The King’s Award for Enterprise
The award name has now been changed following the death of Her late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II in September 2022.
Instituted by Royal Warrant in 1965, the King’s Awards to Industry scheme was recommended by a committee chaired by HRH The Duke of Edinburgh, and the first Awards were made in 1966. Following a review in 1999, led by the then HRH The Prince of Wales, the scheme became the Queen's Awards for Enterprise, creating three of the four categories that still exist today: Innovation, International Trade, and Sustainable Development. A new category, Promoting Opportunity (through social mobility) was introduced in 2016 and the first winners were announced in 2017. A Royal Reception at Buckingham Palace is hosted by HRH The Prince of Wales.
The aim of the awards is to promote business excellence and drive growth. Nearly 7000 companies have won a Queen’s Award so far. JCB, a construction equipment manufacturer, has won 30 Queen’s Awards between 1966 and 2016, making it the company that has won the most Queen’s Awards.
Oxfordshire winners of the KAE in 2023:
For innovation:
Infoscience Technologies, Wallingford
For International Trade:
Oxford Scholastica Academy, Oxford;
Oxford PharmaGenesis, Tubney;
Archivist, Chipping Norton;
Penman Consulting, Grove