THE Queen turns 90 today (Thursday, April 21) - and she's given birthday presents to some businesses in the Taunton Deane area.

*LEW Techniques and Somerdale International Ltd have both won the The Queen's Award for International Trade after recording extraordinary growth.

LEW Techniques, of Cook Way, Taunton, which manufacturers precision miniature packaging components for mounting specialist semi conductor devices has been going for 50 years and employs 48 staff.

Its overseas sales growth has risen by 60 per cent over the last three years and the proportion of sales going abroad have increased to 66 per cent.

*Somerdale International, based at West Park 26, in Chelston, Wellington, exports perishable food products, mainly dairy.

A total of 94 per cent of its £28.2million turnover is generated from exports and its  in overseas earnings has shot up 73 per cent over the past six years.

Chairman Nairn Glen said: “The award is testament to the experience and expertise we have accumulated in more than 25 years of exporting to all parts of the globe; the skill and dedication of our staff; and the excellence of our partner suppliers who produce some of the very best British cheeses and dairy products.”  
Director and co-founder Stephen Jones said: "We have a strong and growing base of international customers and now supply many of the leading speciality cheese retailers, as well as mainstream distributors, across the world.
"This growth reflects our ability to offer our international customers convenient access to some of the very best British cheeses made by cheesemakers who care passionately about producing cheeses of the highest quality, consistency and taste.”

Somerset County Gazette:

Ernie Waldron and Stephen Jones.

Fellow director and co-founder Ernie Waldron said: “We have built a track record of providing an efficient, flexible and responsive service which we believe is cost effective, consistent and most importantly trusted."

*AN armoured safe haven designed to protect against a terrorist attack has won a company set up by a one-time student in Wellington and Taunton the Queen's Award for Enterprise.
Mike Samways, who used to attend Wellington School and Taunton's Richard Huish College and is a former Royal Navy mine clearance diving officer, wins the accolade for innovation in his firm, Crewshield Ltd.

Somerset County Gazette:

Mike Samways.

And there has a big family celebration as his Taunton-based father is a company director and his mother is company secretary.
Outwardly, the company's Citadel product is indistinguishable from an ordinary shipping container, but inside it offers safety for up to 25 people for 96 hours, with air conditioning, lighting, sanitation and communications systems.
Initially, the containerised units were designed to be a safe haven for the crews of merchant vessels to retreat into when threatened by pirate attacks, but Crewshield now provides safe havens to private companies, governments and the United Nations, with key export markets including the Middle East and North Africa.
Mr Samways said: “It still surprises me occasionally that an idea that I formed whilst acting as a boarding officer in HMS Cardiff could now be deployed in over 20 countries.
“Unfortunately, we live in a world subject to seemingly endless geo-political upheaval with the tragically inevitable consequence of recurring and unexpected violent flashpoints. Many individuals - civilians, police or military personnel - find themselves living and operating in hostile conditions, liable to attack and kidnap.
“It was to address this ever-changing and increasingly widespread scenario that we developed the Crewshield Citadel and take enormous pride in knowing for a fact that it has helped to save lives both at sea and on land.”