Nine companies revealed as Queen’s Award winners
NINE companies are to receive the prestigious Queen’s Award for Enterprise.
They are a mong a total of 141 across the UK recognised for their contribution to three categories – innovation, international trade and sustainable development.
Two firms in the region won the Innovation Award – Contra Vision, based in Stockport, and Mike India 5 in Manchester.
Contra employs 14 people and its chairman is Roland Hill. The award had been made for its developing suite of see-through graphics products, commonly deployed as advertisement displays, used for example on shop and bus windows.
Mike India 5 is run by managing director Anthony Heaton and employees 319 people.
It has triumphed for providing a service which enables insurance companies to check the validity of claims by third parties for hire cars while their vehicles are off the road. Since its introduction in 2009, the commercially successful service has saved clients an estimated £50m.
Six more firms have been honoured for their contribution to international trade – Beaconsfield Footwear – which trades as Hotter Shoes – in Skelmersdale, Lancashire; Evans Vanodine International at Bamber Bridge, Preston; Gen-X IT in Manchester; Grace Cole in Cheadle, Cheshire; Holroyd Precision in Rochdale and Worldwide Recruitment in Altrincham, Cheshire.
Private equity backed Beaconsfield employs 1,169 people and run by chief executive Peter Taylor.
It is a large shoe manufacturer and has invested £6m to build the largest new shoe making facility opened in the UK since the 1970s. This state-of-the-art factory is capable of making a pair of shoes every 20 seconds. It has enjoyed a growth in its export earnings of 123% in the last three years.
Evans Vanodine is a 96-year-old company and is an experienced exporter of cleaning and hygiene chemicals for industrial and janitorial use, employing 134 under managing director Peter Evans.
Total sales have increased from £22.9m in 2012 to £25.9m in 2014 and company profits are seen to be rising. The company currently exports to 72 countries worldwide, with a further 10 countries serviced by licensed manufacturing units overseas.
By contrast Gen-X IT was launched in 2002 and employs just 23 under managing director Alan Gould.
It operates both nationally and internationally and wins the Award for outstanding growth in its export earnings of 131% in the last three years. Total sales have increased from £8.9m in 2011 to £15.9m in 2013, with exports increasing to £4.8 million in 2013.
Grace Cole, with managing director Tracy Mort, pictured below with Karen Brady also employs 23 people.
The company designs and manufactures luxury bathing products which are sold both in the UK and worldwide. It wins for achieving significant export growth over the last three years with sales rising from £3.6m in FY12 to £6.7m in FY14, an overall growth of 84.28%.
Holroyd Precision has a proud history which goes back to 1861, employing 98 people and is now a subsidiary of Chongqing Machinery & Electric Corporation and under the stewardship of chief executive Tony Bannan.
It is a design and build specialised grinding and milling machine tools for making accurate helical components such as compressor rotors, gears and pump spindles for the aerospace, automotive, marine, HVAC and power generation sectors.
Its current international business remains highly dependent upon the development of the market in China, although sales are also growing in the established markets of the USA, Germany and Japan. It wins the award for outstanding overseas sales growth over the last three years.
Worldwide Recruitment Solutions has been established since 2008 and has 57 employees working under managing director Mark Brown.
The company operates centrally from the UK and provides support services to contractors and employees.
In addition, it has implemented regional units who deal with clients in particular geographical locations, with each unit having an understanding and language skills suited to its region.
It has recently opened ‘satellite’ offices in the Kurdistan region of Iraq and Singapore and is looking to open more in Houston, Johannesburg and Abu Dhabi.
The Sustainable Development Award has been won for the second time by Knowsley Development Trust on Merseyside.
It employs 16 people and its chief executive is Stephen Dumbell.
The trust converts redundant land into industrial units to reduce deprivation. The units support start-up companies, create sustainable job opportunities and generate local community benefits within an area of high socio-economic deprivation.
