IFPL Honoured with a 2021 Queen’s Award for Enterprise for ‘Innovation’

IFPL Founder and CEO Geoff Underwood accepts the 2021 Queen's Award for Enterprise for 'Innovation', presented by HM Lord-Lieutenant of the Isle of Wight, Mrs Susie Sheldon JP.

IFPL has been presented with a third Queen’s Award for Enterprise as part of the company’s twenty-fifth anniversary celebrations.

IFPL Founder and CEO Geoff Underwood accepted the award at a celebration for family, friends and invited guests on Saturday 7th August. The accolade was presented to IFPL by HM Lord-Lieutenant of the Isle of Wight, Mrs Susie Sheldon JP alongside Deputy Lieutenant Mrs Claire Locke.

Prior to the ceremony, Mrs Sheldon toured our head office and manufacturing facility, receiving a “behind the scenes” insight into how our award-winning aircraft interior products are created and meeting with excited members of the team.

This Queen’s Award for Enterprise follows our previous wins in the ‘International Trade’ category in 2008 and 2014. This year, we are truly honoured to have been recognised in the field of innovation for our design of an NFC Payment Unit, a contactless payment and personalisation device for use in commercial passenger aircraft. The device can be installed as an addition to seatback inflight entertainment systems, and solves the problems of its predecessors’ poor reliability, expensive production costs, and vulnerability to fraud. Additionally, the NFC Payment Unit is the smallest Payment Card Industry (PCI) approved NFC contactless card reader flying today.
Founder and CEO Geoff Underwood commented in his acceptance speech:

Our NFC Payment Unit is such a unique device. Contactless payment is nothing new, but contactless payment on an aircraft brought its own technical challenges which took us the best part of several years to solve. I want to give credit to the team that worked on this device, they deserve recognition for working tirelessly on the development of this fantastic product.

GEOFF UNDERWOOD

The Queen’s Awards for Enterprise celebrate the success of exciting and innovative businesses which are leading the way with pioneering products and services. This year, 205 businesses were recognised nationally for their contributions to ‘International Trade’, ‘Innovation’, ‘Sustainable Development’, and ‘Promoting Opportunity (through Social Mobility)’.

First established in 1965, over 7000 companies have since received an award, with many successfully using the momentum from their achievement to secure new business and venture into new markets.

Now in its 55th year, the Queen’s Awards for Enterprise are the most prestigious business awards in the country, with winning businesses personally approved by Her Majesty the Queen. 

For media enquiries, please contact alysia.schuetzle@ifpl.com.

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