Golden Bridge 2015 winners press release

The 19th edition of the prestigious Golden Bridge Trade & Export Awards for outstanding achievements in exporting between the UK and the Benelux has been won by Soudal NV from Belgium and Ignition from the UK. The Awards were presented by the Belgian-Luxembourg Chamber of Commerce (BLCC) and the British Chamber of Commerce in Belgium. Awards were also won by export newcomer SYX Automations and by NMC, Projective and RWS. This year, Soudal NV received the coveted Golden Bridge Export Award handed over by H.E. Mr Guy Trouveroy, Ambassador of Belgium to the Court of St James's, during a glamorous gala ceremony in central London on 26 November. Soudal is Europe's leading independent manufacturer focused on sealants, PU Foams and adhesives. Operative in four continents and 44 subsidiaries worldwide, Soudal remains a family owned company established in 1966. Ignition won the award for British companies from Wim Eraly, Senior General Manager at KBC Bank. Ignition delivers bespoke online training solutions to some of the most successful companies in the world, including Toyota Europe, L'Oréal, and Yamaha. From their strategic hub in Belgium, Ignition have grown their international business development and results immensely and highly impressively in recent years. Best newcomer The award of Best Newcomer was handed out to Syx Automations NV. The Jury were impressed with how Syx Automations has been able to convince major UK attractions to choose their software solution over British competitors. Prestigious projects include the Shard and the National Maritime Museum. Syx Automations received its award from Glenn Vaughan, Chief Executive of the British Chamber in Belgium. Syx Automations is active in the field of leisure management software for the leisure market such as zoos, museums and theatres. Furthermore, they have headquarters in Ypres (BE) and offices in Nijkerk (NL), London (UK) and Ahmedabad (India). Best small & medium-sized enterprises Awards were also handed out to three successfully exporting Small & Medium Entreprises: NMC, Projective and RWS. NMC is a company founded in 1950 and active in the development, production and marketing of synthetic foams. Mr Jean-Claude Kugener, Deputy Head of Mission at the Luxembourg Embassy in London handed over the award of best Belgian medium-sized enterprise because the company has succeeded in a very conservative market place and has been able to increase market share further by selling directly to the end user via the internet. NMC Group realizes an annual turnover of 200 million Euros. RWS Group received its best British medium-sized award from Thomas Spiller, Chairman of the British Chamber in Belgium. RWS is the world's leading provider of excellent translation and language support. Eclipse Translations is a dedicated provider of translation and interpreting services and forms part of the RWS Group Commercial Translation Division. RWS Group was recognised by the Jury for their ability to successfully adapt to the Belgian market characteristics and grow their business consistently in an intensely competitive market. Projective, set up in 2006 in Belgium, won the best small-sized company award. In less than ten years, the company has grown to a team of more than 90 project managers with local offices in Brussels, London and The Hague. Their prize was handed over by Carole van Eyll, Deputy for Economic Affairs at the Belgian Embassy. Given their consistent growth and ongoing development in London, the financial centre of Europe and even the world, the Jury were delighted to present Projective with this award. "High-quality participants" BLCC Chairman Michel Vanhoonacker said: "Even in its 19th year, the Golden Bridge Trade & Export Awards, has lost nothing of its sparkle, attracting the best of the best in exporting between Belgium, Luxembourg and the UK. The UK and the Belux region are very important trading partners for each other, something which never hits the headlines sadly enough. Our combined trade exceeded that compared with of many of the newer, 'trendy' markets such as China or India." The Golden Bridge Trade & Export Awards 2015 winners are, in alphabetical order: Ignition NMC SA Projective RWS Group Soudal nv Syx Automations Press contact: Michel Vanhoonacker 8 Northumberland Avenue London WC2N 5BY Tel. 0207 127 4292 The Golden Bridge Trade & Export Awards The Golden Bridge Trade & Export Awards are an initiative of the Belgian-Luxembourg Chamber of Commerce in Great Britain, in collaboration with the British Chamber of Commerce in Belgium. The purpose of the event is to encourage exporting efforts to and from the UK and at the same time to give Belux and British products and services a higher profile abroad. Its great success has shown the need to provide Belgian, Luxembourg and British companies with a platform to prove their achievements on their respective export markets.