Royal award celebrated by 16 companies

The awards mark Her Majesty The Queen’s 93rd birthday and are in their 53rd year.

Nationally 201 are recognised this year with 129 receiving awards for international trade, 61 for innovation, six for sustainable technology and five for promoting opportunity.

Among the 10 in the West Midlands in the international trade category are Allet in Hixon, near Stafford; John Martin Design Associates, which was originally founded in Stourbridge and Protolabs at Halesfield, Telford.

Allet, which employs 39, has been designing and making specialised cylinder mowers for sports and premium lawns market for more than half a century.

Last year it moved to larger premises after overseas earnings grew by nearly 300 per cent to £2.25 million over a six-year period.

Allet exports to Russia, the United States, France, Germany and Spain.

“We’re very honoured to receive the Queen’s Award,” said Austin Jarrett, Allett’s managing director.

"It recognises our achievements and team efforts in bringing innovative developments in our mowing systems to meet challenges in overseas markets with large potential. We’re no longer confined to the seasonality of domestic sales cycles in the UK. Our mowers and turf maintenance systems are used throughout the world where they are maintaining sports surfaces and lawns to the highest standards.”

Allett was the major supplier to the host stadiums and contractors in Russia for the 2018 World Cup football tournament.

Allett recently moved to a new, larger factory in the village.

JMDA, which employs 12. started out in Stourbridge in 1991 and is now based in Pershore Worcestershire. It specialises in the design of child car safety seats and produces 90 different seats for companies across the world.

Protolabs was founded in 1999 and manufactures custom prototypes and on-demand production parts. It now has three locations across Europe and 12 around the world.

The company, which was previously awarded both the international trade and innovation awards in 2013, has seen exports grow from £13m in 2015 to £27.7m in 2017. Its main European export markets are Germany, France, Italy, Belgium and Sweden.

The six getting innovation awards include Semantics 21 at Dunston Business Village, between Penkridge and Stafford. The company, which employs three, has developed software for law enforcement, to enable them to investigate images, video and multimedia for child sexual abuse. It uses artificial intelligence and specially-developed algorithms to help with identification.

Business secretary Greg Clark said:“These awards recognise the innovative products and services being provided by British businesses that are in demand across the world, as well as the sheer determination and hard work that comes with starting and running a business.

“Many of these winners are small businesses – the backbone of our economy – and we are backing them to grow, increase their productivity and create more jobs and opportunity across the UK through our modern industrial strategy.”

The companies are able to use the Queen's Awards emblem for the next five years.