Carina Evans, CEO of Podium Pet Products, was welcomed by King Charles at a Buckingham Palace reception to mark the company’s achievement of being honoured with a King’s Award for Enterprise.

The Berkshire-based company, whose popular brands include Dog Rocks and Be:Loved, has been recognised for its excellence in international trade.

Podium Pet Products is one of 148 organisations to receive a first-ever King’s Award for Enterprise. However, it is the second time a prestigious award of this kind has been bestowed on the company after Dog Rocks won the Queen’s Award for Enterprise in 2016.

During the reception at Buckingham Palace, His Majesty met a diverse group of winners from across the United Kingdom, many of whom lead in their fields of innovation, international trade, and sustainable development.

Instituted by Royal Warrant in 1965, The King's Award for Enterprise is the most prestigious business awards in the United Kingdom, with recipients recognised as being among the best of British businesses.

This is the 57th year of the Awards and the first-year recipients will receive a King’s Awards for Enterprise, following the programme’s recent name change (formerly The Queen’s Award for Enterprise).

Carina Evans said: “It was a marvellous day at Buckingham Palace, and to meet King Charles was a great honour. Being recognised with the King’s Award for Enterprise is recognition of the hard work, innovation and inspiration of our talented team.”

Carina and her team have worked hard at the exporting side of the business, which now makes up more than half of the company’s sales.

She started the company in 2006 when a family friend mentioned a fantastic product called Dog Rocks that was selling well in Australia. She was working as an operations manager for a company that owned racecourses at the time but decided to start importing Dock Rocks. The product took off immediately in the UK and Carina managed to combine her two jobs for a couple of years before deciding to concentrate solely on the Dog Rocks business.

The Be:Loved range took off after Carina found an old animal husbandry book, which contained a treasure trove of recipes to create treatments and balms to calm and soothe human and animal alike. These recipes were reimagined for the Be:Loved brand.

“Being honoured with a King’s Award for Enterprise for International Trade 2023 will help us grow the business in all our markets, and it is an accolade to be treasured.”

Carina was also presented to The Duchess of Edinburgh, who attended the Buckingham Palace reception, along with The Duke Edinburgh, and The Duke and Duchess of Gloucester.

For more information about Podium Pet Products visit www.podiumpetproducts.com