Saturday October 5 2024
Swindon & Wiltshire News
Three Wiltshire companies were named as recipients of the Queen’s Award for Enterprise – the UK’s highest accolade for business success – on Sunday; the Queen’s birthday.
Corsham-based global dairy exporter Coombe Castle International has won a Queen’s Award for International Trade – the third time the company has scooped the award.
Managing director Darren Larvin said: “This is great news for the team at Coombe Castle, who’ve worked so hard over the years to build this business into something truly special.
“Receiving a Queen’s Award recognises the effort and dedication of our people and the loyalty shown to us by suppliers and customers in over 22 countries.
“We’ve always believed there’s a growing market for top quality British dairy produce. It’s our job to put cheese and cream on the plates of customers all over the world.”
Established in 1980, Coombe Castle International Ltd is an exporter of cheese, cream and butter worldwide and a manufacturer of clotted cream.
The company invested heavily in 2011 and this has paid dividends through the capture of new markets entering eight new ones in the last three years – India, Russia, Australia, Denmark, South Korea, China (Shanghai), Taiwan and Spain.
In Japan and Hong Kong Coombe Castle has 35 percent of the table cheese market and 50 percent of the imported clotted cream market.
Chairman Glyn Woolley will receive the award from the Queen at a reception in Buckingham Palace on July 23.
Chippenham-based MW High Tech Projects UK Ltd was another recipient of a Queen’s Award for International Trade.
Established in 2004, MW High Tech Projects UK Ltd – a subsidiary of M&W Germany GmbH – is an engineering and construction company offering complete process and facility solutions.
A first time Queen’s Award winner, the company has increased its export sales by 475 percent over the last three years.
The company targets businesses in four key market areas: advanced technology facilities, energy and environment, life sciences, science and research and high tech infrastructure. It is also looking to develop exports into Northern Europe, offering engineering and construction services to the nuclear sector.
Elsewhere, Amesbury-based NanoSight Limited won a Queen’s Award for Innovation.
NanoSight – which won a Queen’s Award for International Trade in 2012 – was recognised for designing and manufacturing equipment that measures properties of nano-particles, which have dimensions less than one millionth of a meter (nano-particles).
The equipment incorporates patented techniques involving laser beams and measures size, size distribution and concentration of groups of nano-particles, in real time. It also measures optical and electrical properties.
Founder Dr Bob Carr said “Winning this award is further recognition of our Nanoparticle Tracking Analysis technique as an outstanding technology to meet the needs of the burgeoning nanomaterials sector.
“It is reward to our team at Salisbury who continue to innovate both hardware and software improvements to meet the challenging demands of our users.”
And Wessex Water – which supplies water and sewerage services to most of Wiltshire – received a Queen’s Award for Sustainable Development.
The utility company is the only water firm to have won the award twice.
Dan Green, head of sustainability and innovation, said: “We are delighted to have retained the award which recognises our commitment to sustainability and is the UK’s highest accolade for business success.
“This is not only about being environmentally friendly, but it is also about offering excellent customer service, being a good employer and efficient in our working practices. During the last 15 years we have made all these sustainability principles central to what we do as a company.
“This has helped ensure that we lead the water industry in terms of our efficiency and the services we provide, and also that we introduce more innovative ways of working.”
