Queen’s Awards recognise sustainable development among British business

Seven companies including Premier Sustain Division, the British Land Company and the Fairtrade Foundation have been awarded Queen's Awards for Sustainable Development in honour of Her Majesty's 90th birthday today (21 April).


As part of the annual Queen’s Awards for Enterprise ceremony, the seven companies have been acknowledged for thir “outstanding advance in sustainable development” in fields ranging from product design to resource management.

More than 240 companies received Queens Awards which are now in their 50th year and broadly recognise contributions to international trade, innovation and sustainable development. A recent Queen’s Award survey found that 76% of companies which won an award reported increased commercial value, with 55% reporting that the win had delivered new business opportunities.

Commenting on this latest batch of awards, Business Secretary Sajid Javid – who named the winners – said: “The Queen’s Awards are a great way of celebrating the best of British business. Whether you’re a disruptive start-up making life easier for your customers or a large company with a blockbuster product, these awards recognise your contribution to enterprise.

“We are a country full of exciting and innovative businesses that deserve to be celebrated. I’d like to commend all the winners for their hard work in creating jobs for people and driving our growing economy.”

Workplace service provider Premier Sustain Division picked up a Sustainable Development award for offering the country’s only commercial facility dedicated to repairing and remanufacturing damaged office furniture.

Meanwhile, Oxford-based Seacourt received an award for 20 years of dedication to low environmental-impact printing. Construction firm Wates picked up a gong for its ‘reshaping tomorrow’ vision for 2020, which includes ambitious supply chain initiatives and social wellbeing pledges. British Land Company was also recognised for its focus on creating the Places People Prefer scheme which drives business improvement at all stages of its operations.

The remaining two winners in the Sustainable Development category were carbon-neutral printing company Anglia Print and global product design and procurement specialists Matrix APA which was recognised for its supply chain efforts.

Burning desire

With the on-going global production of waste being thrust into the sustainability spotlight of late – whether it’s plastic in the ocean or recyclable coffee cups being sent to landfill – some innovations have been listed for Queens Awards which could potentially address issues fill crucial resource efficiency gaps.

Among the 243 winners, recovered fuels specialist Andusia picked up an award for an innovative method of utilising UK waste to power combined heat and power (CHP) processes across Europe; and UK incinerator manufacturer Inciner8 was listed in the innovation category for a waste-burning process that produces heat and water to be used in conflict zones and refugee camps.

Edinburgh-based eco-packaging firm Vegware was also awarded for a zero-waste product. It launched the Food Waste Network as a free consultancy service that matches clients to composting and anaerobic digestion options. This process was recently used during Glasgow’s Commonwealth Festival, resulting in an 81% recycling rate.

Coffee cup recycling – the compostable solution from Vegware on Vimeo.


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Matt Mace

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