Three companies in Cardiff Capital Region have won Queen’s Awards for Enterprise. The awards, which have been presented annually since 1966, recognise outstanding achievement in innovation, international trade, sustainable development and promoting opportunity.
The three were among eight in Wales and 220 around the UK to win awards this year.
SPTS Technologies was the only Welsh winner in the Innovation category. The Newport based firm is a previous Queen’s Award winner, having previously won an innovation award in 2018 and international trade awards in 2013 and 2017.
SPTS supplies advanced wafer processing equipment to the world’s leading semiconductor and microelectronic device manufacturers. This latest award has been given for the company’s development of a new method of dicing silicon wafers using plasma cutting techniques. This avoids damaging dies, and produces stronger, more reliable devices and a higher volume throughput than was possible before.
The firm is already winning around 50% market share with this new technology, and gaining new customers in new sectors.
Wales Interactive was one of four Welsh companies to win an international trade award. The Bridgend based firm, set up in 2012, is a multi-award winning developer and publisher of video games and interactive independent movies. Through partnerships with third party developers they have brought their games to PC, PlayStation and Xbox One, as well as download stores such as Steam, Nintendo Store and Windows Store.
Exports make up 94% of all sales and overseas sales have grown 503% over the last three years, with the principal markets being China, the USA, Germany, South Korea and Russia.
The company said in a statement:
“The Wales Interactive team are extremely honoured to have won a Queen’s Award 2020. It is a fantastic achievement for our studio and highlights all the hard work we have put in over the last few years. We are proud to be flying the flag for Wales internationally and delighted to be recognised for creating video games and interactive movie titles that entertain the world.”
The third business from the region to win an award was St Athan based Dresd, which won in the sustainable development category. The company reclaims and reuses film and TV sets, for example on BBC Atlantis, when it reduced waste to landfill by 96% and cutting clearance costs by 50%.
The company’s customers include Bafta, British Airways, Comic Relief, Stella McCartney and Vogue, and to date it has diverted more than 116,000 tonnes of material from landfill.
Founding director Lynn McFarlane spent months studying the film and TV industry, on top of her years of experience in event builds, to develop her ideas for bringing more sustainable practices to the sector.
Working with major producers such as NBC Universal and Sony Pictures, along with outfits, Dresd proved changes could be made to the way productions are planned and wrapped up. The company has gone on to work with hundreds of designers and set builders, setting up the first film and TV salvage centre of its kind, where it keeps a large bank of sets and stock for reuse and hire.
Lynn McFarlane said:
“We are proud to have been recognised for our unique contribution to the film/TV and event industry, that demonstrates a new innovative direction for sustainability for the future of the creative industries.”
