TOP 100 Award
SME award for the hidden champion from Mönchengladbach
TOP Innovator 2023
90% of all companies in Germany are family businesses, according to the latest figures from ifm Bonn (Institut für Mittelstandsforschung). By ifm's definition, they make up the Mittelstand in Germany, which generates around 37% of all sales, employs 56% of all people on social security, and is thus rightly the backbone of the German economy.
Under the patronage of business journalist Ranga Yogeshwar, the TOP 100 competition selects the hundred best medium-sized companies each year - in 2023, SK UV Gele GmbH from Mönchengladbach is one of these honored top innovators.
"I am celebrating my 30th anniversary in the cosmetics industry this year," said company founder Nicole Simon. "The award crowns this anniversary year and confirms my team and I in our efforts to continue to set new impulses in a rapidly developing industry."
Together with her husband Oliver, Nicole Simon founded SK-UV-Gele GmbH in 2010, one of the leading suppliers of high-quality nail gels in Europe. The GmbH is a milestone of the group of companies, which also includes the renowned Beauty Resort Nicole Simon in Mönchengladbach and the premium nail polish brand Look-To-Go.
SK-UV-Gele GmbH convinced the top-class jury under the scientific direction of Prof. Dr. Nikolaus Franke from the Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration, one of the world's leading innovation experts, in the five categories to be evaluated.
Innovative strength is part of SK-UV-Gele GmbH's strategy for success: "The beauty industry is changing continuously and at a rapid pace. Success is only possible if you are willing to go the extra mile," Nicole Simon explains the success.
"We are constantly working on new ideas and innovative strategies, and are constantly putting ourselves, our actions and our recipes to the test in a self-critical manner. This happens as a team with our employees. The paths are short, decisions are made quickly, the smallness of a family business makes the size of the success."
The figures of i.p.g. (Institute for Professional Foundation Consulting) confirm that about four million women used the services of professional nail designers in 2021.
In Germany alone, the i.p.g. - not counting the nail designers who work at home - counted 37,000 nail studios, and the trend is rising.
Beyond fast-moving trends, Nicole Simon sees above all the growing demand for environmental awareness and sustainability as innovation drivers for strategies, concepts and formulations. SK-UV-Gele GmbH works tirelessly to develop resource-saving solutions. The company's first successful product was Suvanaro in 2022, a UV gel based on a completely new composition of natural components such as sugar cane and tree resin.
This makes SK UV-Gele GmbH the first producer of a UV gel made from renewable raw materials.
The TOP 100 award ceremony will take place on June 23, 2023, as part of the German SME Summit at the "Kongress am Park" in Augsburg.
