The Louie family recognized with the EY Family Business Award of Excellence

The family continues to build its legacy of innovation in business

VANCOUVER, July 14, 2015 /CNW/ - Innovation has been at the heart of the Louie family business for over 100 years. From a small Vancouver general store in the early 1900's to a sprawling empire of grocery, pharmacy and wholesale businesses today, the family has always strived to be true to its core values and maintained exemplary business ethics. This fall, EY is recognizing the Louie family, owners of the H.Y. Louie Co. Ltd., with the EY Family Business Award of Excellence.

Each of the three generations at the head of the business has accelerated growth through fresh, new ideas embraced by their customers. At a time when pharmacies were open limited hours, London Drugs, one of H.Y. Louie's companies, was open nights and weekends. When there was demand for quick and safe charter flights, H.Y. Louie started a jet business. Taking advantage of opportunities and anticipating customer demand, the company has expanded to 7,000 employees and continues to open new customer-centric entities across Western Canada.

"To stay relevant to your customers, you have to revolutionize your business regularly," says Brandt Louie, President and CEO of H.Y. Louie. "We've taken many risks to grow our business, but we have also stayed true to our values that were originally outlined by my grandfather – honesty, respect and generosity."

The EY Family Business Award of Excellence recognizes leaders of outstanding entrepreneurial families who have successfully grown their business through innovation and bold creativity. They strive to leave a meaningful legacy and give back to their communities.

"The Louie family embodies the values and principles the EY Family Business Award of Excellence celebrates," says Lui Petrollini, Pacific Entrepreneur Of The Year program director. "We're proud to recognize a family that has cemented its legacy not just in business, but in its communities in the areas of healthcare, education and the arts."

Philanthropic activity has been shown to lead to better business outcomes. According to a recent survey conducted by EY and Kennesaw State University's Cox Family Enterprise Center, giving back is one of the secrets to lasting success for family businesses. A whopping 96% of Canadian family businesses engage in philanthropy, which is above the global rate of 81% and the U.S. rate of 67%.  Corporate social responsibility practices tend to result in increased operational efficiency, reduced waste and increased product differentiation, which help improve business processes and profitability. These practices also lead to more family pride, unity and cohesiveness. Globally, 20% of survey participants attributed family cohesiveness to sustainability practices and family business branding.

Peter Legge, Chairman and CEO of Canada Wide Media, will present Brandt Louie with the Family Business Award of Excellence at the Pacific Entrepreneur Of The Year gala on 24 September 2015. The Pacific Entrepreneur Of The Year finalists will also be announced at the gala.

For more information about the awards gala and to buy tickets, please contact Sandie Atkinson at 604 643 5486 or [email protected]. 

For event updates, visit us at ey.com/ca/eoy or follow us on Twitter @EYCanada and use #EOY and #EOYPacific to join the conversation.

About EY Entrepreneur Of The Year™
EY Entrepreneur Of The Year is the world's most prestigious business award for entrepreneurs. The unique award makes a difference through the way it encourages entrepreneurial activity among those with potential, and recognizes the contribution of people who inspire others with their vision, leadership and achievement. As the first and only truly global award of its kind, EY Entrepreneur Of The Year celebrates those who are building and leading successful, growing and dynamic businesses, recognizing them through regional, national and global awards programs in more than 140 cities in 50 countries.

This year's program sponsors are National Post, TEC Canada, La Presse, RDI, TMX, Merrill DataSite, Kira Talent, Air Canada, The Printing House Limited, BC Business, Leone, Hunt Personnel, Sauder School of Business and Four Seasons Hotel.

About the Family Business Award of Excellence
The award recognizes leaders of outstanding entrepreneurial families, whose companies exist in at least the 3^rd generation. It honours companies that have a tradition of successfully balancing business and family issues, growing the business through innovation, and contributing through philanthropic or social engagement. The selected families support these traditions with sustainable, long-term strategies that include effective and transparent corporate governance.

About EY
EY is a global leader in assurance, tax, transaction and advisory services. For more than 150 years in Canada, we've delivered the insights and quality services that help build trust and confidence in capital markets here and in economies the world over. We develop outstanding leaders who team to deliver on our promises to all of our stakeholders. In so doing, we play a critical role in building a better working world for our people, for our clients and for our communities.

For more information about the program, FAQs and key dates, please visit ey.com/ca/EOY.

Follow us on Twitter @EYCanada, #EOY

EY refers to the global organization and may refer to one or more of the member firms of Ernst & Young Global Limited, each of which is a separate legal entity. Ernst & Young Global Limited, a UK company limited by guarantee, does not provide services to clients. For more information about our organization, please visit ey.com.

About the Family Business Survey
This report is based on survey data gathered from a database of 2,400 of the world's largest family businesses. This database comprises the largest family businesses from the top 21 global markets — Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, the Gulf Cooperation Countries (Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates), India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, the Netherlands, Russia, South Korea, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey, the UK and the US. Valid Research, an independent research institute in Germany, used a questionnaire and conducted 1,000 phone interviews in the specific country language with senior ranking family business leaders. Based on the number of companies contacted to achieve our desired sample size, we achieved a 42% response rate. This report takes into account the responses of the 25 largest family-owned businesses in each of the markets.

SOURCE ERNST & YOUNG

Erika Bennett, [email protected], 403 206 5157; Julie Fournier, [email protected], 514 874 4308; Sasha Anopina, [email protected], 416 943 2637