Environmental Street Furniture (ESF), which is based in Newtownabbey, Northern Ireland, has won one of the highest accolades for businesses, The Queen’s Award for Enterprise, for its outstanding short-term growth in overseas sales in the past three years.
Specialising in the provision of innovative outdoor street furniture and site furnishing products, ESF has experienced a total growth of 415% in international trade over the last three years, with growth increasing year-on-year, whilst the percentage exported has risen from 40.5% to 78%. The company currently sells into 26 markets worldwide with United Arab Emirates, Hong Kong, Kazakhstan, United States of America and Spain being the top five.
The Queen’s Awards for Enterprise are the most prestigious awards for UK businesses, recognising and celebrating business excellence, with winners of the awards having to demonstrate outstanding success in their respective field.
ESF has established itself globally as a high-quality and experienced provider of street, themed, solar, smart and more recently, security products. The company has worked on projects including The Coca-Cola Arena, Dubai; Disneyland, Hong Kong; Ta Qali Craft Village, Malta; Gilbert Recreational Parks, Arizona and Global Village, UAE.
As a result of the global pandemic, ESF’s order book was significantly reduced, however the company pivoted their offering, utilising its capabilities to offer solutions to help prevent the spread of diseases. The company launched a range of products including the HydroPod, a portable touch-free, eco-friendly hand washing station, as well as the Stand Up sanitiser dispenser, which has been exported to countries including Canada, Poland and Dubai.
Managing director of ESF, Alan Lowry spoke about receiving the Queen’s Award saying, “We are overjoyed to receive the Queen’s Award for International Trade. It is a fantastic achievement to see our international success and consistent growth recognised with this honour.
“Like many businesses, it has been a challenging year, but through resilience and recognising the needs of our customers, offering solutions where we can, we have come out the other side. I’m looking forward to continuing our growth, both here in Northern Ireland, as well as internationally.”
First Minister Arlene Foster has praised Environmental Street Furniture on its Queens Award for International Trade for outstanding short-term growth.
Mrs Foster said, “This is a remarkable achievement for a local company based in Northern Ireland that has been recognised for their innovation on the global market. I am so proud of what businesses here in Northern Ireland can achieve, and this is a prime example of how we can put ourselves on the map across the world.
“It is wonderful that Alan and his team have achieved this award due to emerging markets, recognising also customer trends in countries across the world. Congratulations to Environmental Street Furniture and I wish them every success for the future.”
Head of Experience Economy at Department for International Trade, Richard Parry, spoke about ESF’s success saying, “It is no surprise to me to hear that ESF has won this prestigious award. Excellent and highly-relevant products, dynamic leadership and a “can do” approach to international business is a combination tailor-made for the new trading relationship, which the UK has with the global market”.
