TWO Warrington companies have been handed awards by the Queen.

Xrail Group and Alertacall, which are based in Birchwood and Warrington town centre respectively, have won prestigious Queen’s Awards for Enterprise.

The former, an engineering solutions provider, was recommended for the prize by Prime Minister Boris Johnson in recognition of its ‘outstanding short-term growth and commercial success in international trade’ over the past three years.

During that time, overseas sales have been boosted by 2,281 per cent while the proportion of sales exported increased from nine per cent to 73 per cent of the business’ total sales.

Founder and chief executive Munir Patel, who will now attend a reception at Buckingham Palace hosted by the Prince of Wales this summer, said: "We are absolutely thrilled and honoured to receive such a prestigious endorsement for our significant business growth in international markets.

"The last two years have been exceptionally challenging for all businesses as we negotiate these unprecedented times.

"Despite this Xrail Group has demonstrated and proved our capabilities overseas, commitment to bridging the skills gap and this is testament to the expertise and efforts of our 220-strong team who should be extremely proud of their contribution to our achievement.

"Going forward we will continue to strive to improve transport solutions and passenger experience both overseas and in the UK by delivering safe, high-quality, cost-effective and efficient infrastructure solutions."

Warrington Guardian:

Meanwhile, Alertacall was honoured after its technology was used to help tens of thousands of older people to retain their independence.

Its ‘pioneering’ service was created by James Batchelor in 2004 in order to keep his 86-year-old grandma safe by allowing her to easily confirm her safety each day via a phone call to a specially-trained staff member.

He said: “Alertacall was inspired by a desire to help my grandmother be as independent as she wanted to be while balancing that with our need as a family to ensure she was safe.

“It’s a joy to see those ideas I created for her go on to help thousands of other people, and now for our team to have been honoured with the most prestigious award any business could wish to receive – the Queen’s Award for Enterprise.

“Receiving this is the icing on the cake.

Warrington Guardian:

James and long-time Alertacall supporter Esther Rantzen

“What’s particularly great about the Queen’s Award is that there is a rigorous evaluation process.

“We’ve answered hundreds of questions and follow-up questions and the assessment panel has done lots of its own research on us.

“It really is a proper award for doing something great.

“Thank you to all our amazing team members, all our private customers and all the housing providers that use our services because we couldn’t have done this without you.”