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The benefits of winning...
A QUEEN’S AWARD FOR ENTERPRISE
The motivations for companies entering the Queen’s Awards are as many as there are companies – each has its own reasons for doing so and the majority benefit from their success.
Even those companies who do not win an Award on their first attempt can find it a valuable experience, providing targets to achieve and an additional focus for which to optimise efforts in becoming one of the best UK companies in their field.
Entrants come from all around the United Kingdom – from city-based centres of commerce to the remotest of locations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and the Channel Islands.
The majority of winning companies have below 250 employees, but there are also larger companies who have won. The minimum size of an eligible company is two full- time employees.
Winners have confirmed the main reason they enter the Queen’s Awards is for the prestige it brings. Both at home and overseas, respect for a winning company is enhanced with this notable achievement. Winners find that being the company with a Queen’s Award among other competitors can often make the difference in gaining an introduction to new customers. A win is also a great promotional opportunity for publicity in local and national newspapers as well as international trade magazines, in print and online.
Although the online entry process naturally involves
time spent supplying the data required, experience has shown that although some entrants expected the process to be difficult, few actually found this was the case. In fact the time taken to prepare the research for the entry varied mainly from a couple of days to a couple of weeks – but with some entrants completing the information in one day. The time it takes will understandably vary according to the type of company and its products and how readily available the data is.
It is inevitable that not all companies will succeed in gaining a Queen’s Award – that is of course the whole principle behind any award scheme. On average a quarter of those entering succeed in gaining a Queen’s Award – a good incentive!
Of course any award is only as good as the employees who have worked hard to achieve it and this recognition is a great morale-booster for companies. Each winning company is given a formal presentation by The Queen’s representative (normally the county’s Lord-Lieutenant) at the company premises or other suitable location, so the employees are able to enjoy the celebrations first hand – some examples of these presentations can be seen in later pages of this publication.
Having won their award, in the months and years that follow, companies have found the predicted outcome
has been achieved, with the company’s perception being enhanced within the UK and overseas. Most companies found that the staff responded enthusiastically to the win and the majority of companies made good use of the kudos for their publicity and PR. When asked, existing winners
of a Queen’s Award would recommend entering to other businesses.
Another promotional opportunity available to winners is the independently published The Queen’s Awards Magazine, which you are now reading, and its accompanying website.
As you can see, winners can choose to have an entry among the others in their category – in a magazine that is distributed to a prestigious mailing list of recipients both in the UK and internationally.
In a recent survey of winners the majority agreed that The Queen’s Awards Magazine and the website were rated either ‘Good’ or ‘Excellent’. We want to improve on that: please let us know what your expectations are for future reference!
Email your feedback to Anne Smith: Anne.Smith@ queensawardsmagazine.com