TWO Oxfordshire companies received their Queen's Awards for exports from the Lord Lieutenant, Hugo Brunner.

Acting on behalf of the Queen, he presented the awards for export achievement to Oxfordshire Business of the Year Award winner Software 2000 and to Solid State Logic, based in Begbroke.

Software 2000, which started its current business of producing drivers to transfer information from computers to printers in 1989, last year achieved 80 per cent growth and quadrupled export earnings.

Technical director Tony Harris said: "Although many users of colour inkjet printers from manufacturers such as Epson, Lexmark and Olivetti are probably unaware of who we are, we recently calculated that one of our printer drivers ships every three seconds of the day, 365 days a year, and the number is increasing all the time."

Solid State Logic, which spearheaded a revolution in music console production at its former convent premises in Begbroke, took a Queen's Award for the fourth time.

The twin areas of operation for the company's products are manipulating music as it is performed and secondly post-production synchronisation, including dubbing films into foreign languages. Managing director John Jeffery said: "This is the company's fourth Queen's Award, and it represents another important milestone for us. It has been awarded in recognition of our success in export sales over a sustained period of six years."

Between 1991 and 1997 the company's turnover doubled with 96 per cent of sales achieved abroad.

The firm employs nearly 300 people at its head office in Begbroke, which acts as host to music industry top names using its demonstration and training facilities.

According to Billboard figures, 98 singles out of every Hot 100 hit singles were made using SSL equipment.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.