Cambridge and the East of England has enjoyed one of its most successful ever Queen’s Awards for Enterprise, with 18 different companies receiving the accolade and one Cambridge business winning two.
The one multiple Award winner this year out of 156 winners in the International Trade and Innovation categories is Cambridge-based RealVNC Limited, for its remote access software for computers and mobile devices.
RealVNC was last month named Business Weekly’s Private Company of the Year in the East of England Business Awards.
Cambridge technology is very much to the fore, with Innovation Awards going to ARM Holdings, RealVNC, Cambridge Consultants, i2 Ltd, Jagex and Sentec.
RealVNC and Toby Churchill Ltd were among the International Trade successes.
East of England Queen’s Awards winners are as follows:
International Trade – Haskoning UK Limited (Peterborough); HiBreeds International (Norwich), International Export Supplies Ltd (Needham Market); Miller and Miller (Chemicals) Ltd (Essex); Plant Parts Ltd (Hadleigh, Suffolk); Prism Media Products Ltd (Stretham, Cambs); RealVNC Ltd (Cambridge); Toby Churchill Ltd (Over, Cambs); the University of Bedfordshire.
Awards for Innovation – ARM Holdings plc (Cambridge); Cambridge Consultants Ltd; FFEI Ltd (Hemel); i2 Ltd (Cambs); Jagex Ltd (Cambridge); RealVNC; Sentec Ltd (Cambridge); Smiths Detection Watford Ltd; Specialised Imaging (Herts).
There is one Sustainable Development Queen’s Award winner – Lakehouse (Essex).
WINNER’S PROFILES
ARM Holdings in Cambridge wins an Innovation Award for the development of semiconductor intellectual property in the form of designs for smart, low energy computer chips. the chips are at the heart of world-leading consumer products, including most mobile phones, digital cameras, printers and computer storage discs. Nearly all motor cars contain at least one ARM chip.The company has grown its market share to over 95 per cent worldwide during a global recession.
Cambridge Consultants Ltd, which celebrated its 50th anniversary last winter, wins its second Queen’s Award, having been successful in 2009. A world leader in technology consultancy and design, Cambridge Consultants wins an Innovation Award for developing the Prism 200 – a handheld, through-wall radar for counter terrorism. Used by police, the military and special forces, Prism provides quick and covert intelligence on the movement and location of people in a room or building without the need for invasive sensors. Prism 200 and its recent upgrade 200c have been designed for situations where accurate tracking of multiple people, such as terrorists and their hostages, is essential to mission success.
Herts based FFEI Ltd wins an Innovation Award for the development of new computer-to-plate machinery. It produces press-ready printing plates used in offset printing presses. It is cheaper and requires less investment in tooling than traditional alternatives. The innovation helped the company become a leading supplier in the gast-growing world markets of India and wider Asia.
Haskoning UK in Bretton, provides engineering and consultancy services to global clients in niche markets including maritime, coastal and rivers, infrastructure, transport and environmental projects. It has almost doubled turnover from overseas trade in the last three years.
Totalling £72.3 million (over three years), income generated from international projects now represents almost half of the firm’s total turnover.
Despite the challenging economic climate, Royal Haskoning is experiencing considerable success globally, particularly in emerging markets like the Middle East and Africa. Earlier this year, engineers from Royal Haskoning celebrated when the first ship sailed into the world’s deepest drydock in Qatar, a multi-billion dollar project which Royal Haskoning designed and oversaw. the company is forecasting further growth.
HiBreeds International in Norwich exports fertile chicken hatching eggs. Over three years, its aggregated export earnings exceeded £14m from its markets in the Middle East – mostly Saudi Arabia – but also to Russia and other European countries.
i2 Ltd strikes innovation gold for the continuous development of software to support law enforcement, defence, national security and private sector operations. The company’s Intelligence-Led Operations Platform incorporates advanced algorithms and technology to quickly analyse large data sets from disparate sources and provide high quality intelligence. Customers use the technology to assess and make non-obvious connections between complex networks of organisations, entities and individuals. The company’s large customer base includes 25 of the 28 NATO member countries, 80 per cent of national security agencies worldwide and the majority of police forces in the UK.
International Export Supplies in Suffolk has increased export earnings by 80 per cent in three years. It supplies automotive parts for cars, trucks and public service vehicles. Its main markets are in the Far East, the Caribbean and Europe; developing markets include Russia and South Korea.
Jagex Ltd in Cambridge is a world leading games developer and already employs 400 people after rapid growth. It wins an Innovation Award for the continuous development od RuneScape, an online, multi-player game. with over 115 million registered players and over 15,000 hours of free games content available, it has set the industry standard. The proprietary software facilitates instant access from almost any internet-enabled device without needing downloads or special software. Up to 2,000 players can participate in a single game, yet each player can interrupt participation and resume from where he or she left off.
Miller and Miller (Chemicals) Ltd in Essex provides pharmaceuticals and medical equipment for use in overseas hospitals and has more than doubled exports in three years. Its main markets are in the Middle East but it has other important markets in Europe, the Far East and Australasia and is developing exports to the US, Africa and China.
Plant Parts Ltd in Hadleigh, Suffolk, supplies spare parts for construction machinery and also reconditions hydrostatic gearboxes used on tracked earthmoving machinery. The company’s total export earnings over the last three years reached almost £5m from markets in over 100 countries. The top five markets are Europe, North America, sub-Saharan Africa and Australasia.
Prism Media Products in Stretham develops and manufactures audio equipment and software. It more than doubled overseas sales during six years of sustained growth, with 66 per cent of sales going abroad.
RealVNC in Cambridge is the only double Award winner in International Trade and Innovation. It provides remote access software for computers and mobile devices. Exports now comprise 90 per cent of turnover. Over 175 countries are served with North America the current main market. A groundbreaking partnership with Intel to embed VNC technology into the latest chipsets has spearheaded new international revenue streams. The company also recently announced a major collaboration with Google. It has recently entered the automotive market.
Sentec Ltd wins an Innovation Award for the continuous development and successful commercialisation of water metering equipment. Electromagnetic flow has long been the gold standard of water metering because of its accuracy and longevity. Sentec has commercialised Sterling technology via licensing and joint venture to address many markets in different territories. Sterling technology enables the manufacture of very low power, cost effective water meters, applying electromagnetic flow to residential water metering. Sterling records and communicates information much more frequently than traditional meters.
Smiths Detection in Watford develops and makes chemical detectors and accessories, called Lightweight Chemical Detectors (LCD3). They are deployed by armed forces, security services and emergency response organisations as defence against use of chemical agents. Incorporating ion mobility spectrometry technology, the LCD3 is a compact, lightweight device that can operate for many hours in etreme environments using only four AA batteries.
Toby Churchill Ltd designs and manufactures world-leading text and speech communications aids for people with limited or no ability to speak. The company has tripled overeas earnings in three years to over £2m a year and now eports over 60 per cent of its product. its products cover 13 languages and are sold to 23 countries in Europe, the americas and the Middle East – after Arabic was added to the company’s portfolio in 2010.
University of Bedfordshire wins an International Trade award for increasing overseas income by 154 per cent over three years and producing an aggregate of £54m over that period. Students come from over 100 countries of which India, China, Pakistan, Nigeria and Saudi Arabia are leading sources.
• PHOTOGRAPH SHOWS: Andy Harter, CEO, RealVNC
