We were delighted to hear that we had received a Queen's Award for Enterprise: Innovation earlier this year. It is fantastic to receive this recognition for our development of a system that provides intelligent control of ventilation and cooling using phase change materials.
How did we hear about the awards?
The Queen’s Awards are recognised and highly rated here in the UK and indeed worldwide. They provide customers with credible evidence of our commercial and technological edge. Having won prestigious awards for this product from CIBSE and Ashden, we were keen to submit an application for the Queen’s Award after a previous unsuccessful application a few years earlier.
We decided to submit an application this year because we felt that we had fulfilled the criteria of an innovative solution in Cool-phase that also benefits our customers. There can be a high cost to business of maintaining a comfortable working environment with regulated temperature and fresh air. With combined capital and running cost savings of on average 60% compared to air conditioning, the system is delivering significant efficiencies for businesses, as well as dramatically reducing their environmental footprint.
We also knew that we had strong commercial evidence of its success in the market for a sustained period of time and multiple case studies showing completed projects with data evidence of improved building performance and low energy costs.
How did it feel to win?
When we first received the winner’s notification email, as a team we were elated as this was an award that we really aspired to achieve. It was particularly gratifying to receive this award for Cool-phase, our innovative PCM based cooling and ventilation system. We have a high percentage of engineers in our work force and innovation is part of our DNA. This isn’t just about developing and launching new products, it’s also about looking at how we work in every area of our business. All our functions including marketing, installation, production and finance are always challenging the boundaries and looking for ways to improve and be innovative, so we definitely selected the right category to apply for.
We communicated the award announcement to our staff, suppliers and customers after the official communication came out on Her Majesty’s birthday in April. For our staff this was done through our regular Focus Friday meetings (on a Monday) which are an opportunity to meet and share best practice. We also created an email campaign for suppliers and customers and are continuing to spread the message during face to face meetings and Monodraught blogs and newsletters.
Personally, I am looking forward to receiving the award officially at our offices later this year so that our staff can be fully recognised. Nick Hopper, Technical Director and I attended a ceremony at Buckingham Palace in July and that was a very special occasion.
How will the award positively benefit Monodraught?
As a Management Team, we feel it really validates all the hard work and effort of our employees and all the effort they put into providing an innovative cradle to grave solution for our customers. Winning a Queen’s Award is wonderful for staff engagement by giving employees something to be proud of.
From a commercial perspective we feel that having the Queen’s Award and being able to use the emblem on our website and marketing materials gives us a competitive edge in terms of credibility and authenticity.
What advice would we give to companies who are considering submitting an application in 2019?
Our advice to companies who are considering applying for a Queen’s Award is to look into the potential categories and key criteria and use it as an opportunity to reflect on your business products and services as well as the journey your company is taking towards further growth or expansion.
If you are confident that you fulfil the criteria then definitely apply. Involve people from across your organisation to contribute to the process in order to make the application as rich in detail as possible. The deadline may seem a while off, but start working on your first draft promptly. This will mean that you can refine and polish the application and fill in any gaps before making the final submission!
We wish you every success with the award application process and look forward to hearing about 2019’s winners in due course.
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1 comment
Comment by TAP posted on
Monodraught fully deserves this award and the cooling and ventilation systems aren't the only innovative product on offer. They also manufacture Sunpipes - skylights in a tube, which can provide natural daylight to the darkest spaces in any buildings, including basements:- https://tradeaccesspanels.co.uk/mondraught-sunpipes