Three welsh businesses who are currently receiving support from the Business Wales Accelerated Growth Programme have been awarded the prestigious Queens award for Enterprise:
One Team Logic - Queens Award for Enterprise: Innovation 2018
Quick Link - Queens Award for Enterprise: Innovation 2018
Laser Wire - Queens Award for Enterprise: Export 2018
The Queen’s Awards for Enterprise are the UK’s most prestigious business awards, recognising and celebrating business excellence across the UK in fields including innovation, international trade, sustainable development and promoting opportunity through social mobility.
Martin Baker QPM, Managing Director of One Team Logic said: “We are hugely honoured that the work of our whole team has been recognised by Her Majesty the Queen through the conferring of The Queen’s Award for Enterprise. For the innovation that we have brought to safeguarding and child protection to be celebrated in this very public way is both deeply humbling and extremely gratifying. We have been continually developing MyConcern over the past four years and the progress we have made has been incredible. Not only has the system transformed safeguarding in many settings, it has also enabled us to work with our customers in the key area of leadership in safeguarding.
“Given the challenges facing schools and colleges specifically, we believe that an end-to-end approach to safeguarding is needed across all public agencies. Repeated child protection tragedies have clearly demonstrated that this is the single most important reform we could make in our national safeguarding and child protection arrangements. It is also vital that disparate issues are joined up – for example, making sure that the e-safety is integrated with the management of other safeguarding concerns, which is critical in identifying potential risks.”
Ongoing support has been provided by coaches from the Business Wales Accelerated Growth Programme with PR and strategy & tactical business expansion.
Quicklink Video Distribution Services are delighted to announce that they have received the Queen’s Award for Enterprise, in the Innovation category for their Quicklink TX solution. The award is the most prestigious award for UK businesses and is the highest accolade for business success. The awards are made annually by HM The Queen and are only given for the highest levels of excellence demonstrated in each category. They are judged to a demanding level and winners receive a number of benefits and worldwide recognition.
As a leading global provider of software and hardware IP solutions for live and edited video, innovation and quality are at the core of Quicklink’s beliefs. Its broadcasters and customers require solutions that they can rely on for high-quality, live content contributions and broadcasts. Richard Rees, CEO and founder of Quicklink states: “We are truly honored to receive a Queen’s award for Enterprise in Innovation and delighted in the recognition of the benefits that the Quicklink TX brings broadcasters and customers. In today’s content hungry age, contributions need to be accessed from anywhere, at any time allowing news, opinions and events to be broadcast live. Developing solutions which incorporate market leading technologies, together with a focus on quality and reliability, ensures customers can rely on Quicklink solutions whenever they need to. This award further strengthens our credentials and supports our customers’ experiences of our leading quality and innovative broadcast products”.
Welsh Government Economy Secretary, Ken Skates AM, said: “The Queen’s Award for Innovation is a significant achievement and I’m delighted Swansea-based Quicklink has been recognised for the superb, innovative solutions it is offering to its customers world-wide. This accolade demonstrates how well Welsh companies can successfully compete on a global platform through expansion and growth.
“The Welsh Government has worked closely with Quicklink since 2014, to support their exports and the development of their design and production base in Wales. This is one of many ways we seek to increase the recognition and use of home-grown innovative technology on a national and international basis.
Accelerated Growth Programme coach Carmel Gahan worked with Quicklink to develop their marketing PR strategy and sales process telephone skills development.
Laser Wire Solutions, an innovative tech company targeting a £10m turnover, has received royal approval after being presented with a renowned Queen’s Award in recognition of its exceptional international performance.
Treforest-based Laser Wire Solutions designs and builds laser powered equipment that strips the insulation from wires and cables, no matter the size or complexity. In providing solutions that are innovative, that save time and money, as well as improve product quality, its customers in the medical, automotive, IT, defence and aerospace markets can create more sophisticated products that save lives, advance methods of transportation and communication, as well as improve the environment. A core application is the manufacture of state-of-the art medical devices for treating conditions such as cancer, heart conditions and epilepsy. These key-hole surgery catheters contain tiny hair-like wires to transmit electrical signals. Laser Wire Solution’s equipment is used by the device manufacturers to precisely remove coatings from these wires during the manufacturing process.
Its international success has led to the company doubling its staff headcount to 28 and trebling its turnover to £5.1m in the last twelve months alone - an impressive growth that has resulted in Laser Wire Solutions being identified as the fifth fastest growing manufacturing company in Europe in this year’s FT1000 fastest growing companies list.
The Queen's Awards for Enterprise are highly prestigious awards for outstanding achievement by UK businesses in the categories of Innovation, International Trade and Sustainable Development. The awards, which are made annually by HM The Queen, are given for the highest levels of excellence demonstrated in each category. Laser Wire Solutions picked up the coveted title following an exceptional period of growth and overseas earnings, with exports accounting for 99% of its trade.
Paul Taylor, Chief Executive Officer and Founder of Laser Wire Solutions, said: “Receiving the Queens Award for International Trade is a fantastic recognition of the hard work and innovation that our team has put into this business. The last two years have been pivotal in terms of sales and growth and we hope to continue the year on year growth we have experienced. It still seems amazing that only three years ago the business was a two-man band being run from a garage under a railway line in Merthyr Tydfil. We’re proud to be flying the flag for Wales on an international scale and this award gives us the credibility to further expand our business with customers overseas. Our aim is to reach £10m turnover in the next two years through international exports.”
Established in 2011, Laser Wire Solutions has attracted investment from the Development Bank of Wales and the Welsh Government (assisted in particular by the Business Wales Accelerated Growth Programme, with recruitment, organization development, process implementation & digital marketing), helping to get the business off the ground and support its continued growth. After a brief development phase, the company began making a name for itself as an innovative partner to global blue-chip medical device manufacturers with household names. In addition to its core medical market, it is also expanding in applications for the wiring systems used in cloud computing, electric vehicles and space exploration.
Following a highly successful year, the company is now looking to expand its offerings even further. Paul said: “It’s amazing to work with a great team building a real success story for the UK. We are excited to see where the next few years will take us.”
Further information on the Business Wales Accelerated Growth Programme.