Five successful businesses in Sussex attended a reception at Buckingham Palace as winners of the Queen’s Awards for Enterprise 2011.  Representatives of each of the businesses met Her Majesty and other members of the Royal family in recognition of their commitment to enterprise and innovation.  The awards are made annually by the Queen and are given for the highest levels of excellence demonstrated in each category.

Fertiliser company Solufeed was a winner in the International Trade category for its achievement in exporting 70%of its output. Dick Holden, the managing director of the Barnham firm, praised the support of the Government’s export arm, UK Trade and Investment.  ‘The Queen's Award recognises our development and hard work in export markets and our customers have been quick to congratulate us on our achievement. We would encourage any business to apply for the Queen’s Award’, Mr Holden declared.

Mark Froud, the chief executive at Sussex Enterprise, the county’s Chamber of Commerce, said the awards highlighted the level of export driven businesses across the county. He said: ‘We congratulate them all and are very proud of their success.’

Lewis Scott, the regional director for UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) in the South East, said ‘As well as the honour involved, winners invariably speak of the gains in company reputation and staff morale that winning the award confers – opening doors to business growth overseas as well as in the UK.  These are persuasive reasons for more companies to put themselves forward for an award and give themselves an opportunity to reap the benefits that can result."