Around 1,600 companies are competing for the Small and Medium Enterprise of the Year award given by Banco Santander and the Spanish Chamber

Banco Santander and the Spanish Chamber of Commerce want to once again acknowledge the enormous efforts that companies in our country undertake every day and their contribution to the economy and employment. And for this, they once again invite the Pyme del Año 2023 award, a reference award in the business world in our country, whose goal is to evaluate the work of small and medium-sized enterprises as wealth generators and job creators.

This year, a total of 1,629 companies will be eligible for recognition. And that number will increase in the coming weeks. As the two entities explain, the number of applicants for the award — which reaches its seventh edition this year — will increase because there is a lack of registrations in Albacete, La Rioja, Murcia and Zamora, where the award will be announced in September.

«The Pyme Award recognizes important aspects of the contribution to society and the economy of small and medium-sized enterprises, which make up 99.8% of the business fabric of Spain: job creation, with special reference to permanent employment; promoting talent through training; international activity, aimed at developing exports and opening new markets; initiatives for innovation and digitization and socially responsible projects”, explained Banco Santander and the Chamber of Commerce.

The award for small and medium-sized enterprise of the year is an award that is held in a total of fifty provinces and in which 52 territorial chambers of commerce, thirteen territorial departments of Banco Santander and the main titles of the Spanish press participate.

The areas with the highest participation in terms of the number of registered companies are Barcelona (with 162 companies), Madrid (where 86 are registered) and the Balearic Islands with 79.

provincial juries

“In the following days, the meetings of the provincial juries will begin, which will decide on five winners among all the candidates,” the organizers explain. In this way, these five winners will receive recognition in different categories: the provincial award for small and medium-sized enterprise of the year, the second award for internationalization, the second award for training and employment, the second award for innovation and digitization and the second award for sustainable enterprise.

In addition, they explain, those companies that are winners of the awards organized in different provinces of Spain will in turn compete for the National Award for Small and Medium Enterprises in 2023, which will be awarded in the first quarter of next year. Companies that have won four other awards will also opt for National Award recognition in their categories.

The award from Banco Santander and the Spanish Chamber of Commerce has become one of the benchmarks in the business world. And for a sample, figures that are drawn. As an already consolidated recognition, a total of 1,766 companies from 50 provinces and the autonomous city of Ceuta applied in the previous edition of the Small and Medium Enterprise of the Year Award, with the participation of 50 chambers of commerce. Since 2017 — the year of its launch — 9,069 SMEs have already participated.