His Royal Highness the Duke of Kent has visited Bristol to see first-hand the operations of leading online supermarket British Corner Shop and to formally present the company with its Queen’s Award for Enterprise for International Trade.
The firm, which supplies British food brands via e-commerce platforms to consumers worldwide, received the Queen’s Award earlier this year in recognition of its outstanding export performance.
Turnover has soared 112% over the past three years alone at the company, based in Iron Acton, with overseas sales increasing 107% during the same period.
British Corner Shop now exports to 196 countries.
Following a tour of the company’s depot and meeting key members of British Corner Shop’s team The Duke of Kent presented British Corner Shop with its award and official Royal scroll signed by the Prime Minister.
Accompanying His Royal Highness was Dame Janet Trotter DBE, the Lord Lieutenant of Gloucestershire and the Queen’s official representative in the county.
She said: “The Queen’s Award for Enterprise is very much the Oscars of the UK business world and only awarded to those companies that demonstrate excellence throughout their operations.
“Candidates are put through the most vigorous of judging selection processes including scrutiny by both a UK and international panel to establish the business’s merit.
“British Corner Shop is officially one of those special companies who have won the award, an achievement of which you should be very proud.”
Dame Janet Trotter added: “The mark of an excellent business is its fantastic leadership and exceptionally hard-working staff, so well done to everyone who has played a part in British Corner Shop’s continuing success.”
From humble beginnings in the founder’s garage the company has enjoyed incredible growth in the past 10 years, culminating in a deal with Waitrose earlier this year to sell the high-end supermarket’s own brand food overseas, to 146 countries, cementing British Corner Shop’s status as the premier online food exporter.
British Corner Shop managing director Mark Callaghan said: ”We are all thrilled and excited to have received such great recognition for all the achievements we have made so far.
“The Queen’s Award itself and the emblem we are able to use when trading overseas carries huge kudos and has already had a significant impact on our trading performance.
“I would like to give special thanks to our hardworking, innovative and customer-focused staff who always go the extra mile and are instrumental in allowing us to deliver truly exceptional, British service which sets us apart from the competition.”
He added: “Looking to the future we believe we have barely scratched the surface of what can be achieved with this business and as a team we are developing and nurturing what we know will be a phenomenal British success story.”
Pictured: British Corner Shop managing director Mark Callaghan receives the Queen’s Award from the Duke of Kent. Photo: Florian Lehmann Photography
