News
Trackwise wins Queens Award
Gloucestershire printed circuit board manufacturer Trackwise has won the Queen’s Award for Enterprise for International Trade, following its success in increasing exports from £500,000 to more than £2m in just three years. The award will be presented by the Lord Lieutenant of Gloucestershire, Mr Henry Elwes, on Wednesday July 6 at 3 pm.
Trackwise, based in Delta Drive, Tewkesbury, specialises in the manufacture of very large high-frequency printed circuit boards (PCBs) for the antennas in the cellphone base stations run by mobile phone operators around the world. The boards are anything up to 2.8 metres in length – putting them among the biggest manufactured anywhere in the world.
Formed in 1989 and bought out by local businessman Philip Johnston five years ago, Trackwise is one of the few manufacturers in the world able to make such big PCBs to the necessary high degree of precision.
The company, which employs 19 people, exports to countries around the world, including the USA, Australia, Europe and the Far East – it has even begun exporting to China, a highly-competitive exporter of PCBs to the rest of the world.
“This is the fruit of several years’ investment in equipment and personnel” said Philip Johnston, Managing Director. “We have designed and equipped our factory specifically for the manufacture of PCBs for antennas, which allows us to remain competitive by keeping quality high and cost down.
“As a small company we’re extremely proud of this achievement and the staff deserve a great deal of credit for working together so effectively to make it all possible.
“To enable the company to continue growing in the face of tough international opposition, we are now turning our skills and experience to pursue other markets within the radio-frequency and microwave industries.”
Her Majesty’s representative in Gloucestershire, the Lord Lieutenant, Mr Henry Elwes, will carry out the formal award presentation at Trackwise on Wednesday 6th July at 3 pm. The factory will be open to visitors from 2 pm. There will be a brief tour of the factory by the Lord Lieutenant, Trackwise principals and associates of the company, followed by the formal ceremony.
