Pioneering tech firms and a dairy co-operative are among 16 North West firms to be honoured today by the King’s Awards for Enterprise.
The awards honour businesses across the UK for their innovation, their export success and their commitments to sustainability and social inclusion.
The awards, formerly known as the Queen’s Awards, have honoured more than 7,000 companies since they were launched in 1965.
This year, in his first King’s Awards, King Charles III has recognised 148 firms across the UK.
In the North West there are eight winners in the International Trade category, five in Innovation, two in Sustainable Development and one in Promoting Opportunity.
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.”
Here are this year’s North West winners:
Category: International Trade
Metalube Holdings, Irlam
Metalube is today celebrating its third royal award after securing a King’s Award for International Trade for its outstanding recent growth.
The Metalube Group includes three industrial lubricants brands – Metalube, Molyslip and Vapor-Tek. From its Irlam manufacturing plant and laboratories, it exports 95% of its production to over 100 countries worldwide.
The group employs 53 and also has offices in Dubai, Mumbai, São Paulo and Shanghai.
Overseas sales have grown by 54% over three years to 2022, with export sales rising to 89%. The company has previously won a Queen's Award for International Trade in 2013 and a Queen’s Award for Innovation in 2014.
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.
“I am privileged to work alongside such talented and dedicated colleagues, who have all helped to achieve these fantastic results. It is very gratifying to have our hard work and commitment recognised. We look forward to receiving this honor from the Lord Lieutenant of Greater Manchester later this year and to attending a reception at Buckingham Palace in July.”
ALLpaQ Packaging, Widnes
ALLpaQ Packaging has been honoured for its work including support of the Covid-19 vaccine rollout in the USA.
ALLpaQ, founded in 2009, designs and makes bioprocess containers, cleanroom accessories, and fluid management solutions for vaccine manufacturers.
From 2020, the need for Covid vaccine rollouts meant demand for its products soared.
The company grew its team from 13 to 54 and increased from one unit to four. For Operation Warp Speed, it worked with the US military, managing the Moderna operations.
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, Blackpool
Atelier Home and Gift Limited, trading as Floss and Rock, was formed in 2008 and employs 19 people making and distributing gifts and toys for children primarily aged two to ten.
In the period 2017 to 2022, the Blackpool company's overall growth in overseas earnings was 678%. It sells to more than 40 countries, with the USA its biggest market. Export sales now represent 79% of total company turnover.
The citation says: “Creativity is at the very core of the business with both owners equally passionate about outstanding design and quality. Working with a carefully selected base of factories in Asia they specify all their products in full, for manufacture on their behalf, and then ship them to their distribution hubs in southern China, the UK, and USA, as well as direct to many of their international partners.”
Fruugo.com, Ulverston, Cumbria
Online marketplace Fruugo.com has won a King’s Award for International Trade thanks to its massive global growth that helped it grow sales tenfold.
Fruugo, based in Ulverston, Cumbria, sells new products to shoppers from authorised retailers or resellers. It never sees a physical product as sellers are responsible for holding stock and direct delivery to the shoppers.
The group was founded in 2006 and today employs 170 people with operations in 42 countries.
Its platform saw 460 million visits in 2022. Thanks to its international growth, Fruugo tripled in size between 2019 and 2021 and saw its revenue grow tenfold between 2018 and 2022.
Driven by the accelerating global customer shift towards online shopping, Fruugo has maintained a strong track record of sustained and exceptional growth, tripling in size between 2019 and 2021 and increasing its revenue tenfold between 2018 and 2022.
Its top five markets by revenue are Switzerland, Sweden, Australia, USA and Netherlands.
Dominic Allonby, executive chairman of Fruugo, said: “We are extremely proud to be presented with The King’s Award for Enterprise for International Trade.
“Fruugo has gone from strength to strength over the last few years and to see our achievements recognised with such a prestigious award is a real honour. I would like to thank all of my colleagues for their commitment to the company and to our vision; this achievement is a credit to the team’s hard work and determination.”
GaraDry, Ormskirk
E-commerce business GaraDry designs, manufactures and sells threshold seals for residential garage doors and commercial doors.
It has seen steep year on year growth over three years, totalling 90.5%, and overseas sales now account for 33% of total business.
The Ormskirk business, founded in 2009, sells to numerous countries and its top five overseas markets are France, Germany, Australia, Italy and Denmark.
The citation says: “It has a clear strategy for expanding business once it has entered a market by establishing localised websites.”
Integrated Air Systems, Handforth, Cheshire
Integrated Air Systems makes extraction and air conveyance systems used in industries worldwide, particularly in the drinks can sector.
It has seen 70.2% growth in overseas sales in the last three years, with those sales currently accounting for over 80% of its business.
Its systems have been installed across the globe, with its top five markets being the Czech Republic, The Americas, Germany, Australia and Asia. More recently the company has seen growth in Eastern European markets and in the USA.
OEE Container Technology Limited, Carlisle
OEE Container Technology is an engineering and manufacturing technology business working with the food and beverage packaging industry.
It specialises in beverage cans, beverage ends, food cans, food ends and packaging equipment.
The citation says: “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 over 40% of total business.”
It trades around the world and its top five markets are the USA, the UAE, Austria, Germany and Saudi Arabia.
TMC Creative Limited. t/a TMC Strategic Communications, Congleton
TMC Creative Ltd t/a TMC Strategic Communications is an award-winning marketing and communications agency, delivering creative solutions to organisations in the UK, USA, Europe, Middle East and Africa.
It aims to build long-term relationships with clients “that have a mutual commitment to values-led growth” in sectors including healthcare, manufacturing and technology sectors.
Overseas sales have grown overall by 291% across the six years to March 2022, as the company has “demonstrated great agility and the ability to pivot and respond to the pandemic”.
TMC has identified more growth opportunities overseas - particularly in delivering environmental, social and governance initiatives for global organisations in the energy sector in Europe and the pharmaceutical industry in the US.
Category: Innovation
Ansell Electrical Products, Warrington
Lighting specialist Ansell Electrical has won the Innovation award for its development of a patent-protected lighting panel called Panel Pod.
Its innovation converts an ordinary LED light into an emergency light in less than a minute, without needing a conversion kit or additional ceiling fixture to install.
Ansell was founded in Belfast in 1992 and expanded to Warrington in 2001, where it now has a state-of-the-art showroom. It designs and makes lighting for the commercial, domestic, industrial and architectural markets, with showrooms in Belfast, Dublin and Madrid and employs more than 170 people.
Mark Abbott, managing director of Ansell Lighting, 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.”
Chemical Processing Services, Wrightington, Lancashire
Chemical Processing Services is a young company founded in 2019 that has been recognised for its work developing and patenting new, safer chemicals.
Its innovation is a disruptive “Furalkamine bio-based technology” derived from corn cob waste.
Conventional epoxy curing agents are based on hazardous and toxic phenols. Furalkamines are a safe substitute for phenols the company says offers superior performance. Their curing reaction does not create any byproducts or pollutants, has no flammable or volatile solvent and the material is completely inert once cured,
The awards citation says “The unique chemical structure imparts exceptionally high chemical and acid resistance. This allows the formulation of systems that can operate in the most hostile environments, withstand the most arduous conditions, and provide resilient bond lines and protective coatings.”
Clark Door Limited, Carlisle
Previous Queen’s Award winner Clark Door is this year celebrating 50 years of manufacturing in the UK.
The Carlisle business makes specialist doors for the cold storage, acoustic, fire, industrial and security industries. Its doors have been installed in venues including performing arts centres, TV and film recording studios, museums and industrial facilities across the world.
Its Innovation Award is for the Clark Multigard, billed as “the highest specification roller shutter door available in the market”.
The award citation says: “Meeting the highest possible security and acoustic standards, the Clark Multigard keeps noise in and intruders out. The properties of the door also enable energy saving, making it a desirable product for projects looking to reduce their carbon footprint. The high strength of the doors is in demand for infrastructure sites, often in challenging locations where high winds as well as security can be an issue.”
Idem Safety Switches, Wigan
Idem Safety Switches has been recognised for its “novel anti-tamper safety switch system with guard locking which prevents access to moving machinery”.
Some existing safety doors and screens can be overridden, often by jamming objects into microswitches and devices to fool the machine into operating with the door open.
Idem’s innovation prevents items from being jammed into locks and switches by having a secondary locking method inside the casing. That reduces the risk of incidents and injuries - in turn delivering the benefits of fewer failures, less downtime, and greater reliability.
Idem has 77 employees and started trading in 2003
MPE Limited, Liverpool
MPE Limited, an electrical equipment manufacturer established in 1925, is still innovating - and has even supplied to the White House.
MPE has been honoured today for its High Energy Electromagnetic Pulse (HEMP) filters.
The filters are designed to protect power grids against surges caused by issues including solar storms, electrical storms and terrorist activity.
MPE has supplied filters to many high-profile projects, including the US Space Fence Project, a space debris monitoring system, and the Presidential Secure Communications System.
The market is dominated by US manufacturers with accredited testing facilities in the USA. Assisted by the University of Liverpool, the company developed its own testing capability in the UK and has become the world's leading supplier of such filter solutions.
Category: Promoting Opportunity
St Helens Chamber
St Helens Chamber was founded in 1989 and employs 103 staff members.
It wins its King's Award 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 up to 300 young people each year. The vast majority of those supported (77%) go on into jobs or apprenticeships. The citation says “Fast Track helps dispel the myth that 'there are no jobs and I'll never get one'.”
Category: Sustainable Development
First Milk, Aspatria, Cumbria
First Milk Limited was founded 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.
The group employs 220 people across two creameries (Cumbria and Haverfordwest) and its head office functions, and is supplied by some 700 members.
The award citation says: “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. The aim is to make real change at farm level, encouraging members to implement regenerative farming practices underpinned by robust data to measure net reductions in their milk’s carbon footprint in a practical, resilient, and socially responsible way.”
Thomas Kneale & Co, Manchester
Thomas Kneale & Co Ltd, which was founded in 1947, is a specialist supplier of bedroom and household textiles to commercial and institutional accommodation providers.
It started life as a mail-order company selling bedding and textiles items such as eiderdowns, candy-striped flannelette sheets and tuck-in seat covers. Now it is a bulk supplier of bedroom, bathroom and household textiles to public sector institutions, blue chip organizations and private companies throughout the UK and beyond.
Its citation says: “Thomas Kneale 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. Over 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. Thomas Kneale 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.”
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. We also supply a wide range of custodial outlets for the Ministry of Justice and service family accommodation for the Ministry of Defence.
"Our products are fit-for-purpose meeting exacting performance standards and compliance in many different customer segments. We manufacture the complete range of bed and bath linens and fire retardant textiles from entry level through to luxury linens, always with a customer-centric approach and an unwavering eye on best overall value.
"I am truly overwhelmed by this award and beyond delighted with this recognition of our company and our wonderful work colleagues."
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