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Carradice of Nelson has won a Queen’s Award for Enterprise, the UK’s highest accolade for business success. The 85-year old company received the award for International Trade. This was in recognition of increasing export sales year on year by 67 percent for the last 3 years.
Carradice is a family-owned business that has been designing and manufacturing bicycle bags since 1929. The Lancashire company grew from a back-bedroom where Wilf Carradice made his first bags in the late 1920s. The company is now run by managing director David Chadwick and his wife, Janet. The company exports to 30 different countries and these contribute 30 percent to total sales.
Chadwick said: "I am very proud that Carradice has been recognised for its achievements in international trade. My thanks and congratulations extend to all the hard-working and committed people who have worked for and with Carradice over the years. We have demonstrated that even with a relatively small niche brand like ours there are lucrative overseas markets to be tapped into and, if we can do it, so can other enterprising small brands."
Around 160 Queen’s Awards have been announced this year for outstanding business achievement in the fields of international trade, innovation and sustainable development. Winners of The Queen’s Awards are invited to attend a special reception at Buckingham Palace. The awards are made annually by the Queen.
The Carradice citation says:
"A manufacturer of hand crafted quality cycle luggage, Carradice of Nelson Ltd has been trading since 1929. It wins the Queen’s Award for International Trade having grown its overseas earnings by 62% over the last three years, entered ten new markets and diversified into new market segments, producing ranges for other lifestyle brands. Carradice of Nelson generates contacts through wide participation at overseas trade shows, marketing itself as a premium price, high quality, hand-crafted British-made brand. The company has broadened its market base, targeting and generating sales into growth markets including the Philippines and China."
