Engineering firms win Queen's Awards for Enterprise

Several companies recognised for outstanding achievement in business

Several engineering firms have been recognised in the prestigious Queen's Awards for Enterprise for outstanding achievement in business.

Coventry energy absorption and hydraulics firm T A Savery and electric tube bending machinery firm Unison were both recognised for the success in exporting, which Hallmarq Veterinary MRI received awards for international trade and innovation

TA Savery, said its award had come at an exciting time, as it completed an elevator buffer system, and expanded sales operations in Spain, North America and China.

The company has been exporting its products for 60 years and has subsidiary operations throughout the world. The company designs and manufactures hydraulic systems for sectors such as defence, energy and automotive, and recently designed and installed a hydraulic ring main system at Jaguar Land Rover.

Sandy Andriga, TA Savery's marketing manager, said companies in the region had not been applying to the scheme because of a loss of confidence engendered by the recession. “We have been looking at emerging markets for a long time and taking our products and services there.”

Tube bending machinery manufacturer Unison's award for international trade is in recognition of achieving outstanding export success. Over the last year alone, 70% of company turnover has been generated by export sales including machines for Angola, France, Germany, Ghana, Mexico, Norway, Russia and the US.

Its current order book has machines destined for France, Germany, New Zealand, Nigeria, Norway, Poland and the US.

Hallmarq Veterinary MRI's innovation award is for the company's equine standing magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanner. The innovation has changed how vets approach equine lameness, making it a low risk procedure and allowing more horses to be diagnosed and treated more effectively than ever before.

The EQ2 from Hallmarq Veterinary is used by vets in 22 countries including Dubai, Japan, Brazil, Australia, Europe and North America. More than 50,000 horses have been scanned worldwide. The EQ2 was invented in and is still manufactured in the UK. As a result of standing MRI, horses need not be anaesthetised to undergo an MRI procedure. Anaesthetic deaths are a significant risk in horses, so the EQ2 means that MRI can be used as a diagnostic tool. MRI has a diagnostic success rate in the region of 90%.