HM Lord-Lieutenant visits Shropshire-based Jesmonite to present Queen's Award
Staff at a Shropshire business were presented with the prestigious Queen’s Award for International Trade at a celebration ceremony at the county headquarters.
Jesmonite, based in Bishop’s Castle, won this year’s Queen's Award for Enterprise for their growth and success in International Trade.
Since announcing the award win earlier this year, the company has expanded the reach of the global brand further to Africa and America, as well as setting up distribution hubs in Europe and Canada.
At the time of applying for the accolade for Outstanding Short Term Growth in overseas sales over the last three years, Jesmonite’s overseas sales had grown by 108% and made up 45.7% of all sales and the company’s top five markets were South Korea, Bahrain, Netherlands, Spain and Japan with around 54 distributors.
The firm now boasts 72 distributors across more than 40 different countries and employs 20 staff members at the south Shropshire base where many members of staff live in the town.
Lord-Lieutenant of Shropshire Anna Turner presented Jesmonite director and co-owner Emma Pearson with the award and grant of appointment at the Jesmonite headquarters in Challenge Court where the Queen’s Award flag was flying on Monday. (December 12th)
Piran Littleton, director and co-owner, thanked the team of staff present telling them they “are the most important part of the business”.
He said they entered the prestigious Queen’s Award for Enterprise to “shout about the fantastic growth which was happening at Jesmonite and within Bishop’s Castle” and show others where the brand was going in the world.
“We have doubled in size and since winning the Queen’s Award we have increased our worldwide sales by 25 per cent.
“Jesmonite is being used in some truly remarkable projects across the world including film sets, theme parks and also one of the finalists for the Turner Prize.
“This is about celebrating and marking who we are now and we should all be very proud.”
His Majesty’s Lord-Lieutenant said Jesmonite had been “recognised as exceptional whilst demonstrating outstanding standards in International Trade which out of them all is the most exclusive award”.
After meeting with the board members of the company, along with all of the staff from across the business, HM Lord-Lieutenant praised the staff for “putting their backs” into their roles - many of whom are just starting out in their careers. She said the award marked their huge dedication to their roles and they should all be very proud.
Following the presentation of the award, Mr Littleton said the company was bucking the current manufacturing industry statistics and praised the staff for the company’s growth and success.
“We’ve employed more, we’ve produced more and we’ve exported more.
“If you want to be brilliant, surround yourself with brilliant people and that is you,” he said.
Mr Littleton presented a clock made out of Jesmonite to HM Lord-Lieutenant which she said would hang proudly in her kitchen.
Deputy Lieutenants Mandy Thorn MBE, Gill Hamer and Fiona Rogers-Coltman, were present at the ceremony, along with Shropshire Chamber of Commerce CEO Richard Sheehan and deputy CEO Ruth Ross and a number of Jesmonite suppliers.
