West Mids companies in Queen's Awards success
Ten companies from the West Midlands have been named as Queen's Award winners this morning. Seven companies received the honour for their work in the international field, and three were commended in the innovation category.
Among the winners in the former division is Stoke-on-Trent ceramics manufacturer Portmeirion, which has increased its export sales by 63 per cent over the last three years.
The Queen's Awards – awarded on the monarch's birthday – are widely regarded as the highest accolade for business success.
The winners in the international trade category included: Stafford-based Addmaster; Delcam in Birmingham; Dunlop Aircraft Tyres in Birmingham; Worcestershire-based Malvern Instruments; Portmeirion in Stoke-on-Trent; Thermaserve in Shropshire; and Uniline Safety Systems in Redditch.
Portmerion said the US was its largest export market, but added that South Korea was "the real surprise story", as it has now become the number one imported tableware brand in the country.
Michael Haynes, group sales and marketing director at Portmerion, said: "Portmeirion Group has been a major UK success story in exporting to many international markets. The key to our success has been very simple: to get us as close to our markets as possible. Using a strong network of local distributors, we now export to over sixty countries worldwide. This award for excellence is great recognition for our skills and brands."
In the Queen's Awards for Innovation category, the West Midlands had three winners. Staffordshire's JCB Excavators, Probrand in Birmingham and Volumatic in Coventry were all honoured.
Volumatic manufactures cash handling equipment. Commercial director, James Harris, said: "Innovation is at the core of everything we do at Volumatic – we recognise that innovative products, people and processes are what drive our business forward and create our competitive advantage.
"We work really hard to continually understand the needs of our customers better, so that we can develop products which will be relevant both today and in the future. To be recognised for this with the Queen’s Award for Innovation is a fantastic achievement for our business."
Also honoured at the awards was Dr Geoffrey Davies, managing director of Alamo Group Europe in Worcestershire. Davies was awarded for his work in enterprise promotion.
Davies received the honour due to his work as business ambassador and chairman of the Shropshire Business Board. He also devised the Business Enterprise Grant Scheme, which has helped 138 Shropshire companies in its 12-month operating period.
