Nominations open for 2024 Enterprise 50 Awards

NOMINATIONS opened on Wednesday (Mar 27) for this year’s Enterprise 50 (E50) Awards, which recognise the 50 most enterprising, privately owned Singapore companies. Nominations close on Jul 1, and the winners will be announced at an award ceremony and gala dinner in late November.

Amy Khor, Senior Minister of State for Sustainability and the Environment and Transport, was the guest of honour at an event to mark the opening of the nominations, and participated in a panel discussion moderated by The Business Times’ (BT) environmental, social, and governance (ESG) correspondent Wong Pei Ting.

Other participants in the panel included: Mike Ng, group chief sustainability officer of OCBC; Cherine Fok, partner, head of Our Impact Plan, KPMG in Singapore; and Mark Lee, chief executive officer of Sing Lun Holdings.

Organised by BT and KPMG, and sponsored by OCBC, the awards are now in their 30th year. With the theme “Celebrating Legacies and Inspiring the Future”, this year’s edition celebrates three decades of the awards’ history, honouring previous winners and setting new benchmarks for success.

At the event on Wednesday, BT editor Chen Huifen noted that over the years, the sectoral mix of winners has shifted: from manufacturers in the 1990s, to construction and engineering businesses in the 2000s, to greater service-sector representation today. “This is, in a way, a reflection of the evolving Singapore economy,” she said. 

Chen also noted an “emerging interest in sustainability efforts” – which was the focus of the panel discussion.

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Panellists discussed how to support small and medium-sized (SMEs) enterprises to go green, in line with the theme of “Lightening the Carbon Load for SMEs”.

Dr Khor said: “Embracing sustainability is a must-do now, if you want to guarantee your survival.” 

Agreeing, Lee said sustainability is “a non-negotiable factor”. To secure business, especially in the US and Europe, it is important to follow sustainability standards, he noted.

“In a sense, there’s no place to hide,” said KPMG’s Fok. But businesses should not view sustainability requirements as a compliance rule that sets them back, she added. Rather, they should see sustainability as just another factor that may affect their top line and bottom line.

In Singapore, requirements are also changing, noted the panellists. Large listed companies will also have to start reporting their carbon emissions by FY2025, and large non-listed companies must do so from FY2027.

Their supply chains will also be scrutinised – and SMEs might be important parts of these supply chains, added OCBC’s Ng.

Dr Khor said that as SMEs make up 99 per cent of Singapore’s enterprises and employ 70 per cent of the workforce, they have an “upsized role” in helping to achieve Singapore’s net zero goals.

Focusing on sustainability can also be a competitive advantage for businesses, said panellists.

Ng raised the example of laundry service provider Ollo Lifestyle, which installed water recycling systems and sensors in clothes dryers to control energy use. This resulted in lower utilities bills, making Ollo’s services more attractive to its hotel clients and helping the company to clinch contracts. 

Costs remain a major barrier for SMEs in their sustainability journey – but there are various government grants to help with this, noted panellists.

OCBC also has an SME sustainability finance framework to help businesses access funding for sustainability efforts.

There needs to be a balance of idealism and pragmatism, Ng said, noting that factors such as expiring land leases and limited supporting infrastructure nearby may pose challenges to sustainability adoption. He encouraged SMEs to “do what makes sense” for them, starting with “low-hanging fruits” such as transitioning towards energy-efficient equipment. “Having said that, waiting is probably not a good strategy,” Ng added.

Sustainability Innovation is one of two Special Recognition Awards in the E50 Awards, alongside Internationalisation.

Applicants for the E50 Awards will be evaluated and ranked against a set of qualitative and quantitative factors.

Quantitative metrics include financial performance indicators such as operating profit before tax, turnover and profit growth.

Qualitative criteria include management and marketing strategies such as business models, innovations, management ideals, governance, marketing branding and overall potential.

Companies can find out more and apply for the 2024 E50 Awards via the Enterprise 50 website at http://bt.sg/e50.

The awards are supported by Enterprise Singapore, the Singapore Business Federation and the Singapore Exchange Group.