Prime Minister congratulates Business "Standard-Bearers"

Two Asian entrepreneurs were celebrating on 21 April 2008 after their achievements were honoured in different ways in the 2008 Queen’s Awards for Enterprise – the UK’s most prestigious accolade for business-related achievement.

In this, the 43rd year of The Queen’s Awards for Enterprise, Her Majesty The Queen announced 139 business Awards – the second-highest total for 10 years.  85 Awards are for outstanding achievements in International Trade, 42 for Innovation and 12 for Sustainable Development.   A total of 11 outstanding individuals receive The Queen’s Award for Enterprise Promotion (QAEP) for their work promoting entrepreneurial skills and attitudes amongst others.

In the Business Awards categories, there was success in the Innovation category for Eurobuns Ltd, the company run by Asian tycoon Mr Asif Rangoonwala which supplies frozen breads to the UK foodservice and retail food industry.

Meanwhile, Mr Zulf Ali, an Asian IT entrepreneur who is Chairman of web design agency Reach BCS, receives a personal Queen’s Award for Enterprise Promotion for his inspiring work to influence regeneration and enterprise in the deprived area of Rochdale.  Amongst his enterprise promotion achievements, Mr Ali has supported over 100 start-up ethnic minority businesses and worked with the Kashmir Youth Project to develop an “Enterprise for All” course.

Overall, this year’s winning firms range in size from three firms with only three employees up to an international giant that employs 106,200 people.   34% of winning firms employ less than 50 people and 33% are from the service sector.

The business benefits of winning a Queen’s Award include publicity, enhanced recognition and employee pride.  In a recent survey of 2007 business winners, 80% of respondents believed their Queen’s Award had added commercial value to their firms, and 82% reported boosts to staff morale.  55% of respondents said it was the most valuable award their business had ever won.

Each winning company receives an engraved crystal bowl and is now entitled to use the coveted Queen’s Award Emblem on packaging and marketing materials for 5 years.  During the year, winners will benefit from a visit to their premises by a representative of The Queen, and be invited to a reception at Buckingham Palace in the summer. 

Prime Minister Gordon Brown said:

“Queen’s Award winning companies are standard-bearers for the very best of British business. These firms embody the spirit of enterprise and innovation that is so vital to the future of Britain’s economy. Whether large or small, every one of this year’s winning organisations has achieved outstanding success in its field. I congratulate them all on their diverse and remarkable achievements.

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