Awards take the grind out of work for Zeeko

Later the same evening, the company's managing director, Richard Freeman, personally won the accolade of regional Business Executive of the Year, sponsored by the University of Leicester. The event, held at Leicester City FC's King Power Stadium on 22 November, was attended by about 300 business leaders, including directors of some of the county's biggest and best-performing companies. Ultra-precision polishing machine and measuring equipment manufacturer Zeeko was co-founded in 2000 by Mr Freeman and Professor David Walker of University College London. The company supplies CNC machines that form-correct and polish surfaces, some highly complex, down to tolerances measured in tens of nanometres. Customers worldwide produce a multiplicity of products using the machines, from astronomical telescope mirror segments and compact camera lenses to orthopaedic joints, semiconductor wafers and precision moulds. Hours before the double win, Zeeko secured an order worth a six-figure sum from the Italian Institute of Astrophysics (INAF). Managers from the new customer were there as guests during the evening to see Mr Freeman collect both trophies. He said: "These awards are recognition not only of me, but also of our highly skilled workforce and what we have achieved as a company. "Success is built on teamwork and the relationship with your customers, but in our case it's also down to hard work and innovation by the exceptional scientific innovators at Zeeko. "We are expanding all the time and currently have about 50 staff, but it will be 60 before long. We have 12 months' worth of work in the order book." Zeeko has doubled turnover every two years since it was established, to reach £9 million in the last financial year. In 2011, the company won a Queen's Award for Innovation after it developed a fabrication centre that allows large optics to be made much more accurately, quickly and safely. It has also won numerous other awards during its relatively short history and holds over 50 international patents.