Small is beautiful at 2007 Queen's Enterprise Awards

SMALL firms have acquitted themselves well once again in this year’s Queen’s Awards for Enterprise, the UK’s most prestigious accolade for business success.

Almost half the winners, 49 per cent, were ventures with fewer than 50 employees – making a 3 percent increase on last year’ total.

Among those honored for international trading performance were the engraver and fine art printer Felix Rosenstlel’s Widow & Son Ltd from London, and Kronsten, a Berkshire-based partnership exporting aviation supplies to Russia. It has just three staff and a £2.74million turnover.

In the innovation category winners included Aquapac, a British-based manufacturer of waterproof protection cases, Medi Travelcover, a specialist travel insurance provider for cancer patients, and Opro, which supplies mouthguards to sports players and helped to protect England’s rugby team as it battled for victory in the2003 World Cup.

On the environmental front, Benchmark Woodworking, an enterprise founded by Habitat design pioneer Sir Terence Conran, was rewarded for its commitment to sustainable production. The bespoke furniture company, based in Hungerford, Berkshire, employs 46.

The contribution of outstanding individuals was for also marked with a lifetime achievement award given to youth business adviser Joan Richards, who works with 18 to30-year-olds in the Neath and Port Talbot areas, helping them to set up their own enterprises.

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