The Kent manufacturer won the accolade on the back of the commercial success of its range of Uvijet EG inks for producing wide-format graphics.

Keith Harley, marketing director of Sericol, said the most satisfying aspect of winning the award was that "as well as being technically clever, the product has to be commercially successful".

"We've sold more than 100 machines using the new inks all over the world," he added. Harley said the inks were purely for POP applications and mostly sold through OEMs, including Zund.

The development of the new inks began in 1999, signalling a new departure for the company, which had previously produced UV screen printing inks.

The technology was launched in 2001 with the Inca Eagle flatbed printer, which Sericol distributes worldwide. Harley said the company would launch two machines at Drupa an improved version of the Inca Columbia and a high-quality printer, the Inca Spyder.

A celebratory event will take place today (22 April) and a dinner will be held at Buckingham Palace later in the year. A representative of the royal family will visit the company to present the award. This is the fifth Queen's Award Sericol has won since 1988.

Story by Josh Brooks