Smiths Business Unit wins 2005 Queens Award for Enterprise

Smiths Group announced today that Performance Plus, a business unit of John Crane, part of its Specialty Engineering Division, has received a 2005 Queen's Award for achievements in international trade.

The Queen's Award for Enterprise, which is the highest honour that can be bestowed on a UK company, recognises the achievements of Performance Plus in more than doubling its export sales to Europe, Africa and Asia Pacific despite operating in a mature European market. Performance Plus provides consultancy and reliability services for the oil and gas industry, with a particular emphasis on the areas of performance improvement and supply chain management.

"We are delighted and honoured that our efforts have been recognised with such a prestigious award," commented Keith Butler-Wheelhouse, chief executive of Smiths Group. "It highlights the important contribution that Smiths Specialty Engineering makes to the success of the Group."

John Langston, group managing director of Smiths€ Specialty Engineering division, said: "Since Performance Plus was established in 2000, we have developed strong partnerships with a number of global oil and gas producers to provide them with significant improvements in asset performance at reduced costs. Performance Plus has created genuinely innovative financial models under which we are only rewarded after we meet stringent targets for the performance improvements we generate on behalf of our customers."

A Winners Celebration ceremony will take place in Westminster on April 22, and there will be a reception at Buckingham Palace in July.

The Queen's Awards for Enterprise are presented every year to UK businesses who have demonstrated outstanding achievement in one of three categories; international trade, sustainable development and innovation. The awards are given on the recommendation of the Prime Minister, who is assisted by an Advisory Committee that includes representatives of Government, industry and commerce, and the trade unions.

ENDS