S+B UK have won The Queens Award for Enterprise, International Trade 2022. To win this award it was necessary to show growth in export trade in three consecutive years and to demonstrate that this has been achieved through the implementation of a research-based strategy aimed at creating and realising new opportunities for UK goods and services in international markets.
Continued success
Building upon the excellent work that earned S+B the same award in 2016, S+B UK showed a strong ambition to continue exporting the high quality of British standards into the overseas markets, establishing a premium reputation for our products and services.
Research
Our research revealed an intense interest amongst International Schools, Universities, petrochemical industries, pharmaceutical research and Healthcare environments. Thus providing outstanding facilities, a strong desire to become global drivers of change, and a need for these institutions to convert this vision into world-class facilities.
Further investigation showed that International Schools in particular desired a new approach to learning spaces, and that there was a propensity to depart from traditional room layouts. This drove S+B UK to rethink the concept of school science laboratories in an attempt to enhance student learning and exploration, incite excitement, facilitate collaboration and provide better student engagement.
Product Development
This led to our design process and the investment into product development to create innovative science furniture systems, of high-quality materials and modern aesthetics, that constituted a unique selling point and gave us a competitive advantage over local vendors.
We have also demonstrated that creating state-of-the-art learning and research environments that focus on 21st-century designs and high-quality materials doesn’t have to mean compromising other essential factors such as lead times, logistics, professional and prompt technical support, or even the overall budget.
Partnerships
By establishing agents/distributors internationally and creating close partnerships with specialist third-party contractors, we have benefited from their knowledge and understanding of the local markets and their highly trained teams, delivering our projects on time, on budget, and to our uncompromised high-quality standards.
With our continuous commitment to an Improvement Programme and embracing new manufacturing technology and installation methods, we ensured that our customers overseas benefited from the same attention to detail, long-term durability, and ease of maintenance as our customers based in the UK.
Associations
Another pivotal factor in our growth in export trade was our partnership with well-renowned associations such as SEFA, COBIS, BSME, FOBISIA, CEESA as well as with prestigious international schools groups.
Working with these organisations and groups, which are globally recognised for their emphasis on premium education, provides a greatly appreciated recognition of S+B UK’s pursuit of excellence.