Pipistrel is the most innovative company in the European Union!

Pipistrel d.o.o. Ajdovščina has been selected as the winner of the prestigious European Business Award selection in the category UKTI Award for Innovation, thus becoming the most innovative company in the European Union.

The officials of the The 2010 European Business Awards, sponsored by HSBC (www.businessawardseurope.com) have announced the recipients of the final category winners.

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Among more than 15.000 companies who applied, the international jury of 51 independent judges, who made the judging panel of highly regarded academics, heads of state, industrialists, entrepreneurs and media commentators drawn from across the 27 member European countries, chose 395 country representatives. In the second round of the competition, the judges selected ten recipients of the Ruban d’Honneur award in each of the following categories:

The Infosys Business of the Year Award
The Infosys Business of the Year Award (below 60 Million EUROS)
The RSM International Entrepreneur of the Year Award
The UKTI Award for Innovation
The HSBC Growth Strategy of the Year Award
The Award for Customer Focus
The Award for Corporate Sustainability
The Environmental Awareness Award
The Employer of the Year Award
Chairman’s Selection

Pipistrel was one of only three Slovene companies (alongside BISOL d.o.o, and the Mercator group) to be given a Ruban d’Honneur and attended the glamorous final event at the The Westin hotel in Paris, on 16th November. The judges chose the final category winners among the 100 Ruban d'Honneur recipients.

We are overjoyed to announce that Pipistrel has been chosen as the final winner of the The UKTI Award for Innovation category and thus became the most innovative company in the European Union!

Pipistrel d.o.o Ajdovščina is the world’s leading motorglider aircraft designer and producer. Based in Slovenia, it was established in 1987 as the first private aircraft producer in the former Yugoslavia. Production in 2009 grew by 50%, the workforce increased by 10% and 98% of revenues were generated from export markets. Its major innovation launched recently is ‘Taurus-Electro’, the world’s first 2-seater electric propulsion aircraft.
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Ivo Boscarol, the general manager of Pipistrel, says:
"Everyone at Pipistrel, me especially, feel extremely honoured to be chosen as the category winner. I am literally at the loss for words. Together with the two NASA awards, this is the most important award Pipistrel has received in our 23-years of existence. I would like to thank the judges for this great honour, the organisers for a spledid final event in Paris and all the sponsors for making this possible.
Pipistrel is a small, family-owned establishment so every success and award, especially one of such large, international scale, is a huge compliment to us. Among other recipients are international companies with many hundred employees. For Pipistrel to be considered the best in the category is an enormous compliment. The European Business Awards is widely recognised as the showcase for Europe’s most dynamic companies. To be considered the most innovative company in the European Union is a success that exceeded our wildest dreams by far. Thanks to everyone who made this possible, especially the entire team Pipistrel for their support and contribution!"

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Ivo Boscarol of Pipistrel receiving the Ruban d'Honneur in the first part of the final event at the Westin hotel in Paris

Left to right: John Swannick, Executive Director, European Academy of Business in Society; Ivo Boscarol, CEO, Pipistrel d.o.o. Ajdovščina; Adrian Tripp, CEO, European Business Awards.

All the Ruban d'Honneur winners in the category UKTI Award for Innovation

The Slovene companies Bisol and Mercator also received a Ruban d'Honneur.

Second part of the event - luncheon in the glamorous great hall of the Westin hotel in Paris and the awards ceremony.

Influential guests seated at the luncheon in the glamorous great hall of the Westin hotel.

It took a jury of 51 independent judges 3353 hours of work (combined) to select 100 Ruban d'Honneur recipients and to further determine the 10 final category winners from the 15,000 applicants.