On Thursday 7th April businesses across Worcestershire joined together to promote the Queen’s Awards for Enterprise and to honour past winners. By invitation of the Queen’s representative, the Lord Lieutenant of Worcestershire, Lt Col Patrick Holcroft LVO OBE, the flagship event took place at DRPG’s Worcestershire headquarters.
Organised by the Queen’s Awards for Worcestershire board, headed by Louise Hewett (Deputy Lieutenant of Worcestershire), and supported by Sharon Smith (CEO of Hereford & Worcester Chamber of Commerce), Linda Smith (Midlands Cyber Strategic Advisor), Hannah Edwards (Managing Director of Eva Capital Management) and Nigel Harte (Managing Director of Nexus Creative), the evening presented the ideal forum for local businesses to come together to celebrate the outstanding business achievement of previous winners and to inspire the region’s future winners.
The Queen’s Awards for Enterprise were first created by Royal Warrant in 1965 and are globally recognised as the most prestigious award for UK business. The royal seal of approval for outstanding business achievement is based on four categories; Innovation, International Trade, Sustainable Development and Promoting Opportunity through Social Mobility. As the recipient of a trusted and high-profile Queen’s Award, businesses enjoy an increase in sales revenue and a boost to staff morale. In addition to these more obvious benefits, it is evident that the endorsement acts as a talent magnet for future recruitment alongside a wealth of other positive commercial rewards.
After a networking reception, guests enjoyed a warm welcome from the Lord Lieutenant and Louise Hewett. The evening then progressed with some inspirational presentations. Worcestershire’s past winners took to the stage to share their personal journey to achieving the accolade and to encourage businesses to submit an entry themselves.
Malvern based Payara, won the Queen’s Award for International Trade in 2021. The award acknowledged the company’s impressive results for delivering their services internationally. Founder, Steve Millidge and his wife, Julia, delivered a motivating presentation to the auditorium to explain first-hand what winning the award has meant for them and their team and to share their personal experience of the application process.
Dale Parmenter, DRPG’s CEO, followed giving an impressive insight into DRPG’s application for a 2022 Queen’s Award for Sustainable Development demonstrating the ethical investment from the company. DRPG’s commitment to pioneering sustainable business expertise combined with forward-thinking initiatives in this arena was outstanding.
Fellow 2021 winners Olpro, specialists in outdoor products and camping equipment, concluded the evening’s presentations. Olpro were honoured for their Queen’s Award for International Trade marking their outstanding achievements in supplying products on a global scale. PR & Digital Marketing Manager, Jack Barnett, delivered an interesting insight into the benefits of the award and how this has elevated their international business profile.
Louise Hewett; who leads the Queen’s Awards for Worcestershire in her role as Deputy Lieutenant comments;
“The evening was a great success; it was good to see so many excellent Worcestershire businesses gathered together and interested in applying for a Queens Award for 2023.
The feedback following the event has been extremely positive. We are looking forward to advising this year’s entrants who can begin their applications from May through to September.
By the time this goes to press we will have revealed the 2022 winners which are announced on the Queen’s birthday. Watch this space to hear more about our outstanding Worcestershire Queens Award winners!”
For further information on the Queen’s Awards for Enterprise and to make an application visit https://www.gov.uk/queens-awards-for-enterprise or email Louise Hewett on louisehewettdl@outlook.com
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