British Airways yesterday announced winners of the British Airways Business Opportunity Grants in India, at an event held in Mumbai, awarding 50 Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in India with a year of travel worth more than Rs 112 million. This initiative was undertaken by the airline with an objective to keep entrepreneurship alive and help stimulate local business. Each winning company was awarded ten return British Airways Club World (Business Class) tickets to be used between April 2010 and March 2011. In addition, each company also received five Regus Businessworld gold memberships which offer business centres, meeting rooms, etc. to its members. The British Airways Business Opportunity Grants programme was launched in Mumbai during end of November 2009 and was simultaneously launched in the US, UK, Hong Kong, South Africa and UAE. To select the companies to be awarded the British Airways Business Opportunity Grant, the airline invited companies having up to 250 employees and asked them to state their business objectives this year, as well as how a British Airways Business Opportunity Grant would benefit their organization. A judging panel made up of British Airways executives and independent judges selected the most benefiting and original winning entries from the online submissions. The 50 winning companies comprise from a wide range of industry sectors, including retail, consumer goods, textiles, technology, professional consultancy, finance and legal services. Judy Jarvis, Regional Commercial Manager, South Asia, British Airways said, "Since the launch of the scheme in November last year, we received good response from companies worldwide in different sectors. British Airways is in the business of connecting people, and we know that the key to building successful long-term business partnerships is through face-to-face meetings. Our hope is that the Opportunity Grants help these businesses open doors, forge stronger partnerships and increase their revenues." |
Wednesday, July 21, 2010