COMPANY Shop, the UK’s largest re-distributor of surplus food and household products to emergency services staff, has been announced as a winner of the prestigious Queen’s Awards for Enterprise.

Company Shop Group, which has a St Helens case on Lancots Lane in Sutton, is now a two-time Queen’s Award winner, having achieved this award in the Sustainable Development category in 2015.

Judges praised Company Shop Group’s significant commercial success and positive benefits for society, the economy and the environment.

The announcement follows another significant year of growth for the business. In 2018, Company Shop Group increased the amount of surplus it redistributed by eight per cent, and returned over £16.5m back into the industry for the surplus it purchased.

Following the opening of two more superstores in 2018, the Group also has ambitious plans for continued expansion in 2019.

The Award also recognises the Group’s award-winning social enterprise Community Shop, the award-winning social enterprise established by Company Shop Group, which sells high-quality, low-cost surplus food to residents receiving welfare support who are motivated to make a positive change in their lives by enrolling on courses such as employability, financial skills and self-confidence.

HM-Lord Lieutenant for the South Yorkshire, Andrew Coombe, will present the award at Company Shop Group headquarters in Barnsley in autumn, on behalf of the Queen.

John Marren, Founder and Chairman of Company Shop Group, said: “It is an absolute honour to receive our second Queen’s Award, which is reflective of our unwavering commitment to sustainability and our guiding principle of being a business which is a force for social good.

“It is also a true testament to the hard-work and dedication of hundreds our colleagues across the business, who have helped to achieve so much, and to all our partners across the industry who enable us to generate such transformative social, economic and environmental impact every day.

“We look forward to continuing to maximise the impact of our work across the supply chain, keeping sustainability and brand integrity at the heart of our business, and supporting hard-working and low income families to stretch their budgets further.”