Winners of the Franco-British Trade & Investment Awards

The Commercial Section of the British Embassy in Paris and the Franco-British Chamber are pleased to announce the winners of the third Franco-British Trade & Investment Awards. These businesses demonstrated excellence in technology, innovation and sustainability.

To mark the upcoming 120-year anniversary of the Entente Cordiale, current 150-year anniversary of the Chamber and following a historic UK-France Summit back in March, this year's awards focused on Franco-British partnerships.

Technology and Innovation Award: Infotel UK

Created in 2015, Infotel UK Consulting is a subsidiary of Infotel Group, a French IT company headquartered in Paris. It employs 41 staff in the UK. With its UK headquarters in Newcastle upon Tyne, close to English universities and research laboratories, the dynamic British team delivers IT consulting services in the British banking, industrial and automotive sectors. 

In 2019, they launched their Innovation Lab seeking to bridge the gap between research institutions and enterprises, attracting talent to the North East region. 

Sustainability Award: BT France

BT Group is the UK’s leading telecommunications company. BT exists in France since the mid-80s and serves many of the top French-listed companies (CAC40), including major banks, utilities and industrial companies.

BT has pledged Net Zero operations by 2030 and a Net Zero supply chain by 2040 and already uses 100% sustainable electricity worldwide.

The SME of the Year Award: Paxman Coolers

Paxman manufactures and supplies the Paxman Scalp Cooling System (PSCS), a market-leading medical device which is used by cancer patients globally to minimise the side effect of chemotherapy-induced hair loss. Paxman has an 80% share of the global scalp-cooling market, with more than 4,500 systems installed across 65 countries. It employs 92 staff in the UK. 

Paxman Coolers have strengthened its commitment to the French market over the past year, moving away from distribution and pivoting towards direct sales presence. 

Franco-British Partnership Award: Imerys

Imerys is a French multinational that specialises in the production and processing of industrial minerals. Founded in 1956, it now counts more than 14,000 employees worldwide, and an annual turnover of €4.4bn.

Imerys is entering into a collaboration with British Lithium in a joint venture to produce battery grade lithium to produce electric vehicles in the UK, a first for Europe.