North West Queen’s Award winners (2): TISS: From Baked Bean Tin to Buckingham Palace!
Blackpool based TISS Ltd is celebrating having won the Queen’s Award for Enterprise, widely recognised as the UK’s most prestigious Business Award
The company received the award for its exceptional growth in international trade which has resulted in exports rising from 13% to 45% of the company’s turnover in just three years.
The Queen’s Award for Enterprise is an annual award approved by the Queen under the recommendation of the Prime Minister. TISS is a family-run company founded in 2001 by father & son Brian and Ryan Wholey, former hauliers searching for solutions to address the real-life security issues they faced operating their own haulage company.
The international success of TISS is down to its market-leading range of TankSafe fuel security devices, which is spearheaded by the TankSafe ‘Impregnable’ Fuel Security and Safety Device – the only fuel security solution that completely prevents any siphoning, skimming and overfilling.
The current advanced engineered TankSafe devices have developed from the humble beginnings of an early prototype based on a baked beans tin with holes drilled into the bottom. From this primitive concept, the product has evolved substantially with each new design launch. The device is now patented in 39 territories globally and is one of 63 product lines, enabling fitment to any vehicle around the world.
TISS’ international adventure began in part as a consequence of the downturn in UK truck sales in 2009. Looking for alternative sales avenues, the company began to research and exploit export opportunities, with significant assistance and advice from UKTI. Since the company’s early international forays, the expansion has been rapid; TISS now boasts offices or distributors in over 40 major territories around the world including Mexico, South Africa, Germany and UAE.
Director of TISS, Matthew Rose, was understandably delighted: “This is a very proud moment for all at TISS and testimony to the hard work of the entire team over the past few years. We know we have a market-leading product and it is fantastic to see our belief in the product recognised with such a prestigious award”.
Managing Director of TISS, Ryan Wholey, was equally as thrilled. “When we started the business in 2001 we knew it had huge potential. However, we never envisaged being in a position that we would be receiving the UK’s highest business award”.
The directors foresee the Queen’s Award as the catalyst for the next stage of the company’s ambitious expansion plans over the next three years in which it intends to enter into 16 new major territories. The directors would also like to express their gratitude to all past and present long serving members of staff, shareholders, and non executive directors.
