Second Queen's award for Warwick design company

A Warwick-based design company which has shaped products used by billions of people worldwide has received The Queen's Award for Enterprise for the second time.
Pictured are, from left: Rob Bassil (DCA technical director), Lord-Lieutenant of Warwickshire, Timothy Cox, Nick Mival (DCA creative director) and DCA managing director Robert Woolston.Pictured are, from left: Rob Bassil (DCA technical director), Lord-Lieutenant of Warwickshire, Timothy Cox, Nick Mival (DCA creative director) and DCA managing director Robert Woolston.
Pictured are, from left: Rob Bassil (DCA technical director), Lord-Lieutenant of Warwickshire, Timothy Cox, Nick Mival (DCA creative director) and DCA managing director Robert Woolston.

Product design consultancy DCA Design International Ltd, which helps to design everything from aerosols to autonomous cars; toothbrushes to trains, received the accolade for its achievements in international trade from the Lord-Lieutenant of Warwickshire, Timothy Cox.

DCA is one of Warwick’s largest private employers and the company behind products like the SoloSTAR insulin pen, Stella Artois glassware, Sure and Lynx deodorant cans, the Scholl Velvet Smooth foot file and even the new IEP high speed train for Hitachi, which is set to replace the 125 trains in the UK.

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DCA has recently seen the launch of its work with Elekta designing the MR Linac scanner, a world-first technology that simultaneously scans tumours inside the body while delivering highly-targeted X-ray radiation beams. The innovative scanner has now been installed at Royal Marsden Hospital and featured on BBC news last month.

At a time when the condition is rarely out of the headlines, DCA also worked with Sanofi to develop the AllStar Pro re-usable pen injector - the latest generation of its award-winning drug delivery systems used by millions of diabetes sufferers across the globe.

“While the person in the street will not necessarily know who we are, they will probably regularly use one of our products – whether they are brushing their teeth, administering medication or riding to work on a train,” said DCA Managing Director Robert Woolston.

“Since the early 60s, DCA has helped clients to design and develop market-leading products that users value every day,” he added.

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The company now employs more than 135 people, and since 2012, when it last received the award, has seen a notable increase in the digital skills required to deliver connected devices for DCA’s client base.

“We employ mechanical engineers and industrial designers, but there has been an increase in the number of hardware electronic and software engineers, which illustrates how products and systems have developed to reflect an increased connected and digital content over the last few years,” said Mr Woolston.

Internationally-focussed with consumer, mobility and pharmaceutical products in China, India, the US, France and Germany, much of the company’s growth over the last decade has come from exporting expertise in product innovation to multinational corporations, leading to the creation of a diverse range of iconic products.

The Queen’s Award presentation took place on October 18 at The Old Shire Hall in Warwick, and was preceded by a tour of the firm’s facilities in the heart of the town.

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Presenting the award, Mr Cox, who is the Queen’s official representative in Warwickshire, said: “As Lord Lieutenant of Warwickshire and the Queen’s representative in the county, I was delighted to present the Queen’s Award for Enterprise to DCA.

“The Lieutenancy is always keen to try to identify companies such as DCA to acknowledge the excellent work they do. Warwickshire has been very fortunate this year to have five companies which have been successful with a Queen’s Award for Enterprise.

“DCA has been successful for its significant increase in overseas sales. Only 152 awards have been given for international trade across the whole country, so many congratulations to DCA.”

Dignitaries including the Chairman of Warwick District Council, Councillor Stephen Cross and the Mayor of Warwick, Councillor Richard Eddy, joined the Lord Lieutenant for the presentation.

Ahead of the official announcement, the Directors from DCA were presented to His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales at Buckingham Palace in August.