The winners of the coveted Queen’s Awards for Enterprise have been announced to the delight of the businesses included.
Amongst the winners there is the inventor of inflatable armour, joiners who restored the one of the Queen’s palaces and a company that has laid over a million square metres of playground safety surfacing.
This year, there was a record number of 145 different awards, over half of whom were presented to companies with less than 50 employees.
Also, included in the prestigious roll-call is Dragons’ Den panellist Doug Richard, who received an honourary award for enterprise promotion.
Richard, chairman and co-founder of Library House, is the first American citizen to be awarded the prize.
Sir Digby Jones, director general of the Confederation of British Industy, said: "Such amazing diversity highlights the quality of winners of this prestigious business award, which rewards the commercial acumen of Britain's leading companies, large and small.
"In the 21st century we are still critically dependent on our business champions.
“Indeed, today it is even more important that British businesses retain a competitive edge if we are to maintain our economic momentum - and judging by this year's winners they're doing just that.
"The Queen's Awards have been a benchmark of business success for 40 years, helping thousands of firms to open up new markets, improve sales, enhance the commercial value of products and services, and boost staff morale and motivation."
