Outstanding achievements to be recognised by royal awards

Entries are being invited for the Queen’s Awards for Enterprise, which provide royal recognition for outstanding UK businesses.

Companies of all sizes and from all sectors are eligible for the Awards, provided they employ at least two people full-time and have had the vision to grow their business through success in any of the three categories: International Trade, Innovation and Sustainable Development.

Winning a Queen’s Award puts companies in an elite class of successful businesses. It helps them to inform their customers, suppliers and employees that the company is worthy of the highest business accolade in the UK.

The Queen’s Award is also an effective marketing tool for companies. As well as extensive local, national and trade press coverage at the time of the formal announcement, winners can secure additional publicity from a ceremony at their premises, where The Queen’s representative, the Lord-Lieutenant of the County, presents the Award. Winning companies are also entitled to fly the Award flag at their premises and use The Queen’s Awards emblem on stationery, advertising and products for five years.

The categories are:

• The Queen’s Award for Enterprise: International Trade
  This Award recognises companies that have demonstrated outstanding growth in overseas earnings over three years or continuous growth in overseas earnings over six years.
• The Queen’s Award for Enterprise: Innovation
  This Award is granted to business units that have demonstrated commercial success through outstanding or continuous development of innovative products or services over two or five years respectively.
• The Queen’s Award for Enterprise: Sustainable Development
  This is awarded to companies that have achieved commercial success through the outstanding or continuous integration of environmental, social, economic and management aspects of sustainable development into their business, over two or five years respectively.

The closing date for applications is 31 October 2007. Application forms can be ordered by telephoning 0870 5 13 44 86, or can be completed and submitted online at the Queen’s Awards website, www.queensawards.org.uk.