily to our 20.000 coupon sellers”. In addition, he took the opportunity to remember that the ONCE is the world’s first employer of the disabled and the fourth employer in Spain.

The event ended with a cocktail that all the guests attended. The Chamber thanks the Embassy of Spain in Belgium and all the participating companies for their contribution so that the event has been a success.

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