This is the second Queen’s Award for Hull-based Advanced New Technologies (ANT), which deals in technological innovation in the luxury yacht and residential markets. The company offers a wide range of products and services covering entertainment and control, communications and data, integrated bridge and navigation and security systems.

ANT adds a second 2008 Queens Award for Enterprise to the one the group won in 2005. The current award is also for international trade and coincides with the company’s major growth over the last three years.

"Getting the last award was tremendous enough," said MD Steve Puckering, "But getting this second one is just brilliant. It’s recognition of all the hard work that all our staff have put in, here at our Hull office, and elsewhere in the UK, Europe and the USA."

This is also a second time Oundle-based Fairline Boats has won The Queen’s Award for Enterprise in the international trade category. The company was noted for doubling its export sales over the last three years, building its overseas distribution and the creation of new jobs.

CEO Derek Carter will attend a celebratory reception for winners in London on Tuesday 22 April and the award will be formally conferred on the company at its premises later in the summer by Her Majesty’s Lord Lieutenant, Lady Juliet Townsend, acting in her capacity as The Queen’s local representative.

Acknowledging the hard work and professionalism of the entire Fairline team, CEO Derek Carter said: "To win an award such as this, which is universally recognised throughout the world as being of the highest merit, is testament to our entire team and is to be shared equally among every one of the 1400 Fairline employees."

Oceanair Marine in Selsey has now won three Queen’s Awards, the first in 2001 and the second in 2005. The company designs, manufactures and distributes window and hatch blinds and screens and exports 65% of its output to markets all over the world with, as MD Andy Fitzgerald puts it, "the Euro zone being kind to us right now".

Emphasising that the award belongs to the entire staff, Mr Fitzgerald told BB: "Innovation is the watchword, along with working closely with our distributors and customers around the world and achieving the service levels being demanded by industry today."

Ipswich-based Spirit Yachts is the only first time winner from the leisure marine industry this year and, while extremely proud of getting the award, MD Sean McMillan pointed out to BB: "This wonderful thing has arrived on my plate, but it’s totally down to all those who work at Spirit Yachts."

The boats built by Spirit are those we all stand an gape at when they appear at the Southampton Boat Show. If you haven’t seen these beautiful craft there, you will have heard of one being used in the James Bond film Casino Royale. "That was a great film and it was great fun and raised the profile among the general public, but probably didn’t do a great deal for sales," said Mr McMillan.

Spirit started trading in 1993 and is winning its first Queen’s Award for outstanding performance in increasing its export sales seven fold over three years, to nearly £3.7m per annum, and selling over 70% of its production overseas.

This year’s winning firms range in size from three firms with only three employees up to an international giant that employs 106,200 people. Some 34% of winning firms employ less than 50 people and 33% are from the service sector. The business benefits of winning a Queen’s Award include publicity, enhanced recognition and employee pride.

In a recent survey of 2007 business winners, 80% of respondents believed their Queen’s Award had added commercial value to their firms, and 82% reported boosts to staff morale. Each winning company receives an engraved crystal bowl and is entitled to use the coveted Queen’s Award Emblem on packaging and marketing materials for five years.

During the year, winners will benefit from a visit to their premises by a representative of The Queen, and be invited to a reception at Buckingham Palace in the summer. The deadline for the 2009 Queen’s Awards is 31 October 2008. Application and nomination forms are now available at queensawards.org.uk