UKCloud Wins 2017 Queen’s Award for Enterprise for Innovation

London – 21 April 2017 – UKCloud, the easy to adopt, easy to use and easy to leave assured cloud services company, can today reveal that it has received its first Queen’s Award for Enterprise for Innovation. The Queen’s Award for Enterprise scheme is highly competitive, rewarding businesses for outstanding achievements in International Trade, Innovation, Sustainable Development and for promoting opportunity through social mobility. The Innovation category awards companies that go above and beyond in their area of expertise, and is designed for those offering a unique innovation, which has been available to the market for a minimum of two years. Winners of this category must also show outstanding commercial success over the past two years, or continuous commercial success over five years.

UKCloud has developed a cloud platform specifically to meet all requirements of the UK public sector. The platform meets all data security requirements to OFFICIAL-SENSITIVE level through its UK-based facilities. Unique to the industry, UKCloud’s innovative platform has contributed to several initiatives including a number of Cabinet Office Digital Exemplar projects and the 100,000 Genomes Project.

“It is a huge honour to receive a Queen’s Award for Enterprise,” UKCloud CEO Simon Hansford comments. “This is a most welcome recognition of our commitment to supporting technological innovation in the UK and of our contribution to the public sector.”

The Rt Hon Lord Maude of Horsham, former Minister of the Cabinet Office said: “Congratulations to UKCloud for this significant achievement and its continued innovation. I hope that UKCloud’s success will inspire many other start-ups and small businesses to go on to do great things, and keep the UK ahead of the global digital game.”

Sir Gerald Howarth MP, Member of Parliament for Aldershot added: “The Queen’s Award for Innovation is a significant achievement by any measure, and I’m delighted that UKCloud, based in Farnborough in my constituency, has been recognised for the superb, innovative service it is offering to the UK public sector. This achievement shows how UK companies can make a real difference, through the services they deliver, but also to the economy through expansion and growth. This is one of many ways that our government needs to increase the recognition, support and use of innovative UK technology vendors.”

Julian David, CEO of TechUK added: “UKCloud has rightly been recognised today for its unwavering commitment to improving public services through cloud services and applications. Increased adoption of cloud technologies is key to digital transformation and the improved delivery of public services to citizens. The Government can harness the best of UK technology by working closely with innovative companies, such as UKCloud, to transform services and serve people better.”

UKCloud has demonstrated its commitment to innovation since it launched its services on the debut G-Cloud Framework in 2012. The organisation now works with more than 240 partners that are able to leverage UKCloud’s accredited and UK sovereign platform to bring their services to the public sector market. The organisation has proven itself as an industry thought leader, consistently advocating the need for fair and open bidding in the public sector. The organisation has grown rapidly, winning a number of high-profile public sector contracts with HMRC, the Home Office and the Ministry of Justice, to name a few. UKCloud is committed to doing the right thing for its customers, for instance, announcing its tenth round of price cuts in January of this year.

Hansford continued: “We remain focused on delivering an innovative, open, and sovereign public cloud, and are fully dedicated to improving our platform in-line with the evolving requirements of the public sector. We’re delighted to have our commitment recognised by such an influential awards body, and look forward to flying the Queen’s Award flag at our Farnborough headquarters.”

UKCloud will be presented with the award by The Lord-Lieutenant of the county, The Queen’s local representative, at its headquarters in Farnborough, and will also attend a Royal reception at Buckingham Palace later in the year.

Emma Jones, Small Business Crown Representative also commented: “Government is committed to increasing the business it does with small businesses to 33 percent of its procurement spend, by creating a framework that fosters opportunity and growth. UKCloud’s Queen’s Award for Innovation is a testament to the success of government’s small business policies, and I hope to see many more small businesses follow in UKCloud’s footsteps.”

This latest accolade closely follows UKCloud’s double-win in the UK Cloud Awards. The company also ranked number one in the latest Sunday Times Hiscox Tech Track 100, which ranks Britain’s fastest growing private technology companies based on sales over the last three years.

For more information about the Queen’s Award for Enterprise, please visit: https://www.gov.uk/queens-awards-for-enterprise/about-the-awards