AMID increasing talk of job losses and recession, an award-winning Malvern company is looking forward to a successful 2009.

Leonard Simmonds Associates Ltd (LSA) has just been presented with a prestigious Queen’s Award For Enterprise in International Trade by the Lord Lieutenant of Worcestershire, Michael Brinton. The firm is based at the Enigma Business Park and specialises in endowment insurance policies.

LSA’s main export markets are Germany, Austria and Liechtenstein but managing director Richard Simmonds is already seeing an increase in interest from the UK due to the relatively secure nature of the firm’s investments, which are based in insurance companies rather than banks.

Mr Simmonds said the Queen’s award was a reflection of the hard work put in by everybody at the company and so office manager Sheila Simmonds and IT manager Stefan Agopsowicz were chosen to collect the trophy.

“We thought our strong administration and reliable IT represented the backbone of the company,” he said.

Mr Simmonds forecasts a successful year ahead for the company. “The Queen’s award has been a real highlight of 2008. We are still strong and still seeing good international demand as well as growing interest from the UK,” he said.

“We are very positive for the year ahead. I certainly don’t envisage any cutbacks or redundancies. We are very efficient and streamlined and I believe that in the future it will be growth rather than cuts.”

LSA was one of only nine businesses in the West Midlands to receive the international trade award.