EIP celebrated winning the 2013 Queen’s Award for Enterprise yesterday – with a visit to Buckingham Palace.
Partners Jerome Spaargaren and Heather McCann met the Queen at a reception held at Buckingham Palace for all the winners of this year’s awards.
EIP won the Queen’s Award for Enterprise 2013, in the category of Outstanding Achievement in recognition of having increased its overseas sales by 136% over the last three years. Attention has been given to winning business both in the USA and Japan, which together now account for 81% of overseas sales.
Jerome said: “It was a great honour to meet the Queen. We shook hands and she said “congratulations”, and I also took the opportunity to congratulate her on the birth of the Royal baby.”
The reception was held in the Picture Gallery, one of 19 State Rooms at Buckingham Palace, for two representatives from each winning company. Also in attendance were the Duke of York, the Earl and Countess of Wessex, the Duke of Kent, and Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie.
Jerome said: “Although only two of us from EIP were able to attend the reception, Heather and I were proud to represent everyone at EIP. All the fellow winners we spoke to said how privileged they felt to win a Queen’s Award and how wonderful it was to be invited to Buckingham Palace.”
The Queen’s Awards are made annually by HM The Queen, and are only given for the highest levels of excellence demonstrated by UK companies. Approximately 150 Queen’s Awards were announced this year for outstanding business achievements in International Trade, Innovation, and Sustainable Development.