UK company Malvern Instruments played host to a royal visitor in December when HRH the Duke of York toured the company's headquarters.
Prince Andrew visited in his capacity as Special Representative for International Trade and Investment for British Trade International (BTI), the body that supports UK companies trading internationally.
The occasion was in recognition of Malvern Instruments' export achievements in the field of particle characterisation. Malvern's laboratory-based and in-process systems are used worldwide and it has subsidiaries in key European countries, the US and Japan, and a network of global distributors. In 2002 more than 90% of sales were into overseas markets, with 10% growth in export sales year-on-year.
During the course of the visit, HRH Prince Andrew met the Malvern Instruments' export sales team, learnt about the company's manufacturing procedures and participated in demonstrations of particle size analysis.
'We have been very pleased to emphasise Malvern Instruments' success in developing high technology instruments that benefit manufacturing industry throughout the world,' said Jane Bishop, commercial director at Malvern Instruments, following the visit.