Winning an award is a highlight for any client, but winning a Queen’s Award is one of the more prestigious recognitions that businesses can achieve.

ION Science is the UK’s leading OEM for photoionisation detection (PID) technology, gas analysis, and monitoring for volatile organic compounds. ION Science designs, manufactures and supplies gas detection instruments as well as PID sensors (which are used within its own instruments as well being supplied to other brands). The quality of the sensors is recognised worldwide.

ION Science wanted to enter its own-developed PID sensor, known as the MiniPID, into the Enterprise: Innovation category. The sensor was developed in-house, used extensively in a huge selection of instruments, and highly regarded for it’s reliability, longevity, and accuracy in gas analysis.

The Award Application

We kicked off the application for the Queen’s Award early, with discussions beginning in February 2021 (deadline for submission was September 2021). Allowing plenty of time was essential, as there are a great deal of moving parts to the award entry.

My role as part of the PR team was to collate and write the entry sections. I led the writing of the entry, as ION Science was one of my core clients at the time.

In order to prepare, I met with previous Queen’s Award winners and members of the judging panel in order to understand the criteria they were looking for, as well as what stands out most in an entry.

I also met with the ION Science team on a weekly basis, reporting to the Marketing Manager, and collating information from the Research & Development team, the Managing Director, and Sales team in order to fully flesh out the entry. I spoke directly with Research and Development Director on many occasions, to gain an understanding of the science behind the product and its applications.

The entry required information on sections such as:

  • History of the product’s technology, and what makes this development unique and new
  • Applications and benefits of using the product (we particularly looked at the safety and detection benefits)
  • Financial results from bringing the product to market for ION Science
  • Company benefits of bringing the product to market (such as re-investment in staff, investment in the business, building additional facilities, growth of overall product range)
  • Company history and background, as well as future growth plans and how winning the award would allow the company to advance

I applied my extensive knowledge of B2B writing and distilling technical information in writing this entry. Myself and the Marketing Manager at ION Science were both thrilled with the collaborative efforts of both the PR agency and the internal ION Science teams in bringing this to life.

The Award Win

Receiving the email from the client that we had not only been successful, but that our entry was praised for its detail and clarity, was a real highlight of my time working with ION Science.

We had already prepared a press release in anticipation of the award announcement and were able to quickly issue this to our business and trade lists, landing over 50 pieces of coverage in relevant titles. More coverage was also achieved later with the award ceremony, giving the entry additional media relevance.

Needless to say, the client was over the moon and it was a huge achievement for the Marketing Manager personally and the company as a whole. I was delighted to be able to help them succeed and achieve a goal they had been chasing for the past three years prior to the win.

The full press release around the award can be found here.