KENT businessman James Bird has just received his sixth accolade from the Queen.

Mr Bird, who lives in Kingsdown, near Deal, is chairman of Indamex, a manufacturer of diesel generators in Peterborough.

Earlier this year, the firm was included in a list of leading companies granted the Queen’s Award for Enterprise.

At a formal presentation ceremony held at Indamex headquarters in Lynch Wood, Peterborough, Mr Bird, a deputy lieutenant of Kent, accepted an engraved glass bowl and signed scroll from Hugh Duberley, Lord Lieutenant of Cambridgeshire.

The bowl and scroll, signed by Her Majesty and Prime Minister Tony Blair, will remain in Peterborough.

But Mr Bird has brought a copy of the scroll back to Kent to remind him of yet another happy occasion.

The previous five Queen’s Awards were all granted to Mr Bird’s former company Petbow in Sandwich. At one time, Petbow held the record for the number of Queen’s Awards granted to any UK company.

Indamex, which won its award in the International Trade category, has more than tripled export sales over the past three years and they now account for 99 per cent of turnover.

Between them, Mr Bird, company founder and managing director Bill Moir, and their sales team have visited more than 30 countries in the past 12 months.

Mr Bird has made more than a dozen trips himself, most recently to Eastern Europe. Indamex has strong sales in China, Kuwait, Barbados, Kenya and Ghana.

Mr Bird, who holds numerous honorary and charity positions in the county, was delighted with his latest award.

Back home in Kingsdown, he said: "It’s very gratifying for companies I’ve been involved with to be honoured six times by the Queen. I’m now going for the seventh!"

Brian Stuart, company consultant who previously lived in Deal, was Petbow’s sales engineer and ran the company’s Far East operations in Singapore.

He said: "Winning the Queen’s Award is a great honour for Indamex and its highly-skilled and creative workforce.

"It’s especially rewarding as we are a small company and have worked incredibly hard to expand our business over the last three years."