Six businesses across Norfolk and Suffolk have been named winners of the Queen's Award for Enterprise.

The Award, which is valid for five years, is highly valued within the business community and recognises the best companies within the categories of innovation, international trade, sustainable development and promoting opportunity.

Bambusa Ltd (Rehook), based at the Hethel Engineering Centre in Norwich was awarded in the innovation category. The engineering company looks for innovative ways to fix common cycling problems.

Three businesses in Norfolk and Suffolk won within the international trade category - Bradman-Lake Ltd based in Beccles in Suffolk provides packaging equipment; Geosense Ltd, which is based in Bury St Edmunds and manufactures specialist equipment to mining and environmental industries; and Hunstanton-based Global Plan Genetics Ltd, an intellectual property company that focuses on berry and asparagus genetics.

Jewellery company Monica Vinader Limited, based in Wells-Next-The-Sea, and Burland Technology Solutions Ltd, a firm that designs audio-visual products based in Great Blakenham, Suffolk, both won within the sustainable development category.

Richard Vass, managing director of Burland Technology Solutions Ltd, was "chuffed to bits to be recognised in this way". He revealed that this is the third time his company has won the award.

Mr Vass said: "The Queen’s Awards are special and stand out from a plethora of other industry awards. The bar is set extremely high, so to win once is fantastic, but to win three times in three categories, puts us in a very small club."

He added: "Our Award this year for Sustainability has less to do with our “green” credentials as a business and more to do with our promotion of the principles of the Circular Economy.

"Business are finally coming around to the fact that if you really want to make a difference to your carbon foot print and more importantly your impact on pollution, you have to invest financially in the short term in better quality, long lasting products and equipment.

"This award will hopefully provide us a wider exposure to business who we hope, will want to talk to us about a different approach to specifying and procuring products for the construction and fit out industry."


Entries are now open for the annual Suffolk Business Awards, organised and hosted by Archant, publisher of the East Anglian Daily Times and Eastern Daily Press. For more information and to enter, please visit https://www.suffolkbusinessawards.co.uk/