Bentley awarded with one of Germany’s top business awards for mid-sized companies

The developer and manufacturer of innovative vascular implants wins the ‘Großer Preis des Mittelstandes’ (“Grand Prize for Medium-Sized Enterprises”) award

The German national daily newspaper “Die WELT” has described the ‘Großer Preis des Mittelstandes’ award, which is yearly assigned by the Leipzig-based Oskar Patzelt Foundation since 1994, as the “most coveted business award in Germany”. Bentley has now received the prestigious award after its second go. Last year the specialist for vascular implants had already been among the eight finalists, but now CEO Sebastian Büchert was able to receive the coveted award winner statuette on behalf of Bentley. Bentley came out on top among 931 participating medium-sized companies from all across Baden-Württemberg*.

“We are over the moon and proud to receive this award,” says Sebastian Büchert, who was accompanied by Product Development Manager Carmen Panero and his deputy Christian Bader, Director of Quality and Market Access. “This is an award for all Bentley employees who are responsible for the great success of our company.”

The challenging thing about the ‘Großer Preis des Mittelstandes’ is that a holistic approach is taken, rather than the participating companies having to prove themselves in one special field. There are five criteria evaluated by the judging panel: the overall development of the company, the creation and securing of jobs, innovation and modernisation, commitment to the region as well as customer focus, service and marketing.

Bentley was able to impress the judges in all these areas. In his award speech, Dr Helfried Schmidt, Chairman of the Oskar Patzelt Foundation which assigns the awards, praised the rapid growth and fast pace of innovation of the company. Bentley is committed to “making a difference in the care and health of patients with vascular diseases with first-class medical products”. After having launched its first implant for minimally invasive vascular surgery in 2012, Bentley now markets six product families of innovative implants developed and manufactured in-house. In his speech, Schmidt said that Bentley now “enjoys the esteem of vascular surgeons in more than 80 countries”.

Bentley’s rapid global growth can also be seen in the fact that the company will exceed the €50 million turnover mark for the first time in 2021 and now employs 210 persons, 185 of them at the Bentley headquarters in Hechingen. The judges considered it a huge success for Bentley that this growth has been financed from its own resources and that all start-up loans have already been repaid. The quality feature “Made in Germany” of all Bentley products was also emphasised. The entire expertise, from research to quality assurance, production to sales, administration and training, is concentrated at the company site in Hechingen, which will soon be expanded with the addition of a new administration building.

The local roots, however, go hand in hand with global networking. Among others Bentley is working together with Stanford University, Stuttgart University and internationally renowned vascular surgeons to develop implants.

In addition to the successes on the market, for which Bentley has also developed the world’s first ordering app for medical implants, the judging panel praised the corporate culture in particular. It is characterised by diversity and gender equality. The Bentley team is made up of more than 30 nationalities of all ages. The judges saw a gender balance across all levels of the company. Huge importance is attached to social skills, so that new colleagues feel comfortable in Bentley’s start-up mentality with its familiar and open atmosphere.

And then there’s the social responsibility lived out in the region. Since 2018, the company has been cooperating with the Förderverein für krebskranke Kinder Tübingen e. V. (Association for Children with Cancer), whose chairman Anton Hofmann was one of five people and organisations to nominate Bentley for the 2021 ‘Großer Preis des Mittelstandes’. The company was also nominated by one of the biggest local banks the Sparkasse Zollernalb, by the Mayor of Hechingen Philipp Hahn, by Dr Heiko Zimmermann, Managing Director of Medical Valley Hechingen e. V. (competence network of medical technology companies, its suppliers and service providers), and by Prof. Eric Verhoeven, Senior Physician of Vascular Surgery at Nuremberg Hospital.

Meanwhile, Bentley CEO Sebastian Büchert and his team are already looking to the future – not only to the new building in Hechingen, which should enable the company to double its turnover and workforce within the coming five years, but also to the National Gala for the ‘Großer Preis des Mittelstands’, which will take place in Dresden, Germany on 30th October, where the nationwide “special prizes” will be awarded among the winners.

* third-largest state (Bundesland) in Southwest Germany in which Bentley is located

Contact: Kerstin Stotz, Communication & Event Coordinator, k.stotz@bentley.global