• Established in 1965, the Queen’s Awards for Enterprise celebrates the UK’s small and medium sized businesses
• This year’s winners include the first group for the Promoting Opportunity category
• Research shows nearly 75% of past winners attribute the Queen’s Awards to increased international sales
• Entries are open as of today for the 2018 awards

Business Secretary Greg Clark today named the winners of the Queen’s Awards for Enterprise in celebration of Her Majesty The Queen’s 91st birthday.

This included six businesses from across Wales who have been recognised for their contribution to sustainable development, international trade and innovation.

Winners include businesses leading the way in a broad range of industries – from a remote water leak monitoring system, and an apprenticeship scheme in the construction industry, to development and manufacture of environmental packaging systems, and a sea salt manufacturer.

Now in its 51st year, the Queen’s Awards for Enterprise are one of the most prestigious business awards in the country, with winning businesses able to use the esteemed Queen’s Awards emblem for the next five years.

Winning businesses in Wales are:

Sustainable development award winners:

• The Anglesey Sea Salt Company Ltd T/A Halen Mon, Llanfairpwll

Innovation award winners:

• HMW-Water Ltd, Cwmbran
• Siltbuster Ltd, Monmouth
• Cyfle Building Skills Ltd (SWWRSAL), Ammanford.

International trade award winners

• Green Light International Ltd, Cardiff
• SPTS Technologies Group Ltd, Newport

Secretary of State for Wales Alun Cairns said:

The Queen’s Awards highlight the best of British business – rewarding their strong entrepreneurial streak, their ambitions to succeed at home and overseas and the crucial contribution they make to our economy.

From Anglesey to Monmouth, the Welsh companies awarded today are beacons of success, demonstrating that every corner of Wales is open for business.

They can all be rightly proud of their achievements. I hope their successes will become the inspiration for other Welsh businesses to strive for this prestigious award in the future.

Business Secretary Greg Clark said:

The Queen’s Awards for enterprise highlights everything that’s great about UK business today.

We have some of the best entrepreneurs and innovative minds in the world who are at the heart of small start-ups providing excellent customer service to larger businesses developing global solutions. Over one million new businesses have been created since 2010, all playing a vital role in creating jobs and driving growth across the UK.

I’m extremely proud to see such a wealth of businesses across Wales being recognised today. Through our Industrial Strategy we will be building on the successes of these award winning businesses, helping to build a stronger, more outward looking and prosperous global Britain.

According to research by the University of Strathclyde, 73% of International Trade winners between 2012 – 2015 directly attributed increased international sales to winning a Queen’s Award for Enterprise

Entry to the 2018 Awards opens on 21 April 2017 and closes on Friday 1 September 2017.

Notes to editors

1. Winners of the Queen’s Awards for Enterprise are visited by a Royal representative and are presented with a commemorative trophy as a mark of their achievement. They are also invited to attend a reception at Buckingham Palace in July 2017.
2. Businesses are also able to use the Queen’s Awards emblem in advertising, marketing and on packaging for five years.
3. See the full press book of winners, including descriptions and contact details of the 176 winners of the Queen’s Awards for Enterprise in all four categories.
4. Firms that won a Queen’s Award for international trade demonstrated substantial international growth in overseas earnings and commercial success within their sector.
5. Awards for innovation are given to businesses that can demonstrate that their innovative products or services are commercially successful.
6. Sustainable development winners have to show they are involved in activity that ensures a better quality of life for everyone, now and in the future.
7. The Queen’s Award for Promoting Opportunity winners have had a social mobility programme running for more than two years giving equal support and progression to all employees.

Business Secretary Greg Clark today (21 April) named the winners of the Queen’s Awards for Enterprise in celebration of Her Majesty The Queen’s 91st birthday.

One hundred and seventy-six businesses from across the UK have been recognised for their contribution to international trade, innovation, sustainable development and promoting opportunity.

This year’s winners include UK businesses leading the way in a broad range of industries – from green energy solutions and medical healthcare, to laser technology and digital marketing.

Now in its 51st year, the Queen’s Awards for Enterprise are one of the most prestigious business awards in the country, with winning businesses able to use the esteemed Queen’s Awards emblem for the next 5 years.

Successful businesses included:

• 11 winners of the sustainable business award
• 57 winners of the innovation award
• 102 winners for the international trade award
• 6 winners for the promoting opportunity award

Business Secretary Greg Clark said:

The Queen’s Awards for Enterprise highlights everything that’s great about UK business today.

We have some of the best entrepreneurs and innovative minds in the world who are at the heart of small start-ups providing excellent customer service to larger businesses developing global solutions. Over 1 million new businesses have been created since 2010, all playing a vital role in creating jobs and driving growth across the UK.

I’m extremely proud to see such a wealth of businesses being recognised today. Through our Industrial Strategy we will be building on the successes of these award winning businesses, helping to build a stronger, more outward looking and prosperous global Britain.

Five small and medium sized companies – MastaPlasta Limited, Servecorp Limited, EcoTile Flooring Ltd, 10ACT Ltd t/a TrackBack, and Oakland International Ltd – received awards for both International Trade and Innovation, with Oakland International Ltd getting the double for International Trade and Sustainable Development.

Six businesses have also been named winners of the new Promoting Opportunity category. This new area was introduced to recognise the important work of social mobility initiatives and programmes that specifically reach out and support people from disadvantaged backgrounds. Winners include Allen & Overy LLP, its Smart Start programme has supported over 770 young people in gaining high quality work experience and Procurement Plus Holdings Ltd which has helped 354 people into employment.

According to research by the University of Strathclyde, 73% of International Trade winners between 2012 and 2015 directly attributed increased international sales to winning a Queen’s Award for Enterprise.

Entry to the 2018 Awards opens on 21 April 2017 and closes on Friday 1 September 2017. To apply and for more information, go to: www.gov.uk/queens-awards-for-enterprise.

Dangerous extremists will be separated from the mainstream prison population and placed into specialist centres, under new rules published today (21 April 2017) by Prisons Minister Sam Gyimah.

Three separation centres are being created and will form part of the wider government strategy to tackle extremism in prisons, holding up to 28 of the most subversive offenders, preventing their influence over others.

An amendment to prison rules laid before Parliament today means prisoners can be placed in a separation centre if they are involved in planning terrorism or are considered to pose a risk to national security.

Those who are spreading views that might encourage or influence others to commit terrorism crimes, or anyone whose views are being used in a way which undermines good order and security in prisons, may also be placed in one of the centres.

The first centre will be up and running at HMP Frankland in the coming weeks, with 2 further units to follow at other establishments.

Prisons Minister Sam Gyimah said:

Any form of extremism must be defeated wherever it is found, and it is right that we separate those who pose the greatest risk in order to limit their influence over other prisoners.

These centres are a crucial part of our wider strategy to help tackle extremism in prisons and ensure the safety and security of both our prisons and the wider public.

A prisoner will be considered for one of the centres if their behaviour behind bars meets one of the criteria included in the new prison rule and the level of risk they present can only be managed through separation.

Once in a centre, they will be reviewed by experts every 3 months and will only be returned to the mainstream prison population if it is considered that the risk they present has reduced to a level that can be effectively managed there.

The introduction of the centres was one of the principal recommendations of a government-commissioned independent review into extremism in prisons. The vast majority of the recommendations are being implemented.

The government takes the threat of radicalisation and extremism in prisons extremely seriously and has built on the recommendations in the review to further boost efforts to tackle extremism.

The centres form part of the wider strategy to tackle extremism, which includes:

• The formation of a new directorate for Security, Order and Counter-Terrorism – responsible for monitoring and dealing with the evolving threat of extremism.
• A launch of a new unit that will analyse intelligence and advise prisons in England and Wales on how to deal with specific threats, as well as instruct and train prison and probation staff on how best to deter offenders from being lured into extremism.
• Extremist literature being banned from prisons and the removal of anyone from communal worship who is promoting dangerous views.
• A new training package to identify, report and combat extremism being rolled out to all prison officers and new pre-employment vetting check for chaplains and imams being introduced from February 2017.

Notes to Editors

• The government announced in August its response to a report into extremism in prisons plans ‘to create specialist units within the high security estate to allow greater separation and specialised management of extremists who pose the highest risk to other prisoners’.
• In November the Ministry of Justice published the ‘Prison Safety and Reform White Paper’ setting out the steps it is taking to make prisons a place of safety and reform. The white paper explained that ‘extremism is a danger to society and a threat to public safety’.
• For more information, contact the Ministry of Justice Press Office on 0203 334 3536.

Thank you Madam President, and thank you Nikolay very much for your briefing.

As you have set out, peace for many people in the Middle East remains a remote prospect and a distant memory.

Two weeks ago, we saw a horrific chemical weapons attack on Khan Shaykhun in Syria. Environmental samples from the site have tested positive for sarin. We are now almost certain that the Syrian regime carried out the attack using sarin. The Director-General of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) yesterday confirmed that their incontrovertible evidence indicates exposure of victims to sarin or a sarin-like substance.

The UK Government supported the US action in response and we hope it will deter any further barbaric chemical weapons attacks. But, when the moment came for this Council to show leadership after the attack, we failed. We were stopped by one Council member; who would rather prop up Asad than seek justice for the victims. We will not be deterred by Russia’s veto. We will continue to press in this Chamber for accountability. The international community owes it to the people of Syria.

Any attempt to tie the hands of the investigators will be defeated, just as the Iranian-Russia proposal at the OPCW today was defeated.

As you said, Madam President, we must remember the interplay among the various conflicts in the Middle East region. And for a start, we must not let up in our efforts to defeat Daesh in Iraq, in Syria, elsewhere. The United Kingdom supports Prime Minister al-Abadi and his Government in their fight against Daesh, and in their efforts to build a stable, secure, and unified Iraq.

Madam President,

Iran continues to play a destabilising role in the region. This is most clearly seen in Syria. Iran has violated its obligations under international humanitarian law in Syria failing to allow the delivery of humanitarian aid into Eastern Aleppo, as it was besieged. Iran continues to provide substantial military and substantial financial support to Hizballah and to the Syrian regime. As the Secretary-General’s last report makes clear, the leader of Hizballah stated that Iran supplies all their weapons and missiles.

Senior Iranian individuals listed under this Security Council’s resolution 2231 continued to flout the travel ban imposed by this Council. For instance, Major General Soleimani was pictured in Aleppo in September in a show of support to the Syrian regime. These actions demonstrate that Iran chooses to complicate, not extinguish, a conflict that has continued for far too long.

Madam President,

This year marks fifty years since the Six Day War. This year either we move towards peace, with the strong support of the region and the international community, or we face an uncertain and dangerous future. Unless the parties show leadership, including the willingness to make tough compromises, the risk of terrorism and instability will increase. Israelis and Palestinians cannot afford another fifty years of that.

The UK’s longstanding position on the Middle East Peace Process is clear: we support a negotiated two-state solution leading to a safe and secure Israel living alongside a viable and sovereign Palestinian state; based on 1967 borders with agreed land swaps, Jerusalem as the shared capital of both states, and a just, agreed and realistic settlement for refugees.

However that vision grows distant. As the British Foreign Secretary said last month the UK strongly condemns Israel’s decision to found a new settlement deep in the West Bank; the first such decision for over 25 years. Such announcements are contrary to international law and seriously undermine the prospects of two states for two peoples. As a strong friend of Israel, and one prepared to stand up for Israel when it faces bias and unreasonable criticism, the UK urges Israel not to take steps, which move us away from our shared goal of peace and security.

It was because of our support for the two-state solution, and commitment to Israel as the Jewish homeland, that we voted for resolution 2334. But we recognise the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians is deeply complex, settlements are not the only obstacle to peace. The people of Israel deserve to live free from the scourge of terrorism and anti-Semitic incitement, which as the Quartet report sets out, undermine the prospects for a two-state solution.

It is critical that the Palestinian leadership implement the recommendations of the Quartet Report and continue their efforts to tackle terror and incitement, strengthen institutions, and develop a sustainable economy.

We must continue to press Israelis and Palestinians to refrain from actions which make peace more difficult. It’s because the conflict between Israel and Palestine is one of the central issues in the Middle East that the UK supports a regional approach to peace. The changing regional context, the Arab Peace Initiative, and converging Arab and Israeli interests do present an opening.

We recognise that impetus is needed and we welcome President Trump’s interest in working for a deal that meets the requirements of both parties. The UK’s view remains that the two-state solution is the best way to achieve this and is ready to do all that we can to support this.

We do not underestimate the challenges, but if both parties show leadership, peace is possible.

Thank you.