Design group wins Queen’s award again

FAMILY-owned Cotswold design group Robert Welch has landed a Queen’s award for the second year running.

The group, founded by Royal College of Art graduate Robert Welch in 1955, landed the Enterprise in Innovation award for its Signature knife storage and sharpening block.

The company, now owned and run by Welch’s children Alice and Rupert, makes cutlery, kitchenware, jewellery and homeware. It owns stores in Bath and at its Chipping Campden headquarters, and its products are also stocked at department store groups John Lewis and House of Fraser.

The group turned over almost £14 million last year and has seen sales rise steadily outside the UK. Last year’s Queen’s award was won for international trade – overseas sales are up 29 per cent over five years. The firm employs around 70 people in the UK, though products are made in the Far East.

Design director Paul deBretton Gordon said the award was ‘a real honour’.