We are delighted to announce that we have been awarded the Queen's Award for Enterprise in the International Trade category.
The Queen's Awards are the most prestigious awards to be given to UK businesses. They celebrate business excellence in a several fields including innovation, international trade, sustainable development and promoting opportunity through social mobility. All winners of the awards are personally approved by Her Majesty The Queen.
Sport:80 was bestowed the award in the ‘International Trade’ category which recognises the company’s impressive growth overseas over the last three years, particularly in the United States of America.
Our CEO, Gary Hargraves, described his immense pride upon hearing Sport:80 was officially announced as a Queen's Award winner:
“Winning the Queen's Award with Sport:80 has been a long-standing ambition and I couldn’t be prouder that the company has been recognised as part of these prestigious awards. It’s an honour that is bestowed purely on merit, and for everyone at Sport:80 it validates the incredible amount of hard work that has gone into getting the company to where it is today.”
While the Queen's Award recognises the company’s growth in internationally, Gary explains that there are many people, domestically and overseas, that have played an important role in Sport:80’s success:
“It’s important to recognise the many people and organisations that have supported us on this journey. We shouldn’t forget Archery GB, British Fencing, Table Tennis England and many others that showed faith in our vision as we established a foothold in the UK. Similarly, USA Shooting, USA Archery and USA Weightlifting really bought into Sport:80 in the early days of our move into the United States, and more recently USA Track & Field and USA Water Polo. The support of each and every organisation we work with has propelled us along and I will make sure to personally thank them all.”
Gary also celebrated and recognised the efforts of the entire Sport:80 Team:
“We have a wonderful group of dedicated and talented people at Sport:80, and without them none of this would be possible. I know they share my pride and excitement in winning the Queen's Award. I’m confident this achievement will be a driver for us all to accomplish great things going forward.”
We will be presented with the Queen's Award at our office in Kelham Island, Sheffield, by Her Majesty’s Lord-Lieutenant of the County. The honour will be formalised by a Grant of Appointment and symbolised by the presentation of a trophy.
We will also be invited to a reception at Buckingham Palace hosted by HRH The Prince of Wales to celebrate all this years’ winners. To top it off, we will also be able to use the Queen's Award emblem as a celebration of this outstanding achievement.
Everyone at Sport:80 is incredibly proud having been announced as a winner of the Queen's Award. To echo the sentiments of our CEO, we would like to take the opportunity to thank everyone that has supported the business on this incredible journey. We are all very excited for what the future holds for Sport:80.
If you would like to find out more about this award, our work, or anything Sport:80 related, please get in touch.