Spectrum Technologies receives King’s Award for Enterprise: International Trade 2025

Spectrum Technologies is delighted to announce that it is the recipient of the King’s Award for Enterprise: International Trade 2025, based on the Company’s outstanding growth in export sales over the last three years.

Spectrum Technologies Ltd is delighted to announce that it has been honoured with the King’s Award for Enterprise: International Trade 2025. The Company was formed in 1989 to commercialise leading edge industrial laser technology and has since established itself as the leading global supplier of specialised laser wire processing systems to the international aerospace industry. The laser systems are used to mark identity codes and process the hundreds of miles of wire and cable used in the production of complex aircraft electrical wiring systems. Since the Company achieved its first export sales to Germany and the USA in 1992, Spectrum’s sales have grown strongly, with exports typically representing over 95% of total annual sales.

After a challenging period during Covid, when sales reduced significantly to just over £5M, the Company has bounced back, with sales and exports more than doubling. In the three years covered by the Award, up to 31 March 2024, Spectrum’s total annual sales increased from £6.27M to £10.24M, with exports rising from £5.85M to £9.95M respectively. Total sales to 31 March 2025 increased further to £11.26M with exports rising to £10.83M.

The Company’s top export destination has been the USA, where its products have historically been in strong demand from the aerospace industry. The rebound has been as a result of the surge in demand for post-covid travel, which has fuelled record orders and backlogs with the major aircraft manufacturers for newer fuel efficient aircraft. This has in turn generated strong demand and new orders for the Company’s latest generation of laser wire marking and processing systems. During the last year covered by the award, sales to the US topped 65%, followed by China with 11% of sales, overall exports for the year reached 97.2% of total sales.

Dr Peter Dickinson, Chairman, said “We are really delighted and honoured to receive our first King’s Award, which we can now add to our three previous Queen’s Awards. This is recognition for the hard work and determination of our dedicated team of employees who have helped turn the Company’s fortunes around after a very difficult period during Covid, which hit the aerospace sector particularly badly. The strong growth in sales since covid reflect our position as the leading supplier of specialised laser wire processing equipment to the global aerospace industry, and the demand for our technology and the latest generation of our products.” 

Tens of thousands of individual wires are used to make up the complex electrical wiring system for an aircraft, which altogether add up to between 50 and 300 miles of wiring per aircraft, depending on the aircraft size. Virtually all aircraft, and also many spacecraft, now rely on the ultraviolet UV laser marking technology, pioneered by Spectrum, to process and mark unique codes on each of the wires to aid identification during production and maintenance. 

Boeing and Airbus are key customers, along with their Tier 1 and 2 suppliers. At any moment in time, there will be around 12,000 commercial aircraft in the air circling the globe, containing a combined total of around 1 million miles of wiring, all marked using UV laser technology. In addition, Spectrum’s products are also used by space launch systems manufacturers, including SpaceX, as well as for the wiring on interplanetary probes. The electrical system on NASA’s Insight probe, which landed on Mars in 2018, was manufactured by Lockheed Space with one of the Company’s wire markers. Lucy, another NASA probe, is now on its way to the orbit of Jupiter, with 2 miles of laser marked wire on board, again processed using Spectrum’s products. 

Spectrum Technologies won its first Queen’s Award for Export in 1995 and was the recipient for the Queen’s Award for International Trade in 2000 and again in 2006. Since the Company started exporting its products in 1992 it has exported a total of just under £200M of goods and services to customers in 60 different countries around the world.