Innovative and ambitious firms in the East of England have been given the royal seal of approval to secure national business awards.
A total of 15 companies from the region were commended in the Queen's Awards for Enterprise 2017, which recognise achievement in the fields of innovation, international trade and sustainable development.
They were among 176 national winners in the awards, now in their 51st year, encompassing a range of industries from marketing to meat production to green technologies.
Superyacht Tenders & Toys, in Harkstead near Ipswich, and C&K Meats in Eye were winners in the international trade category with commendations for outstanding short term growth.
RSPCA approved butchery C&K Meats supplies products from its own contracted farms to butchers, wholesalers, farm shops and restaurants. The company is rapidly growing its slice of the international welfare-led meat market with exports up 325% in three years.
Managing director Kevin Burrows said around 50% of the £16.78m turnover company's processing business goes abroad.
'We have just opened in Japan and I think that will be immense for us. A big platform we trade into is Hong Kong and the Queen's Award will open up more markets for us in those sorts of areas.
'When we sell our products we sell a provenance story as well. In Asia they like the connection between the farmer and their plate.'
He added: 'The award is the pinnacle of recognition and as managing director I could not be more proud of the team I've got.'
Superyacht Tenders & Toys was established in 2011 and provides leisure items from wetsuits and water skis to submarines for the luxury yacht market. It secured its award after growing sales by 150% and profits by almost 300% in the last three years.
The company sells mostly to clients in Holland and Germany but also has customers in the Middle East.
Co-director Claire Richardson, who manages the business with husband Josh, said: 'We are a very niche company and it is quite a small industry, but in recent years we have targeted new build yachts and have become specialists in outfitting them. That is the area where we have seen real growth because no one else is looking at it.'
Meanwhile Syne Qua Non in Diss, which services companies in the bio-tech and pharmaceutical sectors, secured an award in the innovation category – its second Queen's Award after a win for international trade in 2009.
The company won its award for the development of a clinical data capture system, which uses mobile devices and the internet to speed up data collection by clinicians and allows patients to input their own data through devices or a wearable monitor.
It is hoped the system – which now represents 42% of Syne Qua Non's total sales – could speed up drug development by reducing the time needed to complete clinical trials.
Director Tony Rees said: 'This recognises the achievements of our dedicated team of staff and Syne Qua Non's commitment to innovation, technical development and service excellence, and to providing our customers with exceptional clinical development services that help them to improve the efficiency of their clinical development process to the ultimate benefit to patients and society generally.'
Here is a full list of Queen's Award for Innovation 2017 winners in the East of England:
Innovation award winners
• Domino Printing Sciences Plc, Cambridge
• EcoTile Flooring Ltd, Luton
• Green Energy Options Ltd, Hardwick
• PCME Ltd, St Ives
• Peli BioThermal, Leighton Buzzard
• Syne Qua Non Ltd, Diss
• Zettlex (UK) Ltd, Cambridge
International trade award winners
• 42 Technology Ltd, St Ives
• C&K Meats Ltd, Eye
• Cambridge Consultants Ltd, Cambridge
• Cellbond, a division of Encocam Ltd, Huntingdon
• Dura Composites Ltd, Clacton-on-Sea
• G. B. Kent & Sons Plc, Hemel Hempstead
• Isomerase Therapeutics Ltd, Cambridge
• Superyacht Tenders & Toys Ltd, Harkstead
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