British businesses celebrated in third year of The King’s Awards for Enterprise
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The recipients of The King's Awards for Enterprise have been
announced today [6 May], celebrating the achievements of leading
businesses from across the UK and Channel Islands and recognising
their vital role in growing our economy to improve lives.
This year, 197 businesses representing a diverse range of sectors,
have been recognised by His Majesty The King as among the best in
the country, highlighting the ambition, ingenuity, and success of
our diverse business...Request free
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The recipients of The King's Awards for Enterprise have been announced today [6 May], celebrating the achievements of leading businesses from across the UK and Channel Islands and recognising their vital role in growing our economy to improve lives. This year, 197 businesses representing a diverse range of sectors, have been recognised by His Majesty The King as among the best in the country, highlighting the ambition, ingenuity, and success of our diverse business community. A total of 199 awards have been issued with two companies, Hampshire-based Sonardyne International and Norfolk-based Delta Fire, being recognised for two Awards each. Overall, 116 businesses have been recognised for International Trade, 46 for Innovation, 27 for Sustainable Development and 10 for Promoting Opportunity Through Social Mobility. By supporting more people into work, developing new innovations and exporting the best Britain has to offer around the world, businesses like these are playing a key role in the Government's mission to go further and faster for economic growth, to put more money in more working people's pockets as part of our Plan for Change. Gareth Thomas, Minister for Services, Small Businesses and Exports said: “Congratulations to the recipients of this year's King's Awards for Enterprise, who all demonstrate the very best of British business talent. “I wish them every success as they continue to grow, innovate and prosper, and commend the invaluable contributions they have already made to communities at home and abroad, helping to boost the UK economy.” Out of the 197 winning businesses 176 (88%) are SMEs, and of those, 27 (14%) are micro-businesses, with 10 employees or less. Smaller businesses are the beating heart of this government's growth mission and providing them with the right support to overcome barriers and reach their full potential is an absolute priority. That is why this Government protected a million small firms from National Insurance increases and extended business rates relief in the Budget. Since then, we have also launched the new Board of Trade to boost small businesses exports and announced over 200 new Banking Hub locations on top of the existing 100 already open. We have also taken action to tackle the scourge of late payments, and most recently, provided a multi-billion-pound increase in government backed financing to help organisations like the British Business Bank provide vital finance for smaller businesses. We know that it will only take a 1% increase in SME productivity per year, over the next 5 years, to grow the UK economy by a whopping £94 billion. Graham Brown, Managing Director of Sonardyne, said: ‘We're absolutely delighted to have received this recognition. Receiving two King's Awards in 2025 really celebrates Sonardyne's ongoing performance in International Trade delivered by working sustainably. “It's a testament to the hard work of everyone at Sonardyne in making, selling, and supporting great products operating across our blue planet, whilst all the time caring deeply about how we do business to protect it. I hope we can inspire and help other UK businesses to do the same.” Ian Gardner, Managing Director and Founder of Delta Fire, said: "We are absolutely thrilled to receive two King's Awards for Enterprise for both Innovation and Sustainable Development. These two highly prestigious awards are a fantastic recognition of the great team work in Delta Fire over the last 35 years from a small workshop unit to a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility using net zero energy. “Innovation and Sustainability has led Delta Fire to exporting fire nozzles all around the world and being used to successfully extinguish the majority of fires in the UK every day.” The King's Awards for Enterprise were previously known as The Queen's Awards for Enterprise and were renamed two years ago to reflect His Majesty The King's desire to continue the legacy of HM Queen Elizabeth II by recognising outstanding UK businesses. The Award programme, now in its 59th year, has awarded over 8,000 companies since its inception in 1965. His Majesty's Lord Lieutenants – The King's representatives in each county – will be presenting the Awards to businesses locally throughout the year. One representative from each winning business will also be invited to a special Royal reception event. ENDS Case-studies
Other recipients also include:
More case-studies available upon request. Background The full list of recipients across the four categories can be found in the London Gazette from 01:00am on 6 May 2025. The recipients pass a robust assessment process, judged by experts from industry, academia, the voluntary sector, and senior officials in Whitehall. On that basis, each year, The King's Awards for Enterprise recipients are recommended by the Prime Minister and approved by His Majesty The King. A full regional breakdown can be found below:
Applications for The King's Awards for Enterprise 2026 open on 6 May 2025. For more information, visit https://www.gov.uk/kings-awards-for-enterprise. Eligible businesses are free to apply for one or more categories. Awards are valid for five years. The KAO office will continue their promotion of the Awards for the 2026 round, with a specific focus on increasing applications from under-represented groups, regions, and sectors. Government actions to support small business
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