Regional winners in the Business of the Year and Entrepreneur of the Year awards are a cycling shop and a baker

The newspaper Hospodářské noviny runs an annual competition to find the Business of the Year and the Entrepreneur of the Year. In the regional round of the competition, the title Vodafone Business of the Year went to a cycling shop, while the Moneta Entrepreneur of the Year award was given to a bakery run by Arnošt Obrusník.

Mr. Obrusník opened his own bakery in 1990, and since then the business has prospered. He has loved baking since he was a child, and he has lost none of his passionate enthusiasm for making hand-crafted bakery products using top-quality ingredients and time-honoured techniques. He summed up what makes his bakery special: “The difference between me and my competitors is that every day I supply my customers with fresh products, and I also update my range regularly according to changing demand.” The bakery’s customer base comes from a large region centred on the cities of Ostrava and Opava. Mr. Obrusník considers his greatest success to be the undiminished popularity of his products after so many years on the market. The award was made all the sweeter by the fact that the bakery finished in second place in the nationwide rankings.

Second place in the regional round went to yoga teacher Magdaléna Štarhová, while third place went to Otakar Potyka, who cultivates cactuses and succulents.

The regional winner of the Business of the Year award was Schindler, an exclusive distributor of premium cycle brands in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and Poland, which also runs a chain of cycling shops. Established 28 years ago, the company currently employs 75 people. Jan Schindler gave more details: “We enjoy our work, and we try to pass on our enthusiasm and advice to our customers. We’re currently building a state-of-the-art new warehouse and introducing a highly automated information system.” The company is striving to become one of Central Europe’s largest cycling companies, with a strong presence in cycle sport.

Second place in the regional round went to YES CHIPS, which produces chips made from peas and lentils. Third place went to the BeWooden company, which makes fashion accessories using natural materials. The nationwide winner was mmcité1 from the Zlín Region, a designer and manufacturer of street furniture and fixtures.

Source: Vodafone firma roku, MONETA živnostník roku