A Derbyshire manufacturing firm putting the nuts and bolts into some of the world’s most extreme environments has won a prestigious King’s Award for Enterprise – the UK’s highest business honour.
Dronfield-based West Special Fasteners, which makes high integrity fasteners and precision components now holding together structures as varied as the Triton Submarine in the Mariana Trench; the famous Helix Bridge in Singapore and the Spinnaker Tower in Portsmouth, won the award in the Innovation category.
The company, which employs 68 people and makes 850,000 nuts and bolts a year used in demanding environments within the offshore energy, subsea, nuclear and defence industries, is one of just 186 businesses around the UK which have won a King’s Award for Enterprise in 2026.
The UK’s highest business honour, a King’s Award for Enterprise is equivalent to an MBE and awarded in recognition for outstanding achievement in four categories: innovation, sustainability, promoting opportunity and international trade.
Representatives from winning businesses are invited to a Royal reception, often hosted by King Charles at Buckingham Palace or Windsor Castle.
West Special Fasteners was started in 1999 with a small amount of equipment by a group of colleagues including current co-owner James Hawkins.
The company has steadily grown and makes specialised components designed to perform reliably in the world’s most challenging environments where structures are at risk of corrosion due to factors such as acidity, salt water or high temperatures.
Designed and made in the heart of Derbyshire, these nuts, bolts, studs and fasteners are in use all over the world, holding together gas and oil platforms off the coast of Scotland in the North Sea, high rise buildings in many locations, cutting-edge Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) projects in Australia, offshore wind farms and pumping stations in the Gulf of Mexico, with expansion due soon into aerospace projects too.
James said it was the first time the company has ever won an award which represents Royal recognition of constant innovative practices honed over the last 17 years.
He said: “We’ve had to keep innovating over the years in order to stay afloat in what is a constantly evolving market. To get this award for innovation from the King is a real honour and one we are all very proud of.
“It has been achieved by making lots of incremental changes since 2009. We’ve improved tooling; we’ve improved process speed and as the metals we work with develop, we develop a method for forging the next one and the next. We’re constantly evolving so we can keep our business running and keep employing people here in Derbyshire.”
West Special Fasteners has received the King’s Award for Enterprise for Innovation for its work developing a forging and heat treatment process enabling the manufacture of fasteners from advanced corrosion-resistant alloy metals including super duplex and high nickel materials.
The hot forging method is more energy efficient and enables manufacturers to cut down on waste by up to 40 per cent.
Within the industry it is in widespread use when making products from steel but West Special Fasteners’ innovation is to develop a process with exotic alloys which have traditionally been difficult to forge.
Not only does it enable a far more efficient production process, it also improves the structural integrity of the forged items destined to withstand corrosive environments.
West Special Fasteners’ innovation has undergone rigorous independent technical validation and is supported by qualification to internationally recognised standards.
Company co-owner and managing director Sonja Skelton said: “I’m very passionate about this company and about UK manufacturing. For this company to get the recognition of a King’s Award, which I think is the best recognition you can get, it’s just outstanding. I’m so excited for the employees. Every single person who works here has made a contribution to the success and hopefully we can keep it going for many years to come.
“It’s amazing just to think a little engineering company in Dronfield is winning a King’s Award. But we deserve it, because we push forward. We never stop. We invest in our employees and they are proud to work here and proud to be in engineering.”
This story was written and shared on behalf of West Special Fasteners by Lucy Stephens. Can we share your news and get you in the headlines too? Find out how we can help by getting in touch.
