UK company Abbot Laboratories has achieved a Queen's Award for Enterprise: International Trade. Awarded in recognition of the company's consistent growth in international trade, sustained over six years, this accolade follows the Queen's award for export achievement won in 1994.
Abbott's UK operations have achieved a 20% compound growth over the last five years, while the proportion of total sales exported has risen from 46% in 1996 to 57% last year. Export revenues increased in 2001 by 45% to £250m (€400m). The company's manufacturing plant at Queenborough in Kent now produces medicines for more than 75 countries, two thirds of which go to EU countries.