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Denmark's Best Managed Companies

Recognising Danish business excellence. Denmark's Best Managed Companies is a programme to recognise privately owned and controlled Danish companies setting the highest standards of business performance.

Is your company best-in-class?

The Best Managed Companies programme is a competition to 
recognise the overall success of strong private owned companies based on strategic direction, ability to execute, corporate culture and financial performance.

What

 

The Best Managed Companies Award is a programme recognising excellence in Danish companies. The programme looks into how Danish companies master their growth strategies across all key management functions, and it culminates with a big awards ceremony to celebrate the organisational success and achievement. The Best Managed Companies Award is a part of a global initiative already present in Sweden, Canada, Mexico, Ireland, Chile, Belgium and the Netherlands. The designation is a well regarded international stamp of quality for best managed private companies.

Why

 

Danish owned and managed companies are the backbone of our economy and the cornerstone of our local society. We want to recognize and celebrate the hard work, the passion, and the pioneering ideas that emanate from the Danish mid market.

Additional to the hard-earned recognition, the participants will receive an independent view of their business from coaches who provide insight and feedback to help leaders benchmark their business against other businesses. The programme provides a distinct framework for management teams to challenge themselves and the overall process results in key take-aways that can be used to sharpen strategies and further strengthen the company.

2024 winners

Jury

Best Managed Companies

Learn more

There are obvious benefits to winning any award but the Denmark’s Best Managed Companies award offers some unique opportunities.
 
  • Every company that meets our criteria is immediately assigned a coach to guide them through the process.
  • Exclusive use of the Deloitte Best Managed Companies designation – a symbol of corporate success and a well-regarded international stamp of quality for best managed private companies.
  • An enhanced ability to attract and retain talents.
  • Benchmarking against other strong private companies who also meets the criterias for applying.
  • Invitations to Best Managed Companies events, including the celebration of the winners in 2025.
  • An opportunity to reflect upon the company’s strategy and business plan and take a deep dive into its strengths and weaknesses. Coaches provide valuable insights along the way throughout the application process.
  • An award that recognises and honors the entire company, not only individuals.
  • An opportunity to get some hard earned recognition to lift the purpose of the company.

To enter the programme, the companies must meet the following eligibility criteria:

 

  • Turnover in excess of EUR 40 million
  • Established for at least 5 years
  • Over 50 full-time employees
  • HQ or major decision center located in Denmark. Operations can be abroad.

Could be:

- A Danish owned private company

- A Danish portfolio company controlled by a Danish venture capital and Danish private equity firms

- A Danish owned public company on a non-regulated market with a free-float of less than 50% of its shares traded.

  • Fully compliant from a legal, tax and ethical perspective
  • Managing finances effectively, adapting to changing market conditions, over the past three financial years.

The following organisations are ineligible:

 

Credit institutions, banks, insurance companies, co-ops, companies listed on regulated markets, Danish subsidiaries of foreign multinationals, government-owned entities/public sector agencies, charities and not-forprofit organisations and their affiliates and subsidiaries.

Application fee?

There is no cost to participate in the programme

Phase I

 

The online application

 

This first phase verifies eligibility and should only take 30 minutes with the information at hand.

Phase II

 

The screening and reviewing process

 

This is an in-depth review of your company where our trained coaches guide you through the process in the form of a lab. Processes discussed during the lab will be consolidated into application for Phase II.

All submissions are confidential and the programme is compliant with privacy and confidentiality policies.

Jury review and Winner announcement

 

Review of your submission

Submissions are reviewed by an independent judging panel.

Winner announcement

Following the review, all winners will be informed, and all participating companies will receive feedback.
Winners are announced and celebrated at our award ceremony in 2025.

Evaluation and selection process

 

Following the application and evaluation process, an independent jury selects the final participants. The company’s results are benchmarked against all other Best Managed Companies finalists.

Best Managed Companies tend to exhibit the following attributes to enable sustained growth:

Strategy

 

They have a formal methodology for strategy development, their strategy reflects all stakeholders, they have the right capabilities and metrics in place to execute their strategy, and they clearly and consistently communicate the strategy to all levels of the organisation.

Capabilities and innovation

 

They develop valuable capabilities and resources, are highly execution-oriented; are focused on productivity and innovation, and are conscious of hiring the right people to execute their business model and strategy.

Culture and commitment

 

They build a strong corporate culture and legacy, actively develop their people and leadership team; provide a holistic compensation system, create an inclusive culture, and address continuity issues within the company.

Governance and financials

 

They install strong governance structures, use KPIs to manage progress; maintain a strong balance sheet, and apply the financial discipline required to drive revenue growth, improve operating margin, and increase asset efficiency.

By submitting an application to participate in the Danish Best Managed Companies programme (the “programme”) you hereby agree to the terms and conditions set out below (the “Terms”).

In these Terms you are referred to as “you” or the “Company”, Deloitte Statsautoriseret Revisionspartnerselskab, Copenhagen with company reg. no. 33 96 35 56, is referred to as “Deloitte” and Deloitte’s partners for the programme are jointly referred to as the “programme partners”.

1.  Information about the program

 

The Company hereby acknowledges and confirms that the Company has received information about the programme (also referred to as the competition) and fulfills the established criteria for participation.

2. Information provided by the company 

 

The Company will provide information of a confidential and/or proprietary nature such as regarding its business, finances and technologies, (all such information referred to as the “information”) in order to participate in the programme. The information will be used by Deloitte and the programme partners in connection with evaluating the application based on the eligibility criteria and otherwise within the scope of the programme. The Information will also be used by an external jury panel which will designate the winners of the programme.

Should the Company be designated as one of Denmarks Best Managed Companies, the Company’s name and logotype and other such information will also be used on the programme’s website www.BMC.Deloitte.dk and www.bestmanagedcompanies.dk and on other media channels for promotional and marketing purposes.

Deloitte and the programme partners will ensure that their respective employees, subcontractors/programme partners, agents and others who receives and needs to know the Information in connection with the programme, shall only use the information for the purposes mentioned above and shall not disclose the information to any third party (except to the external jury panel). Deloitte and the programme partners will also limit access to the information solely to those who have a direct and immediate need of such access within the scope of the programme.

The Company, however, agrees that Deloitte and the programme partners shall have no obligation as set out above with respect to any Information which; (i) is already or becomes publicly known without breach of this section; (ii) is disclosed in good faith and on a non-confidential basis to Deloitte or any of the programme partners by a third party that is legally entitled to disclose such information; (iii) is developed by Deloitte or any of the programme partners independently of any information received from the Company; (iv) is known by Deloitte or any of the programme partners prior to its receipt of the Information; or (v) is disclosed with the Company’s written consent. Deloitte and the programme partners may disclose Information to the extent required by law, regulation, judicial or administrative process, or in accordance with professional standards, or in connection with litigation pertaining hereto.

By pressing “Submit” and, consequently, submit the application for participating in the programme, the Company hereby agrees to and confirms that the Information provided in connection thereto and otherwise within the scope of the programme:

    (i) may be used by Deloitte, the programme partners and the external jury as set out above;

    (ii) is accurate and complete; and

    (iii) that the Company has obtained all necessary authorizations, including consents, to permit the handling of the Information by Deloitte, the programme partners and the external jury in accordance with applicable law and these Terms.

Please note that the Company cannot participate and be considered for the programme unless the Company leaves its consent and confirmation as set out above. [After submitting the application, you will not be able to make any further changes to the application. If you do not wish to submit the application, please close the page and the application form will be saved in order for you to complete it a later date.]

3. Privacy

 

Deloitte may have to collect and process personal data from the Company that the Information comprises. Since Deloitte determines the purposes and means of the processing, Deloitte will be Ddata Ccontroller for the received personal data.

Personal data shall be processed in a lawful, fair and transparent manner in relation to the data subject. Personal data may only be processed for specified, explicit and legitimate purposes, and may not be stored for a longer period than necessary. Taking into account the nature, scope, context and purpose of processing in order to safeguard  the rights and freedoms of the data subject, Deloitte shall implement appropriate technical and organizational security measures to ensure that processing is performed in accordance with applicable law. As a dData cController, Deloitte has the right to engage subcontractors/programme partners, within or outside the EEA area, in conjunction with acceptance and execution of the programmeengagement and/or to store information attributable to the Engagementprogramme. This is under the condition that to the degree so required according to current and applicable personal data regulations (including GDPR), a contract concerning the processing of personal data has been entered into with such a subcontractor, that the subcontractor has been bound by a non-disclosure agreement and has made a commitment to have appropriate technical and organizational measures which ensure that the rights and freedoms of the data subject are protected.data processing agreement has been entered into with such subcontractor/programme partner. Personal data may also be processed by a third party to which personal data is made available under applicable law, for example authorities.

Further information about Deloitte’s processing of personal data is available at Deloitte’s website. At our website www.deloitte.dk Deloitte provides a privacy notice to individuals, with whom Deloitte has no direct contact, such as the Company’s employees, customers and other relations. As a Company you should refer your employees, customers and other relations to this privacy notice.

The CompanyClient is responsible for having the right to transfer personal data to Deloitte in conjunction with the programmeEngagement, and for the personal data having been collected and processed in accordance with applicable law.

Prior to the acceptance of, and in conjunction with, execution of the Engagementprogramme, the Client Company is further responsible for providing the data subjects, whose personal data is transferred to Deloitte, with such information as a dData cController is obliged to give to a data subject upon the collection of personal data under applicable law (including the fact that their personal data may be processed in conjunction with the Engagementprogramme), so that the requirements of fair and transparent processing are obtained. The CompanyClient is responsible for that the aforementioned information containcontains details of the rights and freedoms of the data subjects. The Client Company is fully responsible for the rights of the data subject being respected with regards to the right of the data subject to access, restriction, erasure and rectification.

4. The award 

 

The award Denmark’s Best Managed Companies (the “Award”) will be granted on different levels which, at any time, may be amended by Deloitte unilaterally. At the time of your application these levels are as follows:

Level 1: Best Managed winner; applies to new winners selected each year.

Level 2: Requalified winner; applies to winners that have re-applied to the programme and successfully retained the Award for two additional years (subject to annual operational and financial review).

Level 3: Gold Standard winner; applies to winners that have re-applied to the programme and successfully retained the Award for four (4) consecutive years.

Level 4: Gold Standard requalified winner; applies to Gold Standard winners that have re-applied to the programme and successfully retained their Gold Standard designation for two additional years (subject to annual operational and financial review)]

Level 5: Platinum Club member; applies to winners that have re-applied to the programme and successfully retained the Award for seven (7) years or more. [LA1]

The Company hereby acknowledges and confirms that Deloitte owns all intellectual property rights with regard to the Award and the programme such as, however not limited to, the logotype/trademark of the Award (Denmark’s Best Managed Companies), commercial know how and ideas. Should the Company achieve the Award on any level, the Company does not acquire any right, title or interest in such intellectual property rights other than the right to use the logotype as set out below in this section.

Should the Company achieve the Award, the Company will be able to use the logotype of the Award during the following year for marketing purposes or otherwise. For the period thereafter, the Company may only use the logotype if used together with an indication of the year under which the Company was designated the Award. However, such indication of the year does not need be stated if the Company retain the Award for additional years.

5. Other terms

 

Deloitte's liability under the programme is limited to 10.000 DKK for any kind of liability in relation to the Company or caused by its participation in the programme. Deloitte is not liable for any indirect or consequential damages including loss of data or business opportunities.

Danish owned and managed companies usually lead a quiet life in the shadows of big iconic brands. Now it’s time to bring them out in the spotlight so that the world can see what impact they make every day. With Best Managed Companies, we want to bring attention to the Danish midsize companies that are truly outstanding so that our entire small great nation can see why they are best-in-class. Our hope is to encourage, develop and inspire Danish companies to put in the efforts that will ensure growth and international expansion.

Lars Nygaard Bertelsen | Leader of Best Managed Companies, Denmark