Lord Lieutenant presents two Queen’s Awards to Markes International Ltd

Markes International Ltd, Llantrisant-based manufacturer of world-leading scientific laboratory instrumentation for detecting very small amounts of chemicals, has officially received its two Queen’s Awards for Enterprise today. Markes is one of only of 10 Welsh companies to receive an award and one of only 6 British companies to be recognised in two categories.

The Awards were presented by the Lord Lieutenant of Mid Glamorgan, Professor Peter Vaughan, QPM, CStJ, DL, who said: “I was absolutely delighted to present the Awards on behalf of Her Majesty The Queen. It truly is a pleasure to see such an innovative, hard-working and successful company be given the acknowledgement they deserve.”

Markes received the prestigious awards in the ‘Innovation’ and ‘International Trade’ categories, on the back of the ground-breaking valving technology used in its instruments, as well its continued achievement in growing overseas sales. The pair of awards follow on from success in 2015,when similar business growth led to a Queen’s Award for International Trade.

The switch-valve, that is the subject of the Innovation award, was developed and patented by the company in the late 1990s, and is used to regulate flows of gas into and out of a precision-engineered ‘focusing trap’, with the ultimate aim of collecting, concentrating and identifying the volatile chemicals present.

The combined operation of the valve and trap allows tiny amounts of chemicals (as low as parts per billion) to be detected routinely, making Markes’ instruments applicable to a wide range of situations. These include forensics and security applications, the monitoring of breath for disease diagnosis, analysis of food and perfume aromas, and testing for toxins in everyday materials and the environment.

The Llantrisant workforce went to the presentation ceremony, which was held at the nearby Hensol Castle. Markes’ Managing Director, Tim Hawkins, said: “Winning these two awards simply couldn’t have been achieved without the dedication and hard work of all our employees, so we wanted to be sure as many as possible were part of the formal presentation.”

Alun Cole, Founding Director of Markes International, added: “We have always been, and continue to be, an innovative company, and are therefore very proud to have received these Queen’s Awards. They stand as testament to our excellence in analytical chemistry – both in our technical innovation, as well as our success in satisfying our customers globally.”

The company was invited to a reception at Buckingham Palace in June, where Tim Hawkins, Pamela Simpson (Head of Business Operations), Gareth Roberts (Business Development Manager) and Lesley Hollinshead (Customer Service Co-ordinator) were received by HRH the Prince of Wales.

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Photo L-R: Pamela Simpson (Head of Business Operations), Alun Cole (Founding Director), Tim Hawkins (Managing Director), Ld. Lt. Prof. Peter Vaughan, Elizabeth Woolfenden (Founding Director), Andy Hardwick (Commercial Director).

Photo credit: Richard Bosworth