Businesses struck in the extended Leicester lockdown, and those getting back on their feet in the county, are being urged to help re-ignite confidence in the local economy by taking part in the Queen鈥檚 Award for Enterprise.
The Lord Lieutenant for Leicestershire, Mike Kapur OBE, has set up a working group to promote the awards to local businesses over the coming months
The awards recognise businesses which excel when it comes to international trade, innovation, sustainable development and promoting opportunity through social mobility.
The awards are valid for five years and the government says winners have reported benefiting from 鈥渨orldwide recognition, increased commercial value, greater press coverage and a boost to staff morale鈥.
The Lord Lieutenant has appointed Ian Borley, recently retired senior partner of KPMG鈥檚 East Midlands practice, to chair the group.
Mr Kapur said: 鈥淚t鈥檚 rare for me to come across a local organisation that knows about the Queens Award for Enterprise and yet we have some incredible businesses here.
鈥淣ow more than never, we need Leicestershire to start to feel good about itself and for our businesses to be properly rewarded for their great achievements by gaining the highest accolade in the 海角视频 and I鈥檓 committed to making this happen.鈥
Previous Leicestershire winners include food net manufacturer TruNet, CMS Cepcor Ltd, which makes parts for crushing machines, and online travel agent Magnetic North Travel.
Ian Borley said: 鈥淚鈥檓 very pleased, and honoured, to be asked to lead this group of some of Leicestershire鈥檚 best-known business leaders in the task of encouraging the County鈥檚 successful businesses to apply for a Queen鈥檚 Award for Enterprise.
鈥淎s befits the pre-eminent business award in the 海角视频, a Queen鈥檚 Award is not easy to win 鈥 but well worth the effort to those who succeed.
鈥淔or example, 73 per cent of past winners have directly attributed increased sales to holding the Queen鈥檚 Award and 79 per cent said it gave a boost to staff morale. This is a great way to give your business a real competitive edge.鈥
Working with Mr Borley on the workstream to promote the awards are:
Richard Brucciani OBE DL 鈥 chairman of PAL International
Mehmooda Duke MBE DL 鈥 managing director of Moosa-Duke Solicitors, President of Leicester Law Society and Chair of Leicestershire County Cricket Club
Priyesh Patel MBE DL 鈥 managing Director of Cofresh snack foods
Rory Underwood MBE DL 鈥 managing Director of Wingman and non-executive director of Leicester Tigers
Susan Whelan DL 鈥 chief executive Leicester City Football Club
Rick Blackmore 鈥 regional director of the CBI
Kevin Harris 鈥 chairman of the LLEP and senior partner of RSM Leicester
Scott Knowles 鈥 chief executive of East Midlands Chamber of Commerce
Mr Borley said: 鈥淚 fully understand that most businesses have a huge amount on their plates right now and feel that business awards may not be top of their priority list presently.
鈥淗owever, I would urge them to re-think.
鈥淭his is not a 鈥渘ice-to-have鈥: winning a Queen鈥檚 Award for Enterprise adds real and long-lasting value to your business and would give you a competitive advantage just when you need it most.鈥
Contact the Lieutenancy Office for information and tips about the application process and eligibility criteria at Lieutenancyoffice@leics.gov.uk or
