Nottingham Evening Post

An Ilkeston and a Retford Company have both picked up the Queen’s Award for Enterprise 2003. A reception was held yesterday at Buckingham Palace for winners of the prestigious awards. It was attend by representatives of five East Midlands winners including W. Ball and Son of Ilkeston, Transdek from Retford and Rolls-Royce of Derby. W.Ball are first time winners, making warp-knitted textiles for niche markets such as the aerospace and automotive sectors. Exports, mainly to France and the USA, grew by 236% during the year. Transdek won the Award for its development of a hydraulic lorry loading system which allows more goods to be loaded safely onto vehicles. Rolls-Royce are first-time Award winners for their work with Trent aero engines.The prestigious Awards have been running since 1965. Winning companies have to demonstrate excellent in one of three categories - International Trade, Innovation or Sustainable Development. The reception was attended by Prime Minister Tony Blair and the minister of state for industry and the regions Jacqui Smith. Ms Smith congratulated the winners on what she called their “outstanding achievement” in receiving the Awards. She said: “This accolade is not given lightly – businesses have to demonstrate sustained excellence or sustainability. These winning companies projects set a fantastic example to others. Previous winning companies have seen their reputation improve both at home and overseas, and a recent survey showed that winning a Queen’s Award can boost staff morale by a much as 80%. The continued success and development of this important scheme clearly owes much to the personal interest shown by both The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh over the last 36 years.” This year there were 123 award winners from across the UK.

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