These are the winners of the SUR in English 2024 Top International Business Guide and Awards

Around 170 representatives from foreign and Spanish businesses, authorities and organisations based on the Costa del Sol attended SUR in English’s second Top International Business Guide and Awards event on Tuesday 28 May, at the Beach Club - Holiday World Resort in Benalmádena on the Costa del Sol. The guests reflected the wide range of nationalities living together in the south of Spain.

The glittering event was sponsored by CaixaBank in the presence of the UK ambassador to Spain Hugh Elliott and the mayor of Benalmádena Juan Antonio Lara Martín.

In his welcome speech which he gave in English, editor-in-chief of the SUR group, which includes Diario SUR, SUR in English and SUR Deutsche Ausgabe, Manolo Castillo recalled the early days of SUR in English and thanked SUR in English team for the event. “Today is a very special day. It is the 40th anniversary first English-speaking newspaper on the Costa del Sol. We are very proud of these 40 years,” he said.

Click here to download the pdf version of the SUR in English Top International Business Guide 2024.

Gerardo Cuartero, sales director CaixaBank in Malaga, Córdoba, Almeria, Ceuta and Melilla, thanked SUR in English, the ambassador and the mayor of Benalmádena and recognised the importance of the foreign business community on the Costa del Sol. He went on to say that the bank has more than 200 branches in Spain that are specialised in businesses: financing, real estate with a website in English, Spanish and German as well as internet banking in more than 20 languages.

Hugh Elliott congratulated the prize winners and went on to talk about “the special relationship the UK has with Malaga province and with the Costa del Sol”. He said that as well as the 120,000 UK residents living here, over 2.6 million people visited the area from the UK last year, spending 5.9 million nights and over 42 billion euros.

The ambassador went on to say that over 80 per cent of British investment in Spain is in Andalucía: “We have an extraordinary British community here contributing so much to the ‘convivencia’ [foreign and Spanish residents living together side by side]”. He paid special mention to the wealth of businesses, entrepreneurs and volunteers all contributing to life on the Costa del Sol and indeed the “the fantastic hospitality we are afforded by our Spanish hosts”.

Lara Martín also spoke in English and congratulated the newspaper on the guide and award and offered his gratitude to the companies that have collaborated in the guide. He thanked the international businesses and entrepreneurs who have invested in the Costa del Sol.

The first award of the evening went to Helicópteros Sanitarios, a Spanish company used by foreign residents and visitors on the Costa del Sol. In 1988, the N-340 road which ran between Sotogrande and Malaga was an accident black spot where more than 38 per cent of people who required urgent medical assistance died before reaching the hospital due to delay and lack of professional assistance.

At the time there was no service, public or private, able to transport patients quickly and safely from the different towns along the Costa del Sol to the main hospitals in Malaga city. The President and CEO of Helicópteros Sanitarios, Mariá José Cañete, was just 23 when she saw that Malaga province needed an emergency-transport service. She was determined to establish a company capable of saving lives and offering the most cutting-edge medical care.

Inmaculada Lanzas, sales manager at Helicópteros Sanitarios, received the award on behalf of the company which weas presented by Gerardo Cuartero. After thanking him and everyone involved in the event, Lanzas said that the company is “growing constantly" and said that at the moment the company has a hospital in Puerto Banús and two clinics Manilva and Fuengirola which provide services to residents and non-residents.

The second award went to Ben Smith, founder and CEO of Check-in Scan, an App that provides instant legal compliance for vacation rentals, hotels, bed and breakfasts and all types of tourist short-term accommodation by providing a no-hassle, fast and secure system: 'Scan, Sign & Send'.

Through the innovative platform now used by over 5.000 subscribers in Spain, Portugal, Italy & Croatia, guests can scan their ID cards, sign on screen and this data is sent to authorities in real-time so that property owners and managers can have peace of mind and focus on running the business and not on the red tape.

Check-in Scan is looking to expand their current team of 12 as they enter new international markets. They currently have 25,000 properties using their system and this year are expected to process 3.5 million guests.

After accepting the award from the ambassador, long-term British resident in Spain Ben recalled, “When I was a kid my parents were involved in tourism here and I remember seeing SUR in English on the coffee table so it’s an honour to be receiving an award from them. Thank you.”

Following the success of the inaugural edition last year, the Top International Business Guide and Awards continues to showcase the international business community in the south of Spain.

The guide, which will be published inside SUR in English and online on 31 May, will feature firms in a wide range of sectors and industries from healthcare and education to banking, real estate and technology.

The ideal publication to keep on the coffee table, readers will have at hand the most comprehensive directory of professional services for the international community in the south of Spain, from financial advisers to healthcare.

As the newspaper celebrates 40 years on the Costa del Sol, SUR in English once again stressed its commitment to "linking communities and supporting local businesses".