Diss firm's delight at Queen's Award

The Queen's Award for Enterprise was presented yesterday to a Diss company that began in a bedroom but grew to become one of the town's largest employers.

The Queen's Award for Enterprise was presented yesterday to a Diss company that began in a bedroom but grew to become one of the town's largest employers.

Syne qua non deals with clinical data management, collecting information on drug trials for pharmaceutical companies and analysing the results.

The company was founded by its three directors 13 years ago and was awarded the International Trade award yesterday in recognition for doubling its foreign trade in three years.

Company co-founder and director, Tony Rees, said: 'This is the first time we've received the award and obviously it's a great honour.'

'It's a testament to the quality and dedication of our staff. We started off 13 years ago in my spare bedroom and we now have 120 staff.'

The company's main markets are Switzerland, USA, Denmark and Japan, demanding a talented, multi-lingual workforce.

After being informed of their award success earlier this year, two of the company directors travelled to Buckingham Palace to meet the Queen in July.

The event at the Park Hotel in Diss yesterday was also attended by the mayor of Diss, and the award itself was given by the Queen's representative in the county, the Lord-Lieutenant of Norfolk Richard Jewson.

He said: 'It is a pleasure to be here today to celebrate Syne qua non's success in winning the International Trade category of the Queen's Award for Enterprise.'

'The County Council has recently launched a programme to attract new business and skills to Norfolk, with the tag line 'World Class - Normal for Norfolk.' This business is world class, and I wish you every success in the future.'