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Southampton
Science Park-based Fibercore Limited, the World's
leading developer and manufacturer of speciality
optical fibres, has been recognised with the honour
of a further two Queen's Awards for Enterprise in
the International Trade and Sustainable Development
categories. Fibercore Limited now has the rare
distinction of holding all three Queen's Awards
simultaneously, having been recognised in the
Innovation category in 2004. The company was also
granted a Queen's Awards for Enterprise:
International Trade in 2001.
Fibercore Limited
developed the first commercial polarisation
maintaining (PM) fibres for optical gyroscopes back
in 1983. Since then the company's R&D programme,
spanning three decades, has resulted in continuous
refinements and performance improvements leading to
highly specialised, cutting edge products for
customers in the defence, aerospace, medical and
telecoms industries. Fibercore Limited's fibres are
used in applications as diverse as commercial and
military aircraft, offshore oil platforms,
sub-marine vehicles, advanced satellite navigation
systems and high power amplifiers for the cable TV
and telecoms industries.
Fibercore Limited's
unchanged ethos of building strong and lasting
customer partnerships is key to the company's
success. Offering enhanced products and application
support at every stage of a customer's project from
the initial birth of an idea through to production
roll-out, Fibercore's technical support is available
to all specialty fibre users. The result of this
exceptional customer focus is a 90% share of the
global market for polarisation-maintaining fibres
for optical gyroscopes, with outstanding export
success selling 98% of its output to more than 40
countries worldwide including highly competitive
markets such as the USA.
Fibercore Limited has
also ensured that its business operations remain
sustainable by researching and implementing social,
economic and environmentally focused policies. These
include links with local schools and University of
Southampton, proactive transport policies, and
innovative solutions to reduce energy and water use
at Fibercore's manufacturing facility. As well as
the Queen's Award for Sustainable Development
awarded today, Fibercore has received IPPC and ISO
14001 accreditation as well as 'Flagship Facility'
status.
Phil Moody, who leads
Fibercore Limited's sustainability projects
commented: "We are delighted that Fibercore's
pioneering work has been recognised. We hope
Fibercore's example will encourage other SMEs to
focus on sustainable business practices in order to
enjoy both the environmental and the operational
improvements which Fibercore has realised."
Fibercore Limited's
Managing Director, Dr. Chris Emslie says that the
achievement of winning two Queen's Awards for
Enterprise is further recognition of the company's
continuous drive for excellence. "We are committed
to providing World Class products, technical support
and service to our customers, the majority of whom,
by the nature of their industries, are based outside
the UK. By drawing on our experience of three
decades in the sector we are able to achieve this,
while ensuring that we follow a highly sustainable
business methodology which will benefit Fibercore
and its stakeholders for many years to come. It is
particularly gratifying that we now hold Queen's
Awards in all three categories, simultaneously".
www.fibercore.com |
