Two North East winners in 2006 Queen's Awards for International Trade

Queen's Award for International Trade The North East continues to demonstrate its fine recent form in the nation’s most prestigious export achievement awards, winning two out of Scotland’s four awards for 2006.

Both are Aberdeen-based first time winners. The global shipping and energy services Craig Group, which is on track to turn over in excess of £100 million this year, has seen its overseas earnings more than double in the last three years, a remarkable feat which has been equalled by scrap metal reprocessor and steel trader John Lawrie Group.

The Craig Group now operates in 12 overseas locations, with its international business now accounting for about 40% of turnover. The company had the highest possible motivation to apply for the award, having been encouraged to submit an application by no less a personage than HRH Prince Andrew during a royal visit last year.

Thinking local, acting globally

The Craig Group operates in the areas of emergency response, rescue, platform support and multi-purpose RIV vessels, rental and sale of mooring equipment and subsea electronics, chain inspection and certification, oilfield procurement, offshore and onshore catering, sea fishing and leisure.

“We are proud and delighted to have won this award - it is a fitting reward to all our staff who work so hard to ensure our success internationally,” commented a delighted Douglas Craig, managing director of the Craig Group.

“Using our North Sea expertise and experience, we have made concerted and vigorous efforts to break into new markets. I firmly believe that the Craig Group’s strategy of thinking global, yet acting local, which is consistently applied across our locations, has been pivotal in our success overseas.”

In its submission, the Craig Group had to demonstrate significant growth in overseas sales, outline its internationalisation strategy and its implementation as well as providing examples of how the group works “on the ground” in different geographical locations.

The award will be presented to The Craig Group later in the year by the Lord Provost at a ceremony in Aberdeen.

First-time winner

John Lawrie, which employs around 100 staff at locations across Scotland, in the West Midlands and in Houston, USA, has seen exports rise to around 80% of turnover, primarily in new and reusable tubular steel products.

It counts Spain, Portugal, France, USA, Italy and Sweden among its main markets, and in the last twelve months has added UAE, Canada and China to an already impressive list.

The success was all the sweeter since this was the first time John Lawrie had made a submission for a Queen’s Award. “For the last few years, we have been well aware how of how significant our overseas business has become, but putting it down in black and white for the submission really brought it home to us,” admits finance director Charlie Parker.

John Lawrie has seen significant growth in its levels and volumes of trade both in the UK and overseas, and anticipates turnover reaching around £60 million this year. As a first-time Queen’s Award winner, the immediate effect of the announcement was a tangible excitement among the staff.

“Because this is such a prestigious award, you could see everyone in the company got a genuine buzz out of the news. This award acknowledges the hard work put in by everyone over the years,” – observes Charlie Parker.

“We’ve also had lots of early congratulations from customers at home and overseas. We are now all working hard to build upon this success.”

To find out more about the Queen’s Awards, click here.

To visit the Craig Group website, click here

To visit the John Lawrie Group website, click here