Adrian Thompson, Founder and CEO, imageHOLDERS (right) with team members including fellow Director, and cousin, Pete Thompson (left) at a 2019 trade show.
Published: April 29, 2021 | Updated: 30th April 2021
A fast-growing company which has exported its products to more than 70 countries in recent years is today named as a winner of a Queen’s Award for Enterprise.
Ferndown-based imageHOLDERS is one of just 205 businesses in the UK – and the only one in Dorset – to receive the coveted award and royal seal of approval.
Adrian Thompson, Founder and CEO, said: “I feel very proud of the business and our collaborative and highly professional team.”
imageHOLDERS makes interactive touch screen and computer kiosks.
The company has a £5m annual turnover with 70 per cent of sales going overseas.
It employs 33 staff at its Ferndown Industrial Estate site – up from 24 a year ago – with a further three roles in its recently opened office in Vancouver, Canada, and also Taiwan.
Adrian first started designing and developing gift and home products more than 20 years ago.
imageHOLDERS was incorporated in 2002 as a kiosk company to develop solutions to support digital branding in the form of print and the rising audio-visual market.
However, it proved ahead of its time and it was only in 2014 that the business began to take off following the increasing popularity of tablets, including Apple’s iPad.
Now its range of iPad, tablet and computer kiosks and enclosures and mPOS (mobile point of sale) solutions are helping some of the world’s largest enterprises implement tablet technology in a number of environments.
imageHOLDERS supports clients in a variety of industry sectors including hospitality, retail, leisure, automotive, casino, corporate and healthcare.
Customers include Amazon, Bentley, Legoland, Hard Rock Café. Hilton, McDonald’s, Mercedes-Benz, Nasa and the NHS.
Adrian said the company’s “intelligently designed, high quality products” had been exported to countries as diverse as China, Saudi Arabia, Africa and North America.
International sales had doubled in the last year while imageHOLDERS was starting its new financial year with forward sales nearly matching the whole of the previous 12 months, he added.
The 205 winners of the 2021 Queen’s Awards for Enterprise represent every part of the United Kingdom.
The businesses are in a diverse range of sectors but have been recognised by The Queen as among the best in the country.
The focus of this year’s awards is Promoting Opportunity through Social Mobility.
Kwasi Kwarteng, Business Secretary, pictured left, said: “The past year has been a tough time for many businesses across the UK.
“Which is why it is more important than ever to celebrate the achievements of our wealth creators and recognise the contributions they make to our communities.
“In the last 12 months, British businesses showed the entrepreneurial spirit that this country is renowned for, continuing to drive social mobility, find new markets to export to and produce innovative products and services.
“I congratulate this year’s winners and I wish every business that applied for an award this year every success in the future as we build back better from the pandemic.”
The awards were created following the recommendation of a committee chaired by The Duke of Edinburgh in 1965.
The first awards, originally known as the Queen’s Awards to Industry, were made the following year.
This year’s Queen’s Awards for Enterprise are given for outstanding achievement in:
The winners pass a robust assessment process, judged by senior officials in Whitehall and experts from industry, academia and the third sector.
On that basis, each year the winners of The Queen’s Awards for Enterprise are recommended by the Prime Minister.
Winners are permitted to fly The Queen’s Awards flag at their main office and use the emblem on their marketing materials.
Winners are also given a Grant of Appointment (an official certificate) and a commemorative crystal trophy.
The awards are valid for five years.
