An aviation company has been given the Royal seal of approval after picking up a prestigious business award.

Airline Component Services (ACS) Ltd, which has just unveiled its new premises in the Springwood Drive Industrial Estate, Braintree, has been honoured with a Queen’s Award for Enterprise in International Trade for 2018.

To present the business with its new title, Queen's representative Jennifer Tolhurst, Lord-Lieutenant of Essex, visited the premises for a tour.

Graham Higgins, technical director for ACS, said: "Our business is extremely proud and honoured to have received the Queen's Award for Enterprise.

"It is fantastic to have all the hard work, talent and technical experience of the entire team recognised at such a high level.

"Quite simply this significant growth over the past six years would not have been possible without their endeavours."

ACS, which repairs components from Boeing and Airbus aircraft, has just moved into its new facility on the industrial estate where the company’s subsidiary ACS Aviation Industries jointly operates from.

The move will allow the business to double its capacity for repairs and prepare for the anticipated growth of the company over the coming years.

The Queen's Award for Enterprise in International Trade is given in recognition of a firm's continuous growth in overseas trade - where ACS has seen 600 per cent expansion in just six months.

Mr Higgins said: "This award is also a testament to our company's focus on providing specialised technical expertise on aircraft structural components and flying controls.

"Our commitment to providing and delivering these difficult to source components to our customers has been the foundation of this growth."

John Jowers, chairman of Essex County Council, Vanessa Santomauro, chairman of Braintree Council and Jonathan Douglas-Hughes, Vice Lord-Lieutenant of Essex, were all invited to the unveiling of the new premises on Tuesday, September 4.