CHAMBER NEWS
Leading lights of business back East Midlands to carry the Queen’s Awards flag
When it comes to recognition for British businesses, the Queen’s Awards for Enterprise is the pinnacle. Mr Mike Kapur, Lord-Lieutenant of Leicestershire, and Dr Nik Kotecha, Chief Executive of Chamber strategic partner Morningside Pharmaceuticals, spoke with Business Network Editor Nathan Fearn about the opportunities that exist for East Midlands businesses.
Widely lauded as the most prestigious awards available to British businesses, the Queen’s Awards for Enterprise are arguably unparalleled in their prestige. The honour is bestowed on a select number of
businesses every year, all rewarded for the significant contribution they make towards UK trade in various forms. More than 200 businesses from across the UK won an
award in 2019, across four categories – Innovation, International Trade, Sustainable Development and Promoting Opportunity through Social Mobility. However, only a handful of East Midlands businesses
were selected for an award, including four Chamber members – telematics software developer Microlise, quarrying components engineer CMS Cepcor, clothing firm MiRiCal Emblems and printing machinery manufacturer Natgraph. The Chamber is keen to address the disproportionate
lack of representation when it comes to East Midlands- based businesses entering and winning a Queen’s Award. And according to Mr Mike Kapur, Lord-Lieutenant of
Leicestershire, the reasons for entering are numerous and profound. He said: “The Queen’s Awards for Enterprise is the
highest honour that a business organisation can achieve in the UK. It sets a very high quality standard before it is given to a business. “The one thing I think nobody
would dispute is that the best calling card in the world is Her Majesty the Queen. The fact that you are a Queen’s Award winner means that markets all over the world, whether they know about you as a company or us as an area or not, will know that the Queen will only bestow such an honour to the highest calibre of business.” Dr Nik Kotecha, Chief Executive of Morningside Pharmaceuticals – which
‘The Queen’s Awards for Enterprise is the highest honour that a business organisation can achieve in the UK. It sets a very high quality standard’
won a Queen’s Award for International Trade in 2012 – is in agreement that the Queen’s Awards sets a standard like no other. “When you obtain that logo and recognition you carry it wherever you
go; it’s a mark of prestige,” he said: “It’s a very special award. To go to Buckingham Palace and be presented
with the award by Her Majesty the Queen or Prince Charles is quite phenomenal. The award itself has been fantastic for us, not least because that recognition as part of ‘Brand UK’ has really helped us in international markets as well as the UK.” One reason some businesses may think twice about entering the Queen’s
Awards is a perception that – given its prestige – it is something open only to largescale businesses. Mr Kapur, though, explains why this is not the case at all; suggesting that
the criteria is very much around the quality of a business and not its size and that there are significant opportunities for businesses across Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Leicestershire to capitalise.
28 business network September 2019 Mike Kapur,
Lord-Lieutenant of Leicestershire
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