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https://kingsawards.blog.gov.uk/tomcat-trikes/

Tomcat Trikes

Tomcat Queen's Award presentation

Transcript

[Caption: Tomcat - Special Kit for Special Kids.]

[Sound of a bicycle bell.]

[Caption: Presentation for the Queen's Award for Enterprise in Innovation.]

[Description: Footage of the awards presentation and children riding the trikes.]

[Music]

Customer 1:

For me, one thing that sets Tomcat apart is their unique approach to customer service. They've made 5,000+ hand-built tricycles that come with life-time support and a 7 year additional guarantee. I don't think there is any other company that can make a similar offer.

Customer 2:

It was because of Tom that you became what you are. And through that you've helped out hundreds and hundreds of children.

Reading the Queen's Awards certificate at the presentation:

Given at our Court of Saint James, under our Royal Sign Manual this 21st day of April 2013 in the 62nd year of our reign. By the Sovereign's command.

Tomcat SNI Ltd - Case study

Transcript

[Caption: Tomcat won its very first Queen's Award for Innovation this year. Can you recall how you first heard about the Awards?]

Bob Griffin (Managing Director / Design Engineer at Tomcat SNI Ltd):

Well, I was at another award ceremony, a local paper event. And one of the speakers of that event was the managing director of a company that have won the Queen's Award many times - I think 13 times. And he spoke very inspirationally about the Queen's Award and the benefits they could bring to a company. So I thought that this was something that I would like to try, because of the benefits that it would bring to my own business.

[Caption: What was your main incentive behind taking the first step and filling out an entry form?]

It's very nice to win any accolade for things that you achieve. But I particularly wanted to win the Queen's Award for Innovation... because of what it would mean for my customers. Perhaps I ought to explain.

We custom build the the tricycles that we supply, and I believe that we're the only company in the world that do that as a matter of course. As a consequence, a lot of the customers that come our way are people that have not had success with ready-made products, and so they come to us as specialists. And there's no guarantee of success with what we do. So it's very difficult for parents to to commit themselves to a very high-cost item, with no guarantee of success. So I wanted the Queen's Award as a way of saying to them that you are in good hands, that we will do the very best that we can for you, and it will be the very best that that you can buy. So that was my motivation behind it.

[Caption: Did you find our blog, the guidance notes, or The Queen's Awards Office helpful when entering?]

Well I went through it very carefully obviously. There are quite a few questions that you have to fill in, and they were clear enough in themselves, but a lot of thought had to go into it. It didn't just cover the the innovation that we brought to the industry, although that was the main part of it, there was a lot of other things as well that were about the ethos and the ethics of the business. So all of these things have to be thought through very carefully, but in itself it was a it was a simple enough process. There were one or two things that we needed clarity on, so we rang the Queen's Award Office for that, and we had very clear advice on what to do.

[Caption: And how have things been for Tomcat since winning your Award for Innovation?]

Business has gone on as usual of course, but it has changed everybody's perception of Tomcat. We're not just a commercial business, along with all the other commercial businesses, it's now a very special business. And I think that's appreciated by everybody that now speaks to us. It has lifted the business's profile and respect in a variety of different communities. Not just our customers, but also our suppliers and distributors, both at home and abroad. It is recognised as being quite a remarkable achievement. And I think it's gone down well with everybody.

[Caption: How have you used your Award to generate interest or publicity for Tomcat?]

We've some difficulties with the website at the moment, which we're trying to change. So I would have made a lot more of it than we've been able to in the short-term. But in the long-term, I think it's going to be a very valuable selling tool, particularly abroad because Her Majesty the Queen is held in such high regard by everybody and worldwide. There's nobody that hasn't heard of Her Majesty the Queen. Certainly with our foreign distributors, it's a very potent selling tool. They can say that this product has that award to their customers. And you know, in the far-flung corners of the globe, it will be understood and respected.

[Caption: Have you had much chance to use The Queen's Awards emblem?]

Yeah. We use it all of our printed matter. We have it on the website. We use it on all of our show stand material. So anywhere that we can...

[Caption: What advice would you give to a company thinking of entering The queen's Awards for the very first time?]

Expect to have to put a little bit of hard work into it. It doesn't come without that. But the rewards are great. And if... you win the award it will do nothing but good for your company.