Lady Philippa Dannatt was accompanied by Deputy Lieutenant Melinda Raker and both were welcomed to Agrimech, on the borders of Norfolk and Cambridgeshire, by co-founders Belinda and Darren Smith who launched the business 14 years ago and have watched it grow and expand into international markets.
“It is an honour both to receive the Queen’s Award for Enterprise and to host the Lord-Lieutenant and Deputy Lieutenant to show them what we do, and how we have built-up the business to become the success story it is today,” said Belinda.
“We pride ourselves on our customer service and it has been lovely that the whole team has been able to be part of such a special visit. It is a way of celebrating their hard work and dedication as it is very much a team effort and it’s been a day we won’t forget.”
Lady Dannatt and Mrs Raker were introduced to the Agrimech team, and had a tour of the site with Mr and Mrs Smith before the official presentation of the unique crystal bowl given to Queen's award recipients.
Both guests were very interested in the innovative machinery created by Agrimech for bagging and weighing crops. Lady Dannatt is a member of the Gurney family who farm in north Norfolk and Mrs Raker’s family farm at Croxton, near Thetford.
Guests from across the agricultural industry were also invited to the event and joined the Agrimech team for the official presentation.
“The award was made during the reign of the late Queen Elizabeth and it is in her name I present the award to you today,” said Lady Dannatt.
“We do warmly congratulate you on your incredible achievement. I have just been blown away by everything I have seen, everyone I have met, the team I have met and Darren and Belinda who have achieved so much in such a short space of time.
“I can genuinely say I have seldom been so moved by an award as I have been by making yours today, and I do congratulate you from the bottom of my heart and on behalf of Norfolk,” added the Lord Lieutenant.
Agrimech was awarded the Queen’s Award for Enterprise last year, and Belinda met the then future King Charles at a special reception at Buckingham Palace held for recipients of an award in August.
The company has established itself as a market leader in machinery for the agricultural industry with an after-sales service system second to none. It designs, manufactures and services specialist equipment for bagging and weighing within the sector and its trademark is registered in 28 countries across Europe.
Agrimech has also made a name for itself in North America and overseas sales continue to grow internationally - a market it only went into in 2018.
“At the start of our exporting journey, we were confident that our established products would generate interest from international markets and it has proved to be the case,” said Mr Smith.
In 2022, the total number of award winners in the UK was 226 and almost 90 per cent were small or medium enterprises with the majority of winning companies having less than 250 employees.
