HM Lord-Lieutenant of South Yorkshire presents Doncaster firm with second Queen's Award for Enterprise

The family-owned business, which manufactures vegetable handling equipment, was recognised in 2022's Innovation category for its Rota-Tip Top Eject.

The energy-efficient, highly reliable and feature-rich box tipping machine is used to unload delicate fresh produce in food factories worldwide.

Speaking at the presentation, Duane Hill, Haith's managing director, said: "We are immensely proud to be receiving this award, our second Queen's Award for Enterprise in the Innovation category, the most prestigious award a UK business can receive and an award that wouldn't have been possible without our dedicated team.

"I would like to sincerely thank everyone involved in developing the Rota-Tip TE but give special thanks to our customers, who set us the challenge of designing a way to empty vegetable boxes in a safer and more efficient way.

"I also need to thank David Haith, who led the design of the original concept and Nigel Haith, who made the patent application and entered the Rota-tip to be considered for a Queen's Award for Enterprise.

"We have achieved this award by building upon the firm engineering foundations that the late Geoff Haith started back in 1947 and by expanding and investing in the Haith business.

"We are acutely aware that we have won this award in the last year that it will be known as the Queen's Award for Enterprise, and we offer our condolences with sympathy to the Royal Family as we remember and reflect on the Queen's remarkable life as the reigning monarch for 70 years."

The Queen's Award for Enterprise are the most prestigious accolades for businesses and individuals in the United Kingdom. The entry process is rigorous and highly competitive. The winners are announced annually on 21 April, the birthday of Her Late Majesty The Queen.

The Rota-Tip TE is the second Haith machine to receive a Queen's Award for Enterprise for Innovation. The company's Root Veg Polisher was recognised in 2010.

The presentation follows a reception at Buckingham Palace, which Mr Hill attended in July.

As well as His Majesty's Lord-Lieutenant of South Yorkshire, Phil Barraclough, Lieutenancy Officer for South Yorkshire and Dan Fell, CEO of Doncaster Chamber, attended the ceremony at Haith's Armthorpe factory.

Haith was established in 1947 by the late Geoff Haith and has grown to employ over 120 people, who design and manufacture a comprehensive range of vegetable handling machines, spanning grading, washing, bulk handling, weighing, pre-pack systems and water treatment solutions. Haith's machines are relied upon by some of the world's largest food producers and packing companies, along with farmers of all sizes in the UK and overseas.

Since introducing the Up-Eject system, Haith has sold over 180 machines to most of the UK's leading fresh produce suppliers and exported them to Europe, Japan, Israel, Canada and the United States. In the UK, Mr Hill estimates that 95% of the potato suppliers to UK's supermarkets use a Rota-Tip, meaning Haith's award-winning machine will have handled the vast majority of potatoes sold in Britain.

For more information about Haith and its award-winning vegetable handling machines, visit www.haith.co.uk