A HAMPSHIRE businessman at the helm of a pioneering marine firm has been rubbing shoulders with royalty.

Chris Hill, from Romsey was delighted to accept the Queen’s Award for Enterprise International Trade from His Royal Highness Prince Philip on behalf of Spinlock., Chris, is CEO of Spinlock, a company based in Cowes which designs and manufactures rope holding equipment for the control of sails on boats, from dinghies to super yachts.

He gave His Royal Highness a tour of the company’s facilities where more than 350,000 products are dispatched annually to more than 25 countries.

Spinlock has been based at Cowes, where there are 44 employees, since 1976. It also has subsidiary based in Rhode Island USA with a team of four.

The Duke of Edinburgh was also given an overview of the complete Spinlock range and a chance to meet the staff, including the designers and the sales and marketing team.

The business also produces an award-winning range of personal safety products for leisure and commercial water users. Spinlock is the official technical supplier of Personal Protective Equipment to the Land Rover BAR (Ben Ainslie Racing) team which is bidding to bring the Americas Cup to these shores for the first time.

Spinlock and has won many awards for design and innovation including overall winner of DAME Award at the 2015 Marine Equipment Trade Show for its Lume-On which illuminates inflated lifejackets.

Chris said: “Following the announcement of the Queen’s Award for Enterprise in recognition of everyone’s hard work, it is a real honour to welcome the Duke of Edinburgh to our facility and at the same time formally receive our Queen’s Award.”

Chris also enjoyed a recent visit to Buckingham Palace with co-owner of Spinlock, Caroline Senior, in recognition the award.