Bespoke component manufacturer LEW Techniques Ltd. has received its second Queen’s Award for Enterprise, the U.K.’s highest accolade for business success. Angled photodiode mounting block, fabricated by LEW Techniques. Courtesy of CDG Bristol. Exports now represent close to 90 percent of the company’s turnover, and the 2018 Queen’s Award recognizes this growth in international trade. "Since we were honored in 2016, we have continued to grow significantly, doubling our turnover mainly by increasing our overseas sales, which have risen more than 250 percent,” said Andrew Walker, technical director at LEW Techniques. LEW Techniques specializes in the manufacture of custom miniature mechanical ceramic and metal components. "Over the last few years, we have collaborated in projects with customers developing loudspeakers, critical oxygen sensors, and safe explosive detonators — all areas new to us and each requiring significant new process development,” Walker said. “Often these types of projects take years to deliver a functional, marketable product, and some may fall by the wayside, but we always learn along the way, take the knowledge learned, and add it to our portfolio of techniques.” The Queen's Awards for Enterprise is a yearly awards program for British businesses and other organizations that excel at international trade, innovation, or sustainable development.