Queen's Award for Enterprise
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The Queen's Award for Enterprise is an award for British companies and other organizations who excel at international trade, innovation or sustainable development. The prestigious award is the greatest accolade a British company can receive.
To be awarded the Queen's Award for Enterprise in the category of international trade, a company must show a substantial and sustained increase in export earnings over three consecutive 12-month periods, to a level which is outstanding for the products and services concerned, and for the size of the organisation. Different requirements are set for the award in the categories of innovation and sustainable development. Awards are made on the advice of the Prime Minister after examination by an Advisory Committee comprised of leading individuals from industry, commerce, trade unions and government. The awards are conferred by the reigning British monarch on their birthday every year. For Elizabeth II this is April 21.
[edit] History
The Queen's Award to Industry, the scheme's original title, was instituted by Royal Warrant in 1966. The recommendations of a review in 1975 led to the scheme becoming The Queen's Awards for Export and Technology, with separate Awards for outstanding achievement in each field. The Queen's Award for Environmental Achievement was added in 1992. Following the latest review in 1999, chaired by HRH The Prince of Wales, the three separate Awards were replaced and are now known generically as 'The Queen's Awards for Enterprise' with three broad-based categories: International Trade, Innovation and Sustainable Development.
[edit] Recipients
Past recipients include:
- Allied Distillers
- British Cellophane (1974, Queen's Award to Industry)
- Buro Happold (twice)
- Capital Valves (Queen's Awards for Enterprise: International Trade)
- Dupont Teijin Films (Queen's Awards for Enterprise: Innovation 2003)
- Extec Screens & Crushers Ltd (Queen's Awards for Enterprise: International Trade 2005) Extec's Website
- Intergas (special gases) (1997)
- Kinloch Anderson (kiltmaker) (1979)
- Pelam Foods Limited (Queen's Awards for Enterprise: International Trade 2005) Pelam Foods Site
- Sibelius Software (Sibelius notation software awarded for innovation) (2005)
- Sophos (computer security) (2002, 2004)
- Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd (Queen's Award for Enterprise in Innovation, 2005, SSTL press release, Queen's Award for Technology, 1998, SSTL press release)
- TEREX Pegson (Queen's Awards for Enterprise: International Trade 2005) TEREX Pegson's Website
- Traidcraft (Fair Trade) (2006) Traidcraft's Website]
- Wafer Technology (advanced semiconductor wafers) (1997)
- Watkiss Automation (design and manufacture of collating and print finishing equipment) (1994)
- William Grant & Sons (1974)
- Woking Borough Council (2001) for sustainable community energy systems [1]
