Business excellence celebrated by Queen’s Awards

THE University of Manchester, James Halstead flooring and medical products firm Vernacare are among 14 North West businesses to have picked up Queen’s Awards this year.

The Government-backed awards recognise excellence in international trade, innovation and sustainable development. Individuals have also been rewarded for inspiring entrepreneurship.

Seven awards celebrated organisations excelling in international trade, three recognised achievements in innovation and two celebrated sustainable development. Two awards went to individuals for enterprise promotion.

A total of 156 Queen’s Awards were announced this year. Overall, 102 companies have won awards for international trade, 44 for innovation and 10 for sustainable development.

Winners attend a reception at Buckingham Palace in July and can use The Queen’s Award emblem in advertising, marketing and on packaging for five years.

In the North West the winners were:

INTERNATIONAL TRADE

The University of Manchester
The university has more than doubled annual overseas income during the last six years to £93m in 2010. It has almost 11,000 non-British students from more than 160 countries. President and vice-chancellor professor Dame Nancy Rothwell said: “We are delighted to have won this highly prestigious honour, which recognises the fact that Manchester has a truly global reputation and that international students recognise the quality of education, the value of a Manchester degree and the support and guidance that we are able offer.”

Barrett Dixon Bell
Altrincham-based Barrett Dixon Bell specialises in international marketing. Overseas income has grown by 143% over six years to total of more than £10m.

Genesys International
Middlewich-based Genesys International formulates, manufactures and distributes a range of speciality antiscalant and cleaning chemicals to the the water desalination industry. The company exports over 90% of its output and its export earnings have trebled over the last six years.

James Halstead
Radcliffe-based James Halstead manufactures commercial flooring. It last won the Queen’s Award in 2007 for Innovation, and the International Trade Award in 2006. Since then international sales have increased by £55m, a growth of 90%.

Macuk Neuroscience
Blackpool-based Macuk Neurosciences provides specialist clinical research services to the global biotechnology and medical device market. It has grown its overseas sales eightfold over three years to £4m.

Rayburn Trading Company
Manchester-based Rayburn sells toiletries, cosmetics, household goods and confectionary to the retail, wholesale and commercial sectors, and is a licenced distributer for major manufacturers. It sells its own brands of goods to mainland Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Australasia. International sales have nearly trebled in the past three years.

RS Clare & Co
RS Clare started trading in Liverpool in 1748. Today the company is a manufacturer of specialist lubricating greases with leading positions in the oil, rail and shipping industry, Rail Track Lubrication and Antiskid Surfacing on bridge decks and ramps in the shipping industry. Exports have more than doubled in three years and new markets include central Africa, Syria, Romania, Gabon and Trinidad and Tobago.

INNOVATION

EA Technology
Capenhurst-based EA has developed instruments to detect, locate, measure and monitor partial discharge activity. They can identify faults in electrical equipment, before they lead to failures and power outages, and provide valuable information on the condition of assets without having to de-energise them.

Linemark (UK)
Linemark UK has developed an environmentally-friendly, efficient system which provides long-lasting line markings. It has created a unique paint – a ready-to-use concentrate, needing no additional water, which rapidly became a best seller in the UK.

Vernacare
Bolton-based Vernacare was recognised for its single-use pulp wash bowl. It is capable of holding both warm water and detergent, avoiding the infection risk of re-using traditional plastic bowls. Since its launch in 2007, the patented product has been adopted by more than a third of NHS Hospitals, and by hospitals in 12 other countries, with eight million bowls sold last year. “This is a huge honour for our business and staff, and for the hospital clinicians who helped us to develop the product,” said chief executive Karen Haslam.

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

Brighter Future Workshop
Skelmersdale-based Brighter Future Workshop is a charity and a not-for-profit social enterprise which recycles used donated mobility equipment for redistribution back into the disabled community at a discounted price.

Brother UK
Manchester’s Brother UK has won the Queen’s Award for its commitment to progressing more responsible business practice throughout all its operations.

ENTERPRISE PROMOTION

David Benstead, human resources director at Diodes Zetex in Oldham and Khalid Saifullah a director at Star Tissue UK in Blackburn won awards for enterprise promotion.