Ormiston Wire attend Buckingham Palace Reception for Winners of the Queen's Award for Industry

The reception at Buckingham Palace on February 17th was attended by the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh and last years winners of the Queen's Award for Enterprise - amongst whom were Isleworth firm Ormiston Wire.

Managing Director Mark Ormiston was at the dinner, along with General Manager Mrs Puri, and Production Foreman Mr Martinez, and said it was a once in a lifetime experience.

He told the Times: We had a nice dinner, and I had a couple of gin and tonics. When I met the Queen and the Duke I told them we were a family business like them, and the Queen smiled nicely.

"I think we are the oldest family business in Hounslow and we have many links with the community. Our oldest employee is 95-years-old."

Mr Ormiston explained his company produced specialist wires for a huge range of unusual clients. They supplied the strings that held up the puppets in popular 60s TV shows like Thunderbirds, Joe 90, and Captain Scarlet. More recently, movie makers used Ormiston wires to hold up the actors on the 'Harry Potter' films, magically making them appear to be flying.

The company also provides medical wires for specialist surgical operations, and has recently worked with the European Space Agency on their Beagle 2 project to send an unmanned spaceship to Mars next year.

He joked: "So now we can say that we deal not just this planet but others".

Ormiston received their award in the sustainable development category, for their commitment to recycling and the environment.

Alan Johnson, Minister of State for Employment Relations, Industry and the Regions, who was at the dinner last week, congratulated all the winners, adding: "I am conscious of the immense effort and dedication involved in achieving the sustained business success required to put a company in the running for this tremendous accolade. Whether resulting from impressive growth in earnings from overseas trade, turning bright ideas into popular products, or a healthy business performance based on sustainable development, they all represent excellence.

Full article appeared in the BCT/HFT Times, 21st February 2003.
Web site: www.rttimes.co.uk

For more information about the Queen's Awards for Enterprise go to: www.queensawards.org.uk