NBTY unit wins trade award from Queen Elizabeth
Queen Elizabeth II on April 20, 2016. Among the things she did to celebrate her 90th birthday on April 21 was to give an Award for Enterprise to the U.K. subsidiary of Ronkonkoma-based vitamin and dietary supplement maker NBTY. Credit: EPA / Andy Rain
A United Kingdom subsidiary of Ronkonkoma-based vitamin and dietary supplement maker NBTY Inc. has received an award from Queen Elizabeth II.
Health and wellness retailer Holland & Barrett International was granted the Queen’s International Trade Award on Thursday on the occasion of the queen’s 90th birthday. A formal presentation of the award will be made in June to Holland & Barrett at the company’s headquarters in Nuneaton in central England, when a representative of the queen will give the company a crystal bowl, NBTY announced.
The queen’s Awards for Enterprise celebrate U.K. businesses engaged in international trade, innovation and sustainable development. The winners are invited to attend a reception at Buckingham Palace in July. They are also able to use the queen’s award emblem in advertising, marketing and on packaging for five years.
“We are honoured to be presented with this, the most prestigious award for businesses in the U.K,” Holland & Barrett CEO Peter Aldis said in a statement. “We have enjoyed remarkable growth overseas these past few years through investing in acquisitions and our franchise business model . . . Consumers value our expertise and trust the quality of British-made products.”
Sales at Holland & Barrett increased from £513.6 million in fiscal 2014 to £573.8 million in fiscal 2015, with about 26 percent from international sales. The company has nearly 1,100 company-owned and franchised stores. Its core franchise markets are China (35 stores), Singapore (28 stores) and the United Arab Emirates (17 stores). The company aims to double store numbers in these markets in the next two years as part of its effort to boost revenues to £1bn by 2020.
Founded in 1870, Holland & Barrett was originally a grocery and clothing store. It was acquired in 1997 by NBTY, which was purchased in 2010 by the Carlyle Group, a Washington, D.C.-based investment fund.
