Athens, 20 September 2016
The mobile telephone company PLAY (P4), member of Olympia Group in Poland, belonging to the interests of Panos Germanos, received the special award “Company of the Year” for 2015, during the 26th Economic Forum of the Central and Eastern Europe. It is one of the most established events in Europe, attended by Prime Ministers and Ministers from various countries of Central and Eastern Europe, where all political, economic and social issues of great interest to the region are thoroughly presented and discussed.
The prime minister of Poland Beata Szydło, the vice president of the government Mateusz Morawiecki, several ministers, as well as the prime minister of Hungary, Viktor Orbán, were among the attendants of this event.
The company collected the highest award and was selected among all other companies in Central and Eastern Europe as the Company of the Year. Furthermore, it was the first award of its kind granted to a mobile telephony company.
Jørgen Bang-Jensen, the Chairman of the company’s board, collected the award and stated the following: “I would like to devote this award to the millions of customers who have selected our services and to our eight thousand employees who render these services on a daily basis. The impossible was made possible and PLAY is an excellent example of this achievement. 2015 was a landmark year for PLAY. We demonstrated and testified that the youngest company of the sector in Poland was capable of growing with record rates. We believe that our distinction in the 26th Economic Forum, which is one of the most admired events in Europe, demonstrates that our growth achievement received recognition from the entire market.”
The Program Committee of the Economic Forum in Krynica presents these awards, beginning from year 1999, to 4 individuals and companies of the Central and Eastern Europe for their special achievements regarding their activities and results, during the previous year. Apart from the award “Company of the Year”, the other three awards were presented for the categories: “Person of the Year”, “Special Award” and “New Culture of the New Europe”.
2015 was an entirely successful year for PLAY, since it was characterized by growth trends in its major financial results and its subscriber base, while the company’s market share exceeded 25%. Among other things, the committee which reviewed the candidacies of the specific category recognized the fact the PLAY acquired 14.15 million customers in only 8 years. The above short period of time was characterized by a series of achievements as well as changes, which provided significant benefits to the mobile telephony subscribers in Poland. In this context, PLAY constitutes a unique example, without any precedent case, which can inspire many other companies, and entities in general, all over the world, since it proudly presents a unique corporate excellence case founded on its people, culture, values and above all on its customers.