A Kent boss has scooped a top award.

Paul Winter, 61, managing director of Wire Belt, Sittingbourne, was named international director of the year by the Institute of Directors London and the South East.

Mr Winter has been with the firm for more than 30 years and won
the award in a category for firms with turnover up to £5m.

He was presented with the accolade at a gala ceremony in
London's Landmark Hotel. The event was hosted by GMTV's Emma Cosby,
with Gerald Ratner, former chief executive of Ratners, the
jewellers, as keynote speaker.

Wire Belt was founded in 1962 and manufactures wire conveyor
belting and conveyors mainly for the food processing industry. It
moved to its present site at Castle Road, Eurolink Industrial
Centre, in 1989.

Mr Winter, who lives in Faversham, has masterminded an increase
in sales generated overseas to some 57 per cent of turnover.

He said: "A milestone was reached with our first sale to Oman,
which allowed us to prove the worldwide appeal of our conveyor
belting. From that day, we were able to claim that we exported to
countries beginning with every letter of the alphabet other than X.
We do not think there is a country beginning with X!."

He added: "I feel very proud to receive this award, especially
as there are directors of many small and medium enterprises who
will have faced similar challenges and equally deserve this
acknowledgement."

Mr Winter was one of two Kent directors shortlisted but Mark
Lumsdon-Taylor, finance director of Hadlow College, narrowly missed
out on an award.

Chris Dodson, chairman of IoD South, said: "It impressed me
greatly how all the nominees and particularly the finalists have
clearly shown outstanding leadership and management competence
during such a difficult trading period."

The awards were sponsored by PricewatehouseCoopers and HSBC.