Safety Showers Experts Receives Queen's Award

During a ceremony at the company’s Stockport factory, Hughes Safety Showers has received the Queen’s Award for Enterprise International Trade from the Lord Lieutenant of Greater Manchester, Colonel Sir John Timmins. The company supplies emergency safety showers, eyebaths and decontamination equipment.

Managing Director Tony Hughes expressed his personal pride in winning such a prestigious award but emphasized that it had been a team effort. From 2003 to 2005, export sales increased by almost 150%. The growth in business came from countries where Hughes is already well established and from new markets targeted by the recently expanded sales team. The appointment of an export manager, technical manager and the company’s first marketing manager has introduced new skills and experience.

The company’s Germany subsidiary, Hughes Notduschen GmbH, has played a pivotal role in expanding European business.

Opening offices in North America and the Middle East earlier this year has further strengthened the company’s position internationally.

‘The choice of products has played a key role in our success’, says Tony Hughes. ‘We’ve developed a particularly wide range and created showers and eyebaths specifically for overseas customers. They can be dispatched as sub-assemblies to minimize shipping costs and then easily built on site. The export range also takes account of local conditions and includes emergency showers and eyebaths capable of operating in extreme climatic conditions – from the arctic to the desert.’

In addition to emergency safety showers and eyebath/facewash equipment, Hughes also supplies a wide range of decontamination systems to the military, fire service, ambulance and civil defence organisations.

The company has pioneered the development of compact, lightweight portable showers for decontaminating emergency services personnel and large transportable systems for the mass decontamination of the general public. A variant of the company’s CUPOLAdecon 2 is now the British Fire Service standard decontamination unit for use in case of chemical spillages or chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear incidents.

‘Winning the Queen’s Award is a great achievement,’ says Tony Hughes. ‘We now look forward to building on this success and taking the company to even greater heights.’


More Information
John Jones tel: 0161 761 3814 mobile 07836 713470 e-mail:

Advertising Enquiries
Jo England Arber tel: 0161 477 4447 email: jo.englandarber@promedia.co.uk

Note to Editors
Hughes Safety Showers is Europe’s largest manufacturer of emergency safety showers and eyebath/facewash units. They provide vital first aid in the event of an accident and are used to wash off chemical splashes and other contaminants that could otherwise cause serious injury. The company offers the widest range of products from any manufacturer including unheated and heated units for indoor and outdoor use as well as tank showers that will continue to operate if the mains water supply is disrupted. Specialist showers have also been developed to meet the specific needs of industries such as pharmaceutical manufacturing. Decontamination units have evolved out of specialist showers developed for the fire service. They range from small showers for decontaminating emergency service personnel and their equipment to large units for mass decontamination of the general public. For more information visit www.hughes-safety-showers.co.uk.

High res image can be downloaded above (Right-click over image and select 'Save Target As') from: http://www.clickintopr.com/editors/articleDetail.asp?pjID=420

Photo (ref: 420-1.jpg) Hughes Managing Director Tony Hughes receives a commemorative, hand-made crystal bowl from the Lord Lieutenant of Greater Manchester, watched by the Mayor of Stockport, Councillor Peter Burns, and the Mayoress, Mrs Margaret Burns.