Declining Queen's Awards still bring out the best
15 Jan 2000
The fall in both applicants and winners of this year's Queen's Awards has not detracted from the achievements of this year's winners of what is still the UK's top business accolade.
A general increase in business award schemes, combined with difficulties facing exporters owing to the strong pound, has prompted the Prince of Wales, with support from the Prime Minister, to review the Queen's Awards scheme.
Of 82 winners of the export award, 14 in the technology category and five in the environment award, 12 have links to the process industries.
With nearly 70 past awards to its credit, ICI's newly formed catalyst business Synetix has won the Queen's Award for Environmental Achievement for HYDECAT, a process for treating hypochlorite from waste chlorine streams. Also in the environmental category another British major, Zeneca Metal Extraction Products, has developed a magnesium-based process used for the extraction of copper from waste ore. Esmil Process Systems of High Wycombe has developed a zero discharge wood pulp effluent and water recovery system. Jesse Brough Metals also won an award for a process to recycle furnace waste.
In the Technological Achievements category Alstom Energy won an award for the development of three-dimensional steam turbine blading with improved efficiency for high power density applications.
Export Achievement awards went to Dumbarton-based Aggreko UK for oil free generators and compressors; Cambrian Consultants for engineering, training and software expertise in the oil and gas industry; Druck for electronic pressure measurement and calibration devices; Dytech of Sheffield for catalysts and ceramic materials; Heatric, a division of Meggitt, for compact heat exchangers; UMIST for excellence in research, teaching and technology transfer; and finally Powder Systems of Liverpool (see p.11) for high containment and product protection systems for pharmaceuticals.
