Why we decided to apply for a Queen’s Award for Enterprise
Since it was founded in Harrogate, UK in 2005, Techbuyer has rapidly grown to become an international specialist operation with 170 employees across three sites in Europe, two in the US and a further two sites in Asia Pacific. Multiple facilities across three continents enable us to provide around the clock sales support and fast delivery of IT products to over 100 countries.
Export has always been a core part of our business. We buy and sell from businesses, organisations, universities and schools across over 100 countries, and our purchasing stream has been international since the beginning. A contact at the Department for Trade and Industry suggested we might apply for an International Trade award, and so we put a Queen’s Award application together with crossed fingers.
What winning the award has meant for Techbuyer
Winning a Queen’s Award for International Trade has been a massive boost of morale for our team at a time when we cannot all be together. In particular, it is well earned recognition for our international team who have continuously worked hard to enter new markets, start new offices and warehouses, and build up global networks over the years. In our Award’s reaction video (below), we wanted to give the spotlight to our international managers, who really are integral to everything the company has achieved. The announcement also came just a few days before our company’s 15th anniversary, which in our books means we are due a big celebration once it is safe to host one!
How winning the award will benefited us
A Queen’s Award of Enterprise is said to open doors that weren’t previously there, provide worldwide recognition for businesses and help to generate new leads. In particular, this will aid our global presence and enable us to export to a range of locations and organisations. We are also excited to join the Queen’s Awards network and meet this year’s winners – 15 of whom are in Yorkshire!
Advice for future Queen’s Award applicants
We’d strongly recommend businesses to try their hand at a Queen’s Award application. Applying was a long but rewarding process which required input from departments across the business, and so one thing we would recommend is planning in advance who you will need to speak to for each part of the process, and what evidence you need to support this. Something we hadn’t realised before applying is that 90% of winners have been small or medium sized businesses, and so you do not have to be part of a large organisation to be recognised with this award. It has been an amazing experience so far and we are only a few weeks in!
More about us
Techbuyer is a global specialist in buying, refurbishing and selling enterprise data centre equipment. We have been helping businesses, universities and organisations to maximise their IT budgets for 15 years by providing a range of new and quality refurbished IT hardware including servers, hard drives, laptops and workstations. We are proud supporters of the Circular Economy, and our core business ensures quality technology is refurbished and reused wherever possible. Anything we cannot repair, which is minimal, is sent to a partner recycler so we are a zero to landfill solution. Visit our website here: https://www.techbuyer.com/
Hear more about our story in our video below:
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