King’s Award for Enterprise in International Trade presented to Kentec

The special gathering was attended by several local dignitaries, among them Councillor Avtar Sandhu MBE (the Mayor of Dartford), Jim Dickson (MP for Dartford) and Tudor Price (CEO of the Kent Invicta Chamber of Commerce).

Upwards of 250 Kentec employees were in attendance at the company’s factory where more than 180,000 products are manufactured every year.

The prestigious prize was accepted on behalf of Kentec by managing director Kevin Swann, who commented: “It’s a great honour to receive this prestigious King’s Award for Enterprise. We have plans to grow the business even further and expand on our work in the international trade arena.”

Swann added: “Kentec has been a significant employer here in Dartford for more than 40 years now. To be recognised for our outstanding export growth is a huge achievement for the entire team at the company. Everyone can be very proud of what they have helped to achieve.”

The Lord Lieutenant of Kent, The Lady Colgrain, remarked: “Kentec has grown to become one of the world’s leading manufacturers of life safety solutions, while remaining firmly rooted here in Dartford. This is a wonderful example of specialist British engineering and manufacturing expertise being developed here in Kent and successfully taken to markets across the world.”

Outstanding export growth

The King’s Award for Enterprise recognises Kentec’s outstanding export growth across the last three years, in which time overseas sales have risen by a substantial 69%, with exports now responsible for over two-thirds (67%, in fact) of the company’s overall turnover.

Kentec is one of only 185 organisations nationally to be recognised with a prestigious King’s Award for Enterprise in 2026. The stellar accolade duly acknowledges the company’s outstanding achievement in the domain of international trade.

The business was founded back in 1985 and has since progressed to become what is now one of the world’s leading life safety solutions manufacturers of conventional, analogue addressable fire detection and extinguishant control panels. As stated, all product development and production is undertaken at the company’s headquarters in Kent.

King’s Awards for Enterprise

Previously designated The Queen’s Awards for Enterprise, The King’s Awards for Enterprise came into being in 2023 in order to reflect His Majesty The King’s commitment to continuing the legacy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II in celebrating the work and achievements of exceptional UK businesses.

Now in its 60th year, the King’s Awards for Enterprise remain the UK’s most prestigious business accolades. Post-award, all successful organisations may use the esteemed King’s Awards Emblem for the ensuing five-year period, duly signalling excellence to their customers, partners and global markets alike.

*Further information is available online at www.kentec.co.uk