THE SWEDISH BUSINESS IN AUSTRALIA AWARD WINNERS 2020
The winners of the 2020 business awards were announced virtually and we are delighted to announce that they will be presented on stage and celebrated at the Swedish Australian Innovation Technology and Design Summit on 16 March 2022. Four inspirational companies – newcomers as well as established – won the 2020 Awards, showcasing the successful Sweden–Australia business connection.
The Awards provide a great platform for companies to showcase their business within the Swedish-Australian business community. These awards also offer a great opportunity for companies to be recognised at a state as well as national level for being a business leader in its field or have specific expertise and of course, these awards offer everyone participating, invaluable promotional opportunities. The Swedish Australian Chamber of Commerce was founded in 1911 and we feel very proud of celebrating 110 years of dedication to create, promote, add value and support a sustainable Swedish-Australian business network.
The awards are run on a non-profit basis and promote Swedish related business activities in Australia as well as recognising organisations and individuals that help give Swedish business in Australia a positive profile.
The entries for the 2020 year’s awards according to the jury panel were of very high and equal quality, which made the evaluation process very hard but after careful screening of the different nominations, the result within the four different categories was decided and announced as follows.
Excellence in Business Enterprise 
This award was open to all Swedish or Swedish-Australian businesses; large or small, newcomer or established. Here we highlight businesses or organisations that have achieved outstanding results through initiatives that demonstrate excellence in business management, a significant project, implementing progressive sustainability strategy, innovative campaign or product, marketing/branding or a new enterprise launch.
The Excellence in Business Enterprise Award for 2020 was granted to Permobil, a multinational company founded in 1967 fully owned by Investor AB. Permobil develops, manufacture and market wheelchairs, seating and positioning and communication systems for people with disabilities. Permobil Australia became the second biggest entity for the Permobil organisation globally in 2020, having been in 5th place at the start of 2019. In 2020, Permobil Australia was the only market to have achieved its budget and shown growth. Revenue growth of 40%, with EBIT growth of 113%. “ Permobil Australia would now be considered the Australian market leader in its category of Assistive Technology (Complex Rehabilitation Technology). Able to maintain growth despite market lockdowns throughout different parts of Australia, through new sales channels and protocols.”
Excellence in Sustainability
The Sustainability award recognises organisations that execute initiatives that demonstrate leadership and commitment to sustainable business practices in planning, operations, marketing and/or in line with the United Nations 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG’s). We encouraged businesses of all sizes and sectors that go above and beyond to achieve any of the SDG’s, to reduce the impact of their operations on the environment and/or provide products and services that have positive environmental outcomes.
As many Swedish organisations are quite advanced in this area it was particularly hard for the jury to select a winner within this category.
The Excellence in Sustainability Award for 2020 was handed to ABB a multinational corporation, operating in robotics, power, electrical equipment and automation technology areas. ABB delivers solutions that enable the sustainable cities, industry and transport systems that the world needs to mitigate climate change and conserve non-renewable resources.
Their leading technologies are developed to have positive impact and to enable sustainable growth for customers. Each of ABB’s businesses works to move society away from outmoded products and toward smart solutions that leverage the power of digitalisation, incorporating sustainability as a central feature. The result will be smarter buildings, cities, industry and transport that help the world achieve a better future. In Australia, ABB have a particular focus in two critical areas driving sustainable cities and sustainable living – Smart Buildings and Smart Mobility.
“ABB is clearly a global leader in technologies that will make the world more sustainable. It’s so good that their offering of products, technologies, skills and know-how is applied to the Australian market, be it in smarter buildings, energy production or transport.
Excellence in Small Business
This award recognises a business that has attained significant growth and is able to demonstrate the specific strategies and processes implemented to achieve sustainable growth in the last year.
This year the 2020 Excellence in Small Business Award was secured by TePe Australia.
TePe is a family owned company, with all manufacturing in Malmö Sweden. TePe offers a variety of products, developed in collaboration with dental professionals, for keeping mouth and teeth healthy.
In challenging circumstances, TePe has demonstrated an ability to remain agile and evolve core products and supplier relationships to reduce carbon emissions while building demand through the leverage of multiple new online channels to inform and convert influencers and future customers. This has resulted in the continued ability to grow revenue despite the challenging market conditions for a new product that requires healthcare professional education and onboarding. “TePe is a deserving award winner as a classic small company doing well. A high quality product and a hard working team is, as usual, a very successful combination.”
Excellence in Innovation
The 2020 Excellence in Innovation Award recognises businesses that have made significant contributions to their industry through the introduction, improvement and implementation of an innovative solution or idea, a method, technology, process or application, new, existing or long-term.
The Excellence in Innovation category winner was Pagero. Pagero provides a Smart Business Network that connects buyers and sellers for automated, compliant, and secure exchange of orders, invoices, payment instructions and other business documents.
Pagero’s innovative, open, cloud-based solution revolutionises the way Australians do business with each other. Through their smart business network, they supported Australian businesses to fully digitalise their operations, no matter what existing systems and processes they had in place. With complete digitalisation, businesses will have accurate real-time analytics to make better business decisions, improving their operational efficiency and performance overall.
The COVID-19 pandemic has been tough on many Australian businesses with many accelerating adoptions of digital technologies in order to stay in business. “Pagero supported businesses with this transition by making it easier for Australians to stay safe and work from home. Through trading digitally, they observed a reduced need for paper documents and for people to be in the office processing these documents.” Pagero is constantly adapting to lead business innovation in Australia.
The SACC would like to thank members and everyone engaged in the 2020 Business Awards selection and presentation. Special thanks go to the dedicated judges and all companies who participated in the awards.
