The business benefits of winning a Queen’s Award

Photo: Nick Chandler of Hi Breeds

A royal stamp of approval for a farming or agricultural business isn't just a nice badge of honour: it can really make a difference to companies who receive recognition from The Queen.

The Queen's Award for Enterprise is the most prestigious corporate accolade that a UK business can win, and is presented every year to UK businesses that can demonstrate outstanding achievement in international trade, innovation or sustainability.

Queen's Awards winners, including Garnett Farms Engineering, PestWest Electronics, and Hibreeds International (see case studies) from the farming and agricultural sector, have found that winning the Award has serious business benefits.

A recent survey of winning companies found The Award had a positive effect on many aspects of the business. The biggest boost is often to staff morale and pride in the company, experienced by 90% of winners, who found The Award instilled confidence and pride in employees throughout the organisation.

More than 40% said The Award had given them an edge over their competitors, and 20% even said winning had had a direct effect on the bottom line by bringing in new business: some winners have reported increased turnover of up to 30%.

In addition, 68% said it had given them increased recognition in the UK, and 49% said they now had greater recognition overseas.

At Garnett Farms Engineering, which won the Innovation Award in 2002, Pamela Garnett says: 'I couldn't say how many sales it has brought in, but The Award definitely means something to other companies, especially overseas companies.'

Steve Brice, acting Secretary of the Queen's Awards Office, adds: 'We have always known that a Queen's Award is more than just a prestigious honour – it also brings genuine business benefits to winning companies.'

The Awards are made each year by The Queen, on the advice of the Prime Minister, who is assisted by an Advisory Committee that includes representatives of government, industry and commerce, and the trade unions.

Winning companies are invited to a celebratory reception, and The Award is presented at their premises by the Lord Lieutenant of the County where the business is based. The Queen also invites representatives from winning companies to a reception at Buckingham Palace.

Award winners are actively encouraged to make the most of media coverage and to use The Queen's Award Emblem as a sales and marketing tool, and 90% of winners said the Award was a valuable part of their marketing activity. Winners can use the Queen's Award Emblem on websites, stationery and other marketing materials, and fly the Award flag.

Unlike most other business awards schemes, The Queen's Awards are free to enter and free from sponsorship. Rather like a quality standard, there is no limit to the number of Awards given in each of the three business categories each year. Every application is judged thoroughly on its individual merits and if a company's achievements are truly outstanding for the size of their organisation, then it stands a good chance of success.

Even if you don't win, it's well worth entering. All unsuccessful applicants receive written feedback on their applications, helping them identify areas for improvement in their businesses and encouraging enhanced applications in future years.

The Queen's Awards for Enterprise are open to businesses based in the UK that can demonstrate commercial success. Entrants only need to have two full-time people (or part time equivalent) working for the company, so The Awards are not the preserve of big businesses. This year, nearly half of the winning organisations had fewer than 50 employees, and the national papers gave many of them tremendous coverage.

At Garnett Farm Engineering, Pamela Garnett says she entered The Queen's Awards because she recognised that it would be a tremendous honour for a small family-run company: 'I thought we wouldn't have a chance but how wrong I was. Our win gives other small companies hope – The Queen's Awards are for good business, not just big business.'

The bottom line benefits may not be quantifiable, but a Royal seal of approval means a great deal to the farming and agricultural companies who have it, from family farms to multi-national operators.

The deadline to enter The Queen's Awards for Enterprise 2005 is midnight on 31 October 2004. For more information go to www.queensawards.org.uk

Case study: Hibreeds International

Hibreeds International in Norwich was set up in 1998 purely to export poultry hatching eggs. It supports UK farmers by providing export markets on UK trading terms without currency risk or effort to them, and won its Queen's Award for International Trade in 2003. Exports have more than trebled over the past three years, and the company's main markets are the Middle East, EU, Turkey and Cyprus.

Managing director Nick Chandler says winning The Award has been extremely important for the business.

'We entered The Award because we were trying to put a label of excellence on British agriculture in our export markets. British agriculture tends to be more expensive than the rest of the world, so we have always aimed at the quality end of the market. Having The Queen's Award was a badge of excellence and has gone down very well with our international customers, including the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.'

Case study: Garnett Farms Engineering

Garnett Farms in Knutsford, Cheshire won a Queen's Award for Enterprise (Innovation) in 2002 for designing a machine that can automatically distribute cow-bedding material, reducing the bedding time by up to one third of the time taken by hand.

Andrew Garnett designed the AG Dispenser as a college project in response to a request from his father, who runs the farm. The machine was developed and used on the family farm before going into production, and is now sold around the world, with clients including the Royal Agricultural Society.

'The Award definitely gave us credibility,' says Pamela Garnett. 'We are well respected as farmers, but when Andrew first developed the AG Dispenser it was a struggle to get over the barrier of people believing that we would be here today and gone tomorrow. The Queen's Award raised our profile and gave us some clout, and now we have a range of eight machines and more in development. It has also given everyone who works for us a lovely boost.'