Record number of NW Queen’s Award winners

THE cream of the North West’s exporters and innovators were celebrating today as the winners of the prestigious Queen’s Awards for Enterprise 2009 were revealed.

Despite the troubled economic outlook of the past 12 months, 16 companies in the North West and one in the Isle of Man were honoured – more than double the 2008 total of six.

In the region, 12 companies have won awards for International Trade, four for Innovation and one for Sustainable Development.

The winners in the International Trade category are:

Wigan-based atg UV Technology, a pioneer of ultra-violet water treatment equipment. Employing 19 people at its Pemberton base,  atg UV Technology designs and makes high power UV lamps that irradiate water flowing through stainless steel chambers.
It has won the award for increasing its export earnings by 150% over three years to over £2m a year.

Law firm Cains Advocates of Douglas is the Isle of Man’s sole winner.
Cains has been in business for over 100 years – first as a partnership and since 2001 as a limited company.
From its Isle of Man headquarters and offices in London and Singapore, it provides legal services to international and domestic corporate clients. It has won the award for the first time for more than doubling its overseas earnings over six years to an aggregate of £12m.
Andrew Corlett, managing director of Cains, said: “The Queen’s Award recognises the contribution we have made in recent years both to international trade and, indirectly, to the Isle of Man’s development as an international finance centre.”

ColorMatrix Europe, which is based in Knowsley, makes liquid colorants and additives for plastics.Its biggest market is beverage packaging.
The company, which employs 139, is a susbsidiary of US-based ColorMatrix Group.

Its products are designed to improve customers’ manufacturing efficiencies and enhance the performance and aesthetics of plastic products.

Brand development mananger Morag Girdwood said: “We are proud and delighted to have won a Queen’s Award for the third time having won it previously in 2000 and 2006.”

Since its last award the company’s export earnings have increased by over £12m from its markets in 40 countries worldwide.

Flooring specialist Flowcrete UK, which is based in in Sandbach makes industrial and commercial flooring.
The company, a first-time winner, has increasing exports by nearly 150% over three years, selling its innovative and environmentally friendly products and systems to more than 50 countries.

Preston-based small business GSD (Corporate) is proof that size does not matter. With just six staff, GSD provides software production, sales, training and related services to global apparel and footwear markets. The company has more than doubled exports over three years to 62 countries worldwide. Its main markets are China, Thailand, Indonesia, India and Sri Lanka.

Managing director Paul Timson, said: “We are delighted to have had our export achievements recognised by way of this prestigious award.

“Our core product, GSD Enterprise, has been the industry leader for more than two decades and remains so today. Our new products, including GSD Quest, and our current development plans will expand our ability to serve the international manufacturing sector and the retailer/brand alike.”

Lancashire’s famous Leyland Trucks, the commercial vehicle manufacturer which employs more than 1,300 people, was another first time winner. The award recognises the US-owned company’s 123% increase in overseas revenues  to £334m between  2005 and 2008.
Leyland now sells nearly 40% of its production to 44 countries overseas, mainly in Europe.
 
Managing director Jim Sumner, who is leaving Leyland to join bus-maker Optare next month, said: “This award will provide a much-needed fillip to all 1,000 people who work on the Farington site.

“It provides a glimmer of the better times ahead, with the prospect of once again achieving the high levels of performance that made this plant the most efficient truck assembly plant in Europe. That’s the goal for all who work in the business and I am confident it is one that will be reached.”

M & I Materials, based on Trafford Park Manchester, was spun out of GEC Alstom in 1993 and employs 108 people.
M&I develops specialist materials for industry and science, such as high vacuum sealants and lubricants.
Over the last six years M&I has trebled its export turnover. At the end of 2008 the company was shipping to 55 countries around the globe.

Blackburn-based Metals UK employs 36 and is a specialist metal company supplying the offshore, oil and gas, chemical, nuclear and aerospace industries.
A US-owned subsidiary, Metals has been trading in the UK since 2002. Since beginning international trade in 2004 the company’s export earnings have increased by a dramatic 412% from its markets in 40 countries in Europe, the Americas, the Middle and Far East, India and Australia.

Nitecrest of Leyland started trading in1996. It supplies, manufactures, personalises and packages Visa-MasterCard, telephone, credit, loyalty, payment, gift and SIM Cards.
Already a Queens Award winner in 2005, Nitecrest has a true gloval reach and exports around 75% of its products.

Another Lancashire company, tunnelling and drilling equipment maker Pigott Shaft Drilling of Preston, employs 17 people and employs 25 people.
Pigott began trading in 1984 and designs, manufactures and rents out specialised equipment in support of tunnelling and drilling in major civil engineering projects. A first-time winner Pigott  has increased exports nearly two and a half times to an aggregate of some £5.7m over three years.

Cheshire-based SMS Mevac began trading in 1972 and is an Anglo-German joint venture company based in Winsford.
It offers specialised process plant and related services to treat liquid iron and steel, including design, engineering, equipment supply, commissioning and after sales technical support. Another first-time winner, the company has increased exports by 169% to an aggregate of nearly £16m over the three years to 2008.

S Norton & Co of Liverpool, which sorts, cleans and processes scrap metals, is the final North West winner in the International trade category. This is the second time the company has won an award: it won its first in 2004.

The winners in the Innovation category are:

Aerelink of Knowsley, a specialist in wireless technology which serves mainly public sector clients. Its solutions have included networks for distributing real-time traffic information to public screens, mobile phones and control centres.

Runcorn-based Astech Projects researches and develops respiratory drugs. It has won the award for developing the Xelair system, which automates batch production and research and development testing in respiratory drug manufacture. At all levels the system improves operating conditions and reduces manufacturing costs.

Forge Europa of Ulverston in Cumbria, has pioneered LED displays, assemblies and lighting.
The award recognises the research and development and custom designs undertaken by the business since it was established in 1993. Its products include LED Dot Matrix Displays for passenger information boards and underwater LED lighting assemblies for boats. 

Benefits to customers of these innovations range from better optical and energy efficiency to longer life and therefore lower maintenance costs.

Managing director Peter Barton said: “The exceptional growth of the company is based upon the success of our innovative custom LED displays, assemblies and lighting solutions and the strength of the business in offering excellent customer service. It is a wonderful endorsement for the whole team.”

Wireless CCTV in Rochdale emplys 32 people and has been recognised for the continuous development of wireless, closed circuit television Dome systems.

The company is an international, market leading innovator in the field of overt, covert and body-worn 3G mobile surveillance solutions. WCCTV Domes are portable, rapidly deployable systems that can be operated and monitored via mobile phone networks.  
All recordings are of evidential quality, and a growing number of public sector clients, from market sectors as diverse as law enforcement and traffic management, are using WCCTV equipment for monitoring and crime prevention purposes.

The winner in the Sustainable Development category was  Knowsley Development Trust.

Business minister, Lord Mandelson, said: “I heartily congratulate all today’s winners of The Queen’s Awards.

“These inspirational firms have proved they are amongst Britain’s very best businesses. They are flying the flag for British enterprise, innovation and corporate responsibility, both here and abroad.

“They have achieved the UK’s most prestigious standard of business excellence, and set the standard for other businesses to follow as they help lead Britain out of recession.”