Aerospace Defence Space Events

Filtronic presented 2021 Queen’s Award for Enterprise for International Trade

Posted 4 October 2021

Filtronic plc today hosted a ceremony at which Mrs Sue Snowdon, Her Majesty’s Lord Lieutenant of County Durham, formally presented Filtronic with the Queen’s Award for Enterprise for International Trade 2021.

Richard Gibbs (CEO) receiving the Queen's Award trophy from Mrs Sue Snowdon, Lord Lieutenant of County Durham.
Courtesy Filtronic

The citation for Filtronic’s award, which was first announced in April this year, centred on the outstanding growth it had achieved in export sales over a three-year period for its microwave and mmWave solutions.

“The past 12 months in particular have been exceptional for Filtronic,” said Richard Gibbs, CEO of Filtronic. “In addition to receiving this prestigious Queen’s Award, we were honoured earlier in the year to win two of Electronics Weekly’s Elektra Awards, one for Manufacturer of the Year and one for Company of the Year.”

“Demand continues to grow for our E-band mmWave transceivers, which are used to provide 5G mobile network operators with high-capacity radio links for backhaul, midhaul and fronthaul (also known as XHaul),” said Walter Magiera, Chief Commercial Officer of Filtronic. “To date we have shipped over 63,000 transceiver units, with 99.9% destined for export outside the UK.”

Filtronic products are applied globally in aerospace & defence, telecommunication infrastructure and test & measurement applications. In addition they have applications in some of the emerging world-wide communications ecosystems such as High-Altitude Pseudo-Satellites (HAPS) and Low Earth Orbit (LEO) constellations. Filtronic pushes the boundaries of what is possible with RF, boasting a client portfolio of global technology leaders within their fields.

“We are continuing to invest in R & D and manufacturing across all our facilities, having recently strengthened our capabilities in Sedgefield, our RF centre of excellence in Leeds and our critical communications hub in Salisbury, Maryland,” said Richard Gibbs. “This has enabled us to grow output and to maintain a strong order book.”

The Lord Lieutenant, Mrs Sue Snowdon, commented: “To have a company here in County Durham developing market-leading RF technologies, and with world-class manufacturing facilities, is fantastic for the local economy. It was a pleasure to see Filtronic listed as a recipient of the Queens Award for International Trade, and it is a well-deserved accolade for a superb company.”