The Queen’s Awards

Celebration as healthy

sales lead to Royal recognition

Adam Petros and Simon Petros on receipt of the Queen’s Award in 2017

❛❛ It’s incredible to think that up to 2007 we

had very little focus on exporting. Ajay from the Chamber talked to us about how it could boost business and the potential markets we

could go after. It has certainly paid off! ❜❜

A Coventry company is celebrating after picking up a Royal award for the second time, thanks to its overseas growth.

Premier Health Products has landed the Queen’s Award for Enterprise: International Trade after achieving year-on-year growth in export sales since 2017, doubling its global orders in that time.

The company, which is a brand owner and private label specialist in the nutraceutical sector, previously picked up the award in 2017 and its continued success has seen investment on the home front too.

The firm invested £3 million in a move from its old Wolfe Road site, to a new custom-fitted 31,000 sq ft facility located in Falkland Close. The move also included significant investment in machinery and staff, seeing the team grow from 25 employees to 32.

In addition, 2021 saw Premier Health Products become accredited to GMP standards by the UK Medicines Regulator; Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA). The company is confident that this accreditation will lead to even further export success in the future.

This second Queen’s Award win is a major achievement for Premier Health Products which, until 2007, exported very little.

After a conversation and support from the Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce’s International Trade Director Ajay Desai back in 2007, exporting today now accounts for more than 50 per cent of the company’s total sales.

Commercial Director Adam Petros said: “We are very proud to have achieved the Queen’s Award for Enterprise for the second time running. It means we have grown our exports every year for a decade, which is testament to the whole team and the work we’ve done for the past ten years.

“It feels like an enormous achievement to now be back-to-back winners of the most prestigious business award in the United Kingdom. It truly is a dream come true.

“The award is great at opening doors around the world. Globally, there is a great deal of respect and admiration for British industry and the Queen is the greatest ambassador for that. We’ve seen that holding this award really adds to our credibility.

“We export to 27 different countries right across the world with the Middle East, Africa and South East Asia proving to be particularly strong.

“It’s incredible to think that up to 2007 we had very little focus on exporting. Ajay from the Chamber talked to us about how it could boost business and the potential markets we could go after. It has certainly paid off!”

Ajay said: “It’s great to see a Coventry business picking up the Queen’s Award not only once, but twice, which is an incredible achievement.

“Coventry was very successful in this year’s Queen’s Awards announcement and we’d still encourage more businesses to put themselves forward.

“We’ve supported Premier Health Products for more than ten years on exporting by helping to identify the right markets and in recognising how to go about developing their business in those areas.

“It has led to significant growth for the company and that is what the Queen’s Award recognises.”

Louise Bennett, Chief Executive of the Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce, said: “This is a fantastic achievement and should serve as an inspiration to other businesses in Coventry and Warwickshire.

“And, if businesses do want to put themselves forward for a Queen’s Award, they should take part in one of our masterclasses which gives a whole host of advice and background on how to get your entry right.”

A Queen’s Award Masterclass is taking place in Leamington on May 12. To book on, go to: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/ queens-awards-for-enterprise-masterclasstickets-303407729687

Build on regional success, firms urged

Businesses in Coventry and Warwickshire have been urged to build on the success of the region in the latest round of Queen’s Awards.

Eight companies from the area were successful in the awards – which are regarded as the premier benchmark of business success – and others are now being urged to follow suit.

Louise Bennett, Chief Executive of the Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce, said the 2022 cohort of winners reflected the strength of the area’s economy, but urged others to follow suit.

“It is great to see so many of our companies achieving what is the highest recognition possible for the work they have done. In the past we have been a bit backward in coming forward in terms of celebrating our successes, but that is changing,” she said.

“The Queen’s Award is recognised the world over as a sign of ultimate commercial achievement and quality, and we know there are far more companies in Coventry and Warwickshire who regularly achieve the requisite standards in their day-to-day activities.

“I would really urge them to look at the possibility of applying to a Queen’s Award. A lot of awards are a “nice-to-have” but the Queen’s Awards have real currency at home and abroad. We have had some very fine companies win in previous years and they have gone on to great things.

“With cost pressures rising for all companies and having just been through Brexit and Covid, any competitive advantages have to be seized upon, and these awards undoubtedly do that for the winners

“Everyone has worked hard to up the number of companies from this area applying, and that is reflected in this year’s success – but I know there is more to come.”

This year’s successful companies from Coventry and Warwickshire are Staeger Clear Packaging, Coventry (Enterprise); Boxraw, Coventry; Coventry University; Instarmac, Warwickshire, MNB Precision, Coventry; Whitefurze, Coventry; Premier Health Products, Coventry (International Trade); Clean Sheet, Coventry (Promoting Opportunity).

Companies interested in applying or finding out more about the Queen’s Awards, can attend a masterclass next month.

The Warwickshire Lieutenancy, working in collaboration with The Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce, The Coventry and Warwickshire Local Enterprise Partnership, Warwickshire County Council and the University of Warwick, has organised the session which will take place at Woodland Grange Conference Centre & Hotel, Leamington Spa on the afternoon of 12 May 2002.

The Warwickshire team have also prepared a locally focused brochure on the benefits of the QAE and the appropriate steps that can be followed to apply for a QAE.

Places can be booked at www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/queensawards-for-enterprise-masterclasstickets-303407729687

The Queen’s Awards

for Enterprise 2022

A Coventry company has been honoured with a Queen’s Award for Enterprise for Innovation.

Staeger Clear Packaging Ltd is one of 226 organisations nationally to be recognised with a prestigious Queen’s Award for Enterprise.

Staeger Clear Packaging has been recognised for its excellence in Innovation.

Employing 22 people, Staeger Clear Packaging Ltd was set up in 2000 and manufactures transparent packaging.

Ian Jamie, Founder and Director, who has won a Queen’s Award in 2005 with another company Carton Edge Systems Ltd, is delighted and says, “I am so proud of our organisation and employees who braved the Covid crisis to produce PPE for the NHS. Without our innovations associated with using recycled plastic from Ocean Waste, this would not have been possible!”

Now in its 56th year, the Queen’s Awards for Enterprise are the most prestigious business awards in the country, with winning businesses able to use the esteemed Queen’s Awards Emblem for the next five years.

Applications for Queen’s Awards for Enterprise 2023 opened on the 1 May 2022. For more information, visit https://www.gov.uk/queens-awards-for-enterprise.

Coventry University wins prestigious

Queen’s Award for Enterprise

Coventry University’s significant international success has seen the institution presented with the Queen’s Award for Enterprise - the UK’s most prestigious business award.

The award, in the category of International Trade, is a huge achievement for the university, which has worked tirelessly to build relationships with institutions and companies throughout the world, while also drawing thousands of students from around the globe to its campus in Coventry.

In 2019/2020, 13,445 international students were studying at Coventry University, making it the fifth largest higher education recruiter for international students in the UK. Coventry University’s global outlook has also seen it establish a network of international hubs, in Brussels, Dubai, Singapore and Rwanda in addition to its branch campus in Wroclaw, Poland.

Now in its 53rd year, the Queen’s Awards for Enterprise enables winning businesses and charities to use the esteemed Queen’s Award Emblem for the next five years.

Professor John Latham CBE, Coventry University Vice-Chancellor, said: “The Queen’s Award for Enterprise is a fantastic achievement for Coventry University, particularly as it recognises the enormous efforts we have made to form positive collaborations worldwide.

“This international focus not only offers great benefits to our students, opening up unique opportunities, but also the city which benefits from students from more than 100 nations, enabling us to share knowledge and best practices, ultimately helping to ensure our research is of the highest standard.

“The Queens Award Emblem is a signal to students and partners that we are a world leader when it comes to our international outlook and it is yet another indication of the amazing reputation Coventry University is forging, not just in the UK but right across the globe.”

Despite the huge challenge posed to the higher education sector by the pandemic, Coventry University has continued to thrive, innovating and adapting at incredible speed to maintain its excellent teaching and impactful research. Its online provision during this time saw Coventry University named as the world’s best university for the provision of Massive Open Online Courses or ‘MOOCs’.

Since Coventry University first won the Queen’s Award in 2015, the institution has picked up a string of other prestigious accolades including being named the winner for internationalisation at the Guardian Annual University Awards in 2020 and The University of the Year for Student Experience by the Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide in 2019.

Professor John Latham CBE, Coventry University Vice-Chancellor

“The Queen’s Award for Enterprise is a fantastic achievement for Coventry University, particularly as it recognises the enormous efforts we have made to form positive collaborations worldwide."