The Institute would like to congratulate the wealth of Queen’s Award’s winners this year and to urge our members, partners and fellow exporters to enter these prestigious accolades. 

The Queen’s Awards for Enterprise are open for applications and celebrate outstanding achievement by UK businesses – with the coveted kite marks only given to companies or individuals who demonstrate excellence in their field.

The Institute has long been a champion of the prestigious honours and our director general, Lesley Batchelor OBE, will once again join the judges to determine the winners of the International Trade category. Here, the panel will appraise and entries and make recommendations before passing them on to the Prime Minister’s office for final decisions.

Well done to the 94 businesses across wide-ranging sectors spanning drug discovery, fine wines, jewellery, wall claddings and music distribution - who scooped the International Trade category this year. You can view the full list of winners here.

Last year’s 50th anniversary Queen’s Awards saw five of our corporate and business members – the highest number to date – recognised in International Trade.

Commended for their innovation and trailblazing achievements were TestPlant Ltd - a third time winner - Nasco UK Ltd, ICC Solutions, Oxford Royale Academy and Inciner8 International – who was also honoured in the Innovation category.

Winners are an inspiration to all UK businesses, having demonstrated a substantial and sustained increase in export earnings over three consecutive 12-month periods, to a level that is outstanding for the products and services concerned, and for the size of the organisation.

As well as being able to use The Queen’s Award emblem as part of their advertising, marketing and packaging for five years, International Trade category winners also receive a year’s free membership of the Institute of Export & International Trade.

In addition, they are honoured at our glittering annual gala dinner, which celebrates their achievements publicly. This year’s event will take place on September 27 at The Royal Horseguards Hotel in London.

Lesley Batchelor said: “Winning a Queen’s Awards for International Trade provides worldwide recognition and demonstrates that a company is outstanding in its field. We also know from previous winners that receiving the award brings added commercial value to a business and we encourage more of our members to enter the awards.” 
You can find details of the awards here and have until midday September 1 to submit your application.

How to apply:

To apply for the Queen’s Award for Enterprise your organisation must:

• be based in the UK (including the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man)
• file its Company Tax Returns with HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC)
• be a self-contained enterprise that markets its own products or services and is under its own management
• have at least 2 full-time UK employees or part-time equivalents
• demonstrate strong corporate social responsibility

Your organisation can be business or non-profit.

Each of the award categories has additional entry criteria.

International Trade

To apply for the International Trade award, you must also:

• have made a minimum of £100,000 in overseas sales in the first year of your entry and show year-on-year growth
• prove that your organisation has achieved outstanding growth in overseas earnings relative to your business size and sector
• prove steep year-on-year growth (without dips) in overseas sales over 3 years - or substantial year-on-year growth (without dips) over 6 years

If you already hold an international trade award you can only apply for a new award for:

• substantial year-on-year growth over 6 years if you’re in the fifth (final) year of your current award (granted before April 2014)
• steep year-on-year growth in overseas sales over 3 years if you’re in the third, fourth or final year of your current award (granted before April 2016)