BSI wins continued commitment category at the Cathay Pacific China Business Awards

(JANUARY 2013) BSI has been named the winner of the Continued Commitment category at the prestigious Cathay Pacific China Business Awards 2012, which took place at London's Mandarin Oriental Hotel on Friday 18 January 2013.

With trade opportunities between the West and China continuing to build on an annual basis, Cathay Pacific's eighth annual China Business Awards acknowledge and celebrate UK and Irish business dynamism and success in China and Hong Kong. The achievements of the winning organisations were recognised at the awards ceremony by HSBC's Global Head of Trade & Receivables Finance at HSBC, James Emmett and Cathay Pacific's General Manager Europe, Angus Barclay, in front of a room of leading dignitaries from the UK, China and Hong Kong; including Lord Wilson of the House of Lords and Lord Wei of the House of Parliament.

A panel of judges made up of senior representatives from Cathay Pacific, The China-Britain Business Council, HSBC and The Daily Telegraph reviewed numerous entries before choosing BSI as the winner of the Continued Commitment Award. One of three categories, the Continued Commitment Award recognises ongoing sustainable and ethical investment in China and/or Hong Kong.

BSI has been helping organisations improve, capturing best practice and shaping the standards of excellence in product specification, business processes and business potential since 1901. BSI's first direct presence in China was in 1995 and today it employs 300 employees across the country.

Judges were impressed by BSI's influential role in China, enabling organisations to improve competitiveness, increase reliability, ensure safety, improve accessibility, control quality, manage risks and improve business performance. The judges also stressed the important role that BSI played in increasing the value of Chinese industry together with global competitiveness and reliability which BSI helped procure. The entry clearly highlighted BSI's commitment to China both in the past and into the future.

Howard Kerr, Chief Executive at BSI commented: "We have a strong commitment to China – both working in and working with China. BSI has built significant contact with key Chinese government and business organizations in the area of standards and standardization, helping them to promote the benefits of standards, participate on more international standards committees and have a presence on the ISO board.

"Looking forward, BSI plans to open mores offices in China and continue recruitment in order to serve the local market better, providing standards-based certification, training and business solutions that will help our clients drive performance, manage risk and grow sustainably.

"This award is testament to the work of our team in China and how well they are delivering our credo of 'making excellence a habit' both internally and for our clients."

Angus Barclay, General Manager Europe, Cathay Pacific, said: "These awards celebrate and reward talent, innovation and entrepreneurial spirit for which the UK and Republic of Ireland are renowned. The standard of entries has been consistently high in recent years with stiff competition and we hope that the business awards will encourage other businesses and provide them with the opportunity to receive the recognition they deserve. As Hong Kong's flagship carrier, we have a strong affinity with business travellers having been flying business men and women between the UK and Hong Kong, and on into China for the last 30 years, and are delighted to promote, encourage and applaud strong business links between the two regions. Congratulations to all of our winners."

The awards are overseen by an advisory panel which includes Agnes Allcock, Director General of Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office (HKETO), Sir David Brewer, Chairman of the China Britain Business Council (CBBC), Baroness Dunn, Chairman of The Hong Kong Association, Douglas Flint, Group Chairman of HSBC, Nick Baird, Chief Executive of UK Trade & Investment (UKTI), John Slosar, Chief Executive of Cathay Pacific and The Right Honourable Lord Wei of Shoreditch.