First King’s Awards for Enterprise honour 16 North West firms

Sixteen North West companies have been honoured in the first King’s Awards for Enterprise.

The awards recognise and encourage outstanding achievements in the fields of innovation, international trade, sustainable development and promoting opportunity, through social mobility.

This year, 148 organisations have been recognised in the awards, the first since the Queen’s death in September last year.

Minister for Enterprise, Kevin Hollinrake, said: “I congratulate the first ever recipients of The King’s Awards for Enterprise, who exemplify the talent, innovation, and entrepreneurial spirit of British business.

“I wish them every success and commend the invaluable contributions they make to communities both at home and overseas, helping to grow the UK economy.”

The region’s firms recognised in the Innovation category are:

Ansell Electrical Products, based in Warrington, which in response to an identified industry need, developed a patent-protected lighting panel called Panel Pod which converts an ordinary LED light into an emergency light without needing a conversion kit or additional ceiling fixture to install. This removes the need for additional emergency lighting to be fitted.

Chemical Processing Services. Based in Wrightington, Lancashire, the company developed and patented new, safer chemicals representing a unique chemistry. Its innovation is a disruptive Furalkamine bio-based technology for epoxy systems. Conventional epoxy curing agents are based on hazardous and toxic phenols. Furalkamines are a safe substitute for phenols that offer superior performance and are derived from corn cob waste.

The curing reaction does not liberate any by-product or air pollutant, it does not have any flammable or volatile solvent, and when finally cured, the material is inert.

Clark Door, Cumbria. The company provides specialist doors for the cold storage, acoustic, fire, industrial and, more recently, the security industry.

Idem Safety Switches, of Wigan. For this award the company presented its novel anti-tamper safety switch system with guard locking which prevents access to moving machinery.

MPE, based in Liverpool, is an electrical equipment manufacturer established in 1925. Its innovative High Energy Electromagnetic Pulse (HEMP) filters provide unparalleled protection levels. Solar storms, electrical storms, terrorist activity or unintentional effects can cause surges in power grids. Filters ensure that applications may continue their critical operations uninterrupted.

International Trade

ALLpaQ Packaging, in Widnes, designs and fabricates bioprocess containers, cleanroom accessories, fluid management solutions, all of which support vaccine production programmes. Rapid, global, growth of COVID vaccine projects in 2020 increased demand for products. Overseas sales have grown by 176% over the three-year application period and the proportion of sales exported in the final year of application was 66% of total sales.

Atelier Home and Gift. Located in Blackpool the company, trading as Floss and Rock, manufactures and distributes creative and unique gifts and toys for children primarily aged two to 10. In the period 2017 to 2022, the company’s overall growth in overseas earnings was 678%, selling to more than 40 countries of which the USA was the most significant. Export sales now represent 79% of total company turnover.

Fruugo.com, in Ulverston, Cumbria, is a B2B2C online marketplace platform. It sells new products to shoppers from authorised retailers or resellers and never sees a physical product as sellers are responsible for holding stock and direct delivery to the shoppers. It has achieved substantial growth in overseas sales year on year over six years totalling 4,700%. It engages with sellers in 22 countries worldwide and with shoppers in 46 countries worldwide.

GaraDry, based in Ormskirk, is an e-commerce business that designs, manufactures, and sells various types of threshold seals for residential garage doors and commercial doors. It has achieved steep year on year growth over three years totalling 90.5% and overseas sales now account for 33% of total business.

Integrated Air Systems, in Handforth, Cheshire, Ltd. provides engineered environmental solutions and conveyance equipment to industries worldwide. It designs and builds in the UK and installs systems across the world. The company works primarily in the beverage can production industry and has a global client base. It has achieved steep year on year growth over three years in overseas sales totalling 70.2%. Overseas sales currently account for more than 80% of total business.

Metalube Holdings, in Irlam, Manchester, focuses on a full range of high performance industrial process oils and maintenance lubricants used across a variety of manufacturing applications worldwide. The group exports most of its production to more than 100 countries and has international offices in Dubai, Mumbai, São Paulo and Shanghai. Overseas sales have grown by 54% over three years to 2022, with sales exported rising to 89%. The company has previously won a Queen’s Award for international trade in 2013 and innovation in 2014.

OEE Container Technology. Based in Carlisle, the firm is a data-driven engineering and manufacturing technology business offering services to the food and beverage packaging industry. It has achieved steep year on year growth in overseas sales over three years with total growth over the period of 199%. Overseas sales account for more than 40% of total business.

TMC Creative, from Congleton, trading as TMC Strategic Communications is a marketing and communications agency, delivering creative solutions to organisations within the UK, USA, Europe, Middle East and Africa. Overseas sales have grown overall by 291% across the six years to March 2022, and it has demonstrated great agility and the ability to pivot and respond to the pandemic. It has identified significant growth opportunities in overseas territories, specifically in delivering environmental, social and governance initiatives for global organisations focusing on the energy sector in Europe and the pharmaceutical industry in the US.

Promoting Opportunity

St Helens Chamber receives The King’s Award for for its ‘Fast Track’ initiative, which was launched in 2011 and focuses on providing skills development, work placements, and job opportunities. The initiative seeks to enable disadvantaged young people to start their careers, improving their social mobility and future opportunity.

Since 2017, the initiative has supported roughly 240-300 young people each year (1,332 overall). The vast majority of those supported (77%) go on into jobs or apprenticeships. Fast Track helps dispel the myth that ‘there are no jobs and I’ll never get one’.

Sustainable Development

First Milk, situated in Aspatria, Cumbria, was established in 2002 as a dairy farmer-owned co-operative. It markets milk on behalf of its members and manufactures and sells dairy products including award-winning cheddar, regional cheeses and dairy ingredients. First Milk has chosen to implement regenerative farming principles across its membership farms because it presents the best opportunity to not only reduce net greenhouse gas emissions, but also improve watercourse protection, nutrient cycling, enhance biodiversity and enable farming to become more resilient to climate change.

Thomas Kneale & Co, in Manchester, is a specialist supplier of bedroom and household textiles to commercial and institutional accommodation providers. The business is committed to only use fairtrade, fully traceable cotton, and it uses its influence to encourage fair pay and investment in the originating farms, and to avoid excessive use of chemical fertilizers. More than 80% of products also contain recycled content.

Thomas Kneale has used its influence on suppliers and has successfully encouraged its largest partner mill in Pakistan to commit to 100% renewable energy with the installation of roof solar panels. The company works with disadvantaged communities to support these groups of people in finding meaningful work. All employees are offered paid work time to volunteer in their community and the company has a strong record of charitable donations.

Celebrating their accolade, Metalube managing director, Robert Brown said: “Our international business strategy has led to the penetration of new markets and a more diversified portfolio of clients. In a time that has been challenging for everyone, the team at Metalube Group has worked harder than ever to achieve remarkable international growth.

“This has provided us with further security and stability in an ever-changing market affected by COVID, and it’s great to see that UK innovation and international growth within the manufacturing sector are being recognised by the King’s Awards.”

Ashley Smith

GaraDry managing director, Ashley Smith, said the award means the world to his team and only encourages them even further to grow the business and continue designing innovative products manufactured in Great Britain.

He said: “As well as people wanting to protect the contents of their garage, businesses see the benefit in keeping the products they store in industrial units clean and dry all year round and this B2B market has opened up opportunities for us all over the world. Safety is another driver for them because water on a warehouse floor is a slip hazard. Our products also protect expensive machinery which is at risk of rusting, or cardboard which will get ruined by rain.”

Ashley added: “The fact I started the business with a £1,000 inheritance from my uncle proves that a large amount of funding is not always needed to start a business and to be successful. Drive and determination is often equally, if not more important. I hope this encourages other entrepreneurs to aim high, even if they might only have limited resources to start with.”

Thomas Kneale managing director, Richard J. Manville, said: “As our supply model is B2B only and we are an SME, most people may not have heard of us. Yet, as a supplier to non-domestic bed settings many will have unknowingly experienced our products at first hand whether in a hospital, university hall of residence, a sleeper train, a hotel, conference centre and many other residential locations.

“Our products are fit-for-purpose meeting exacting performance standards and compliance in many different customer segments. I am truly overwhelmed by this award in such a special year for the Royal Family and beyond delighted with this recognition of our company and our wonderful work colleagues.”

Mark Abbott

Mark Abbott, Ansell Lighting managing director, said: “Achieving this award, especially in the first year of the King’s Awards, is a great honour and testament to
the hard work and dedication of our innovation team and everyone involved in the
business.

“The design and creation of the Panel Pod was genuinely transformative for our business and continues to contribute significantly to our ongoing success. Its launch paved the way for new relationships with wholesalers and contractors who we had never worked with previously.

“It is a fantastic example of continuous innovation as, over the last eight years, we have continued to re-evaluated its design, making it lighter and more discreet, upgrading the battery to Lithium and now we are working on a reporting capability for it that will be extremely valuable to the building managers using emergency lighting.”

Tim McCloud

Tim McCloud, CEO of TMC Strategic Communications, said: “We feel exceptionally honoured to have been recognised by an institution that is held in such high regard, but it can be entirely credited to the long standing relationships we have built with our clients and the unwavering commitment of the whole TMC team who have helped us reach this point.

“Since learning of the unrivalled opportunities this award held, we have been on an unbelievable journey to demonstrate our vision, values, and contribution to international trade.

“Knowing that our application has progressed through strict due diligence, a recommendation from Downing Street and, ultimately, the Royal Household, fills us with immense pride.”