ON April 21 it was announced that seven companies from the North East had won a Queen’s Award for Enterprise. The 2011 awards were the most competitive ever and all the winning firms should be very proud of their success.
As secretary to the Queen’s Awards I find it heartening to see the continued determination of British businesses to succeed both at home and abroad.
A Queen’s Award carries great prestige. Winning an award takes a truly inspiring level of effort from the whole company. These awards recognise not the good but the truly excellent, those who have gone beyond what is the norm or the expected and have delighted customers and consumers alike.
Four North East companies won the Queen’s Award for International Trade and three won the Queen’s Award for Innovation. The companies cover a range of sectors and include Tiger Filtration Ltd (a small company with nine employees that has been trading since 2004) and Entek International Ltd, both of whom won the Queen’s Award for International Trade. Entek started trading in 1990 and recently invested £26m in its Newcastle facility.
The awards demonstrate the strength of the North East in manufacturing and engineering and the ability of companies in the region to innovate and to develop and exploit new technologies.
Spectrum Brands (UK) Ltd won a Queen’s Award for Innovation for the continuous development of hearing aid batteries. Advances in manufacturing within the company have resulted in faster and cheaper production.
Through a series of innovations, the company has been first to market with many advances and gained a world-leading position.
DuPont Teijin Films UK Ltd also won the Queen’s Award for Innovation for developing Melinex® 243, a polyester film for use in photovoltaic solar modules. The film forms the outer layer of back-sheets used to seal the modules and provide electrical insulation and environ-
mental protection. Through the innovation, the company is enjoying commercial success in an expanding market.
Soil Machine Dynamics Ltd (SMD) also won the Innovation Award for the continuous development of work class remotely-operated vehicles (ROVs). They are used in inspection, recovery and maintenance in deep water environments in a range of sectors from energy (oil and gas, marine renewables and offshore wind infrastructure), to telecoms, naval/military and scientific communities. The company employs 178 people and its innovation has led to commercial success in world markets.
The International Trade Award was won by Advanced Electronics Ltd, which manufactures “intelligent” electronic fire detection and life safety equipment and by Bonds Ltd, which specialises in castings for stone crushing equipment, valve and pump casings; and parts for ships.
It is also worth noting that two individuals working to promote enterprise in the region have also received the Queen’s Award for Enterprise Promotion. This is an individual award and only 10 awards are made each year, with an additional award for lifetime achievement.
The lifetime achievement award was made to Ronald Batty, ex-chief executive, CDC Enterprise Agency, County Durham. Mr Batty has been instrumental in the establishment, over the last 25 years, of more than 3,000 businesses with a 70% first-year survival rate. His voluntary activities include organising and mentoring the Durham Future Business Magnates, a competition for 13-year-old schoolchildren, and the Durham Retail Business Awards.
Alison Brown, head of technology, at Catcote School Business and Enterprise College in Hartlepool, also received the Queen’s Award for Enterprise Promotion for her work in establishing a Centre of Excellence in Enterprise Education.
Catcote is a maintained special school and caters for 120 young people with learning difficulties or disabilities aged between 11 and 19 years of age. It is now the only specialist business and enterprise college in Hartlepool and is one of the first special schools in the country to achieve such a status.
I hope the success of this year’s winners will encourage more high-performing businesses in the North East to come forward to claim recognition for their achievements in HM the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee year, 2012.
Full details can be found at www.businesslink.gov.uk/queensawards or from the Queen’s Awards helpline on 020 7215 6880.