World Leather magazine and its Tannery of the Year partners, APLF and Buckman Laboratories, are delighted to announce the names of the tanneries that have been nominated for the Awards for Europe.

There are ten tanneries on the list, all of which will receive recognition of their achievement, including permission to use the special Tannery of the Year Awards logo corporate material for three years.

Two of the ten tanneries will be shortlisted. These two finalists will receive in-depth coverage in the April-May issue of World Leather and will then go forward to represent Europe at the inaugural Tannery of the Year Awards event that will take place at APLF in spring 2010.

In alphabetical order, the ten tanneries are:

- Borge Garveri, Lonevåg, Norway.
- Bridge of Weir Leather Company Limited, Renfrewshire, Scotland.
- Conceria Cristina S.P.A., Montebello Vicentino, Italy.
- Conceria Mastrotto, Arzignano, Italy.
- Conceria Priante, Arzignano, Italy
- ECCO Tannery Holland B.V., Dongen, the Netherlands.
- Elmo Leather AB, Svenljunga, Sweden.
- Hulshof Royal Dutch Tanneries, Lichtenvoorde, the Netherlands.
- IUV-Industrija, Vrhnika, Slovenia.
- Josef Heinen GmbH & Co KG, Wegberg, Germany.

Congratulations to all our nominated tanneries.

We shall announce the two finalists from this group in the coming weeks.

After Europe, the attention of the Tannery of the Year Awards will move to South America.

With the focus on corporate social responsibility, the programme's aim is to identify the two best tanners in six regions around the world: China, the rest of Asia, South America, Central and North America, Africa, and Europe. We will publish in World Leather in-depth reports into what makes these tanneries shining examples of good practice in all aspects of corporate social responsibility: environmental concerns, good relationships with employees, partners, suppliers and the local community, commitment to innovation and financial probity.