Cornish companies are celebrating after receiving the Queen’s Award for Enterprise.
The Queen’s Award is seen as one of the UK’s most prestigious business awards, recognising and celebrating business excellence across the UK.
St Austell Brewery received the accolade for Sustainable Development, while Newquay-based clothing brand, Celtic & Co, was honoured in the International Trade category.
Torpoint-based Resilience Communications, meanwhile, won two Queen’s Awards – one for international trade and the other for innovation, while Watson Marlow was also recognised in the innovation category for its Qdos pump technology: the world’s first self-contained, chemical metering pump.
All four businesses will now be able to use the Queen’s Award emblem for the next five years.
Brewery CEO, James Staughton, said: “Winning the Queen’s Award is an enormous honour for all of us as it is the highest accolade that any business in the UK can aspire to but the exacting criteria of the awards process, especially in the field of sustainable development, also acted as an excellent way for us to review our aims and behaviours.
“To us, sustainability is now second nature, as it should be with any organisation and this award isn’t just about the honour and prestige; just as important is the added insight it can offer towards the future proofing of your business.”
Celtic & Co was rewarded for its export business. Since being founded 28 years ago by Nick and Kath Whitworth, the company now sells to more than 90 countries across the world and most recently has seen significant growth in the North American and Australian markets.
“All of us here at Celtic & Co are so immensely proud of this achievement and I thank everybody involved in this team effort,” said Nick Whitworth. “Receiving this Queen’s Award has to be one of our most memorable experiences since we started so long ago back in 1990. To receive one of the most prestigious business awards in Great Britain could only be achieved not just by all of us here at Celtic & Co, but also because of all the contributions from our suppliers and of course all of our customers.”
Resilience Communications designs and manufactures products that add value to communications systems and has military contracts with ten NATO nations, plus Austria and Australia.
Company director, former Royal Marine Alasdair Keir, said: “It’s fantastic to be recognised in this way. More than anything else I’m delighted such a small dedicated team has achieved the highest business accolades available in Great Britain. My colleagues, our suppliers and friends have done incredible work; the awards recognise a real devotion to ensuring our customers get the service they deserve.”
Simon Nicholson, MD at Watson Marlow in Falmouth, added: “To win a Queen’s Award for Enterprise in the category of Innovation is fantastic news for our business. It is a marker of the tremendous energy and commitment of our staff, as well as their pursuit of the very best in product innovation.
“Every member of our team can celebrate his or her part in this prestigious win. We are truly honoured and delighted to find ourselves in receipt of a Queen’s Award for the second year in a row.”
