TWO Dorset businesses and another with a base in the New Forest have been recognised in the Queen’s Awards for Enterprise.

They are among more than 100 British businesses recognised for international trade, innovation or sustainable development in a list published on the Queen’s birthday.

Westwind Air Bearings, based on Poole’s Holton Heath Trading Park, won an innovation award for designing and developing high-speed drilling spindles, which are used in manufacturing printed circuit boards.

Managing director Steve Webb said the firm’s innovations were in everyday use by the likes of Toshiba and Hitachi.

“It’s one of the key enabling technologies to make everything smaller and also to allow the level of complexity to increase considerably,” he said.

“Our company is one of the rare ones that can genuinely claim to be world leaders in what we do,” he added.

The company employs 120 people in Poole, where the development and initial production is done, and 130 in China where larger volumes are produced.

It was founded in the late 1950s and was owned by Cobham PLC from 1995-2003 before being bought by GSI Lumonics Ltd. John Roush, chief executive of the US parent company, will visit staff to congratulate them, and the Lord Lieutenant of Dorset will present the award on site.

“We’ll have a draw to see who accompanies me to the Palace later this year,” Mr Webb added.

Anvil Group, based at Somerford Road, Christchurch, has also been given an innovation award for developing its Employee Travel Monitoring System (ETMS).

The system helps mitigate the risks connected with business travel by alerting users to factors such as dangerous destinations or flights booked with airlines that have poor safety records. Complete information about the traveller and their trip is stored so travellers can be supported or prevented from travelling in the event of a major incident.

Matthew Judge, group managing director of Anvil, said: “When something goes wrong overseas, responding quickly is absolutely imperative – from safeguarding the employee to notifying their family.

“ETMS consolidates all these needs into one application and it’s fantastic for Anvil receive the revered Queen’s Award for Enterprise in recognition of its innovative design and commercial success.”

Porvair Filtration Group, which last month unveiled its 42,000sqft premises in New Milton, wins an award for international trade after showing outstanding overseas sales growth over the last three years.

The Norfolk-based group identifies target growth areas, such as bioscience, aerospace, energy and industrial, and has presented a formula for routes to market for each.