Telefónica today received the "Annual Golden Award 2008" at a ceremony organised by the Official Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Great Britain. This prize is awarded annually in recognition of the contribution of Spanish companies to economic and commercial life in the UK.
The prize, which was being awarded for the twelfth time, recognises the commercial achievements of the Telefónica Group in the UK in 2007 and was accepted by Luis Abril, Chairman's Office Director, from the Spanish Ambassador in the UK, Carlos Miranda. The award ceremony was also attended by the president of the Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Great Britain, Fernando Pérez Fraile.
Accepting the award, Luis Abril said that Telefónica was receiving the prize not only as a recognition of its achievements but also as an incentive to continue with the same strategy it has pursued in recent years and which is now yielding such impressive results.
Europe and specifically Great Britain is one of the strategic markets for the Telefónica Group. Since its acquisition of O2 plc in 2005, the company has made a significant qualitative and quantitative leap forward in the region. Telefónica Europe, the new name for the company's European operations outside Spain, has grown its customer base from 25 million in 2005 (when O2 was acquired) to 42 million at the end of 2007. Moreover, revenues grew from 10 billion euros in 2005 to 14.5 billion euros at the end of last year. During this period the Czech Republic and Slovakia were incorporated into the Telefónica Europe division, and operations have been strengthened in Germany and the UK.
Therefore the integration of O2 and Telefónica has not just bolstered competitiveness and productivity in the UK and Spain but has also benefited O2 and the Telefónica Group.
The second award of this type in three years
The prize accepted today by Telefónica is the second awarded to the company by a Chamber of Commerce abroad. In September 2005 it was César Alierta, Chairman and CEO of Telefónica, who received "The Global Spanish Entrepreneur" award in New York. On that occasion, the Spanish-US Chamber of Commerce wanted to recognise the Telefónica Group's entry into the New York Dow Jones Global Titans 50 index, a landmark achievement for Telefónica and all Spanish companies. Telefónica was the first Spanish and one of the few European companies to be included in this important index, which comprises the 50 largest companies in the world.
