Two recruitment agencies have won the Queen’s Award for Enterprise.

Grafton Recruitment International and Penta Consulting are among the 2006 winners, announced today. Grafton is a global recruitment agency and Penta offers recruitment services to the telecommunications and financial services

sector.

The Queen announced a total of 145 awards, the highest total for 11 years. There are 90 awards which come under the categories of International Trade, 48 for Innovation and seven for sustainable development.

Both recruitment agencies won under the International Trade category and will be able to use the Queen’s Award Emblem for five years as a symbol of their commercial success.

Grafton was singled out by the judging panel for trebling exports to £28m in three years and its well-developed marketing strategy. Penta Consulting won its award for increasing exports more than fivefold to nearly £13m in three years.

Winning companies ranged in size from micro-businesses to an international retail group employing nearly 30,000 people.

“The Queen’s Awards have been a benchmark of business success for 40 years, helping thousands of firms to open up new markets, improve sales, enhance the commercial value of products and services, and boost staff morale and motivation,” said Sir Digby Jones, Director-General of the CBI.

For companies interested in applying for next year’s Queen’s Awards, visit www.queensawards.org.uk

The deadline for the 2007 awards is 31 October 2006.