The objective of the EFQM Excellence Award is to recognise Europe’s best performing organisations, whether private, public or non-profit. Previous applicants have described the EFQM Excellence Awards as “like playing in the Champions League”, because it is supported by one of the most rigorous assessment processes. To identify the finalists, a team of 4 – 8 international experienced managers spend one week on site, or an average of 500 hours per applicant; reviewing documents, interviewing and analysing the organisation against the EFQM Excellence Model The feedback from the assessor teams then presented to an independent jury that decides the level of recognition for each Finalist. To win the EFQM Excellence Award, an applicant must be able to demonstrate that their performance not only exceeds that of their peers, but also that they will maintain this advantage into the future. A prize winner is an organisation which demonstrates role model behaviour in one of the following 8 criteria’s: