How the FT’s Reinvention Champions adapted to a changing world
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Business empires have been founded on a single invention — from the steam engine to the semiconductor. But, sometimes, they only stay in business if they later pull off a reinvention.
Often, that will mean updating their products, changing their target markets, rethinking their strategies, or even rewriting their business plans. Those that successfully reinvent themselves can go on for decades; but those that do not may fall by the wayside. For every IBM, there is a Kodak; for every Lego, a Nokia.
Reinvention Champions: the judges
Murad Ahmed, Technology news editor, Financial Times
Gary Dushnitsky, Associate professor?of strategy and entrepreneurship, London Business School
Clare Hickie, Chief technology officer EMEA, Workday
Matthew Vincent, Editor FT Project Publishing, Financial Times
And that is what the Financial Times’ ‘Reinvention Champions’ project is all about: recognising companies in Europe that have made a clever change to what they do — to stay relevant and successful.
FT readers nominated them and a panel of judges then chose the best examples in eight sectors*. Given the geopolitical and environmental backdrop, many of the businesses that stood out this year have pivoted to focus on sustainability, security, health and use of resources.
Here, then, are the judges picks’ for 2024, with FT readers’ reasons for nominating them, and the other shortlisted companies in their sector:
Energy
REINVENTION CHAMPION:
Cepsa, now rebranded to Moeve
NOMINATION:
Cepsa is undergoing a seismic shift under its Positive Motion strategy to transition from an integrated oil and gas company to a leading producer of green molecules, this decade. In 2024, Cepsa announced additional upstream asset sales, bringing total E&P portfolio divestments to 60 per cent. It began construction of the largest second-generation biofuels plant in southern Europe and signed agreements for phase one of Europe’s most ambitious green hydrogen project.
PROFILE:
Cepsa rebrands as Moeve to mark shift away from fossil fuels
SHORTLISTED:
Hitachi Ltd
Bord na Móna
BP
Health
REINVENTION CHAMPION:
Teletracking Technologies
NOMINATION:
TeleTracking has worked with the NHS for more than a decade, evolving and adapting its technology from a bed and capacity management solution to an integrated operations management platform that has pioneered the UK’s first Care Coordination Centre model. It has worked closely with five NHS Trusts to establish centres that support staff with real-time visibility of capacity management, staffing workflows, resources utilisation, and data analytics — to drive sustainable change.
PROFILE:
TeleTracking proves that efficiency is the best medicine
SHORTLISTED:
BioNTech
Airfinity
hVIVO plc
Industry and manufacturing
REINVENTION CHAMPION:
Syensqo
NOMINATION:
Syensqo’s demerger from Solvay in 2023 represents the transformation of one of Belgium’s oldest and most iconic companies, which was founded in 1863. The new company has rapidly expanded its focus to cutting-edge technologies for battery materials, thermoplastic composites, green hydrogen, renewable materials and biotechnology — capitalising on growing global demand.
PROFILE:
Syensqo transitions to a greener future after 160 years
SHORTLISTED:
Speira
UPM
Beskow von Post
Stilfold AB (previously Stilride)
Technology, IT and telecoms
REINVENTION CHAMPION:
Cailabs
NOMINATION:
When Cailabs launched, it focused on industrial laser processing and fibre optics. But when, in 2017, a telecoms client suggested the company look into aerospace, it began to scale products for satellite optical ground stations. Today, it operates one of the only optical ground stations capable of 10+ Gbps laser communications with low Earth orbit satellites, deploying proprietary Multi-Plane Light Technology to overcome the biggest hurdle that has faced earth-to-space laser communication: maintaining the resilience of the beam through atmospheric turbulence.
PROFILE:
Cailabs sees the light on transmitting big data from space
SHORTLISTED:
Globant
Cloudways
Good Growth
YellowNest
Construction and property
REINVENTION CHAMPION:
The Social Hub
NOMINATION:
Founded in 2012 as “The Student Hotel”, providing community-centric student accommodations, the company then evolved the concept of hybrid hospitality, bringing together students, tourists, neighbours and businesspeople under one roof. In 2022, it rebranded to “The Social Hub” and, with new investors on board, has since pioneered a social impact model for the real estate and hospitality industries.
PROFILE:
The Social Hub builds community for students, workers and travellers
SHORTLISTED:
The Property Franchise Group
Media, communications and publishing
REINVENTION CHAMPION:
Sportian
NOMINATION:
Major League Rugby, Sportian, and Globant have teamed up to advance rugby in North America. In just six weeks, Sportian launched The Rugby Network, a streaming platform with live and on-demand match coverage. This platform is central to a robust brand strategy, collecting fan data to build comprehensive behavioural insights and supporting MLR’s transition to a subscription model. Within four months, the platform gained more than 65,000 new users.
PROFILE:
Sportian’s rugby team takes on North America’s big five leagues
SHORTLISTED:
Relx
Pearson
Banking and finance
REINVENTION CHAMPION:
The International Stock Exchange
NOMINATION:
TISE is one of the leading bond listing venues in Europe and, last year, it launched a private markets offering, to provide unlisted companies with integrated electronic auction trading, settlement and registry management. TISE’s new offering provides a system where companies can register shareholders and shares and execute trades automatically, with no intermediary parties involved.
PROFILE:
TISE finds best place to capitalise on private assets
SHORTLISTED:
Excitare.ai
First AML
Coutts
Retail and consumer
REINVENTION CHAMPION:
Edelweiss
NOMINATION:
During the pandemic the length of the Edelweiss supply chain prompted the question of whether it might be possible to make a piano without sourcing parts from overseas, particularly the Far East. The answer was: “almost”. The resulting piano, the new S132, has been described as “the best small grand piano in the world” and, with the exception of the action mechanism, was made entirely in this country.
PROFILE:
Piano maker Edelweiss finds the key to recalibrating supply chain
SHORTLISTED:
PUIG
TooGoodToGo
By Rotation
*The judges decided there were insufficient standout nominations to pick a Reinvention Champion in the Professional Services and Transport & Logistics sectors
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