ESPRIX Excellence Suisse 1999 - 2019

In August 1997, the independent foundation ESPRIX - Swiss Quality Award for Business Excellence was established and entered in the commercial register in 1998. Its first president was former member of the Council of States Vreni Spoerry. Since its establishment, the Foundation has been supported by sponsors such as Helvetia Insurance and Credit Suisse (until 2010). In addition to the Board of Trustees, there is also a Patronage Committee with well-known personalities from the worlds of business, politics and science, as well as an office. The first managing director was Heinz Liedtke, who held this position until 2010.

A prize for the best
In 1998, under the direction of Prof. Dr. em. Hans Dieter Seghezzi, the ESPRIX competition was held for the first time. This then led to the ESPRIX Swiss Award for Excellence, which was presented for the first time in 1999 in the newly built KKL Luzern in the presence of Federal Councillor Pascal Couchepin. The EFQM Excellence Model serves as the evaluation criterion. Only one company can win the actual ESPRIX Award, the best among the good. In the past 20 years, a total of 50 finalists, 25 prize winners and 16 ESPRIX Award winners have been honored.

Responding to the changes of the times
Over the years, a lot has changed at the ESPRIX Foundation. The name of the foundation has been adapted several times. A first name change was made in 2009 to "ESPRIX Swiss Excellence Award". However, this name could not be protected and was therefore changed to "ESPRIX Foundation". Under the leadership of President Thomas Troger, the current name "ESPRIX Excellence Suisse" was established.

When Priska Wyser took over the management of the Foundation in 2011, the business model was adapted to the changed environment in collaboration with Dr. Felix Horner (Suva). Since 2013, the ESPRIX Foundation has been an official national EFQM partner and can therefore also offer all EFQM products on the path to excellence. More and more companies are now following this path; to date, together with the SAQ, around 450 companies and organisations have received an award for having undergone an independent assessment, and the trend is rising.

Repositioning and thanks
In the last two years, the ESPRIX Foundation has experienced turbulent times. The current Board of Trustees is busy with the turnaround of the Foundation and will present this at the anniversary celebration on 21 June 2019 on the Bürgenstock. The Foundation will reposition itself and adapt its activities to the demands of the times.

The anniversary is also the occasion for a big thank you to the hundreds of people who have worked voluntarily and with great commitment over the past 20 years to further develop and implement the foundation's purpose, "to promote the competitiveness of Swiss companies". It is to be hoped that we will also succeed in finding committed companions and multipliers in the years to come.