Sophos Awarded Two Queen’s Awards For Enterprise
Oxfordshire anti-virus developer praised for exceptional innovation and international trade
Sophos, a world leader in corporate anti-virus protection, has today been awarded two prestigious Queen’s Awards for Enterprise, the UK’s top awards for business performance. The Oxfordshire-based company has been rewarded for both its technical excellence and business acumen by receiving awards in two separate categories – ‘Innovation’ and ‘International Trade’.
“Everyone at Sophos is thrilled to receive not one but two of the Queen’s Awards for Enterprise,” said Peter Lammer, co-founder and CEO at Sophos Anti-Virus. “It is immensely satisfying to be recognised for our technical innovation as well as our business performance. It shows that all parts of the company are working well together.”
In the category of International Trade, the Queen’s Award for Enterprise has been awarded for Sophos’s outstanding achievement in increasing overseas earnings. During the past three years, the company’s earnings from international trade have increased by 168 percent to more than £11 million. The judges also praised Sophos’s successful establishment of subsidiary companies in the USA, Germany, Australia, France, Singapore, Italy and Japan.
In the category of Innovation, the judges chose Sophos for its achievement in continuously developing and updating anti-virus software specifically designed to protect business networks from malicious attack.
This double achievement follows an outstanding year for Sophos. During the period ending March 2001, Sophos’s turnover grew 54 percent, more than double the average anti-virus industry growth rate*. In December 2001, Sophos was also named Company of the Year and the CBI’s annual Growing Business Awards. Continuing this growth, the company is currently constructing a new £32 million high-security research and development centre at its headquarters in Abingdon.
Today’s award winners have been announced to mark Her Majesty The Queen’s birthday. Sophos’s two awards will be formally conferred later in the year and representatives of the company have been invited to attend a reception at the Department of Trade Industry (DTI) in the presence of His Royal Highness The Duke of York.
* IDC Research’s “Worldwide Anti-virus Software Market Forecast and Analysis, 2001-2005” estimated the anti-virus industry grew at 24% for the period 1999/2000.
About Sophos
Sophos is one of the world’s largest specialist developers of anti-virus software. Headquartered in the UK, its products are sold and supported through a global network of subsidiaries and partners in more than 150 countries. Sophos solutions are specifically designed to protect businesses and organisations from virus attack, they are widely deployed by large corporations, banks and governments.