Royal honour for cancer company

Surrey-based Medi Travelcover Ltd is one of 119 companies to receive the Queen's Award for Enterprise.

The organisers said the company, also known as InsureCancer, provides a service which is "highly appreciated" by customers.

Cancer charities say patients generally find it hard to get travel cover.

Cancerbackup has complained in the past that the insurance industry unfairly penalises people with cancer, although insurers say everyone with pre-existing health problems are treated in the same way.
The Queen's Award organisers said Medi Travelcover Ltd, a small company, deserved an award in the innovation category because it offered cover at "realistic prices" by looking at cases on an individual basis.

Other winners

The applicant's consultant as well as the company's panel of doctors assess the risks to help the company determine a reasonable premium.

Other winners include Oxfordshire-based FlavourActiV Ltd, which has developed software which assesses the competence of professional beer tasters, and Bristol's Solagen Limited, which makes solar-powered road signs.

De La Rue Currency of Basingstoke, Hampshire, won an award for developing a banknote security thread which allows people to check that notes are real.

The Edinburgh Military Tattoo wins an award in the international trade category for doubling its export earnings to £1.9 million over three years.

Organisers said it presents a unique musical entertainment which has become an attraction in countries from the US and Australia to the Czech Republic and China.

Winners hold the award for five years and are entitled to fly the award flag and use the emblem.

The Queen's Award to Industry, the scheme's original title, was instituted by Royal Warrant in 1966.