A Business that supplies the Queen’s Balmoral Estate in Scotland with trailers made in North Wales has been awarded a Royal Warrant.

The accolade has been granted to Balgownie Ltd, a distributor for Ifor Williams Trailers that's based in Inverurie, near Aberdeen.

Balgownie have been supplying the Balmoral Estate with top of the range agricultural machinery for the last decade and director Mike Singer is delighted to have now been granted the official warrant to prove it.

He said: "It’s a great recognition of what we do, of the service we provide and an endorsement of the quality of our business.

"We now get to use the crest on our building and publicity and the phrase ‘By Royal Appointment’ so that everyone knows we are preferred suppliers to the Queen.

"It should be a really good way to promote the business and we’re very proud."

Balgownie, a family firm established in 1907, have equipped the Balmoral estate with various pieces of machinery including Massey Ferguson tractors and the Ifor Williams trailers.

Andrew Reece-Jones, the design engineering manager at Ifor Williams Trailers, said: "We're delighted this honour has been bestowed on Balgownie and we are particularly pleased as it reflects well on the enduring quality of our trailers."

As well as being home to the Royal family in Scotland, it is a 50,000-acre working estate, with grouse moors, forestry, farmland and managed herds of deer, Highland cattle, and ponies so the equipment is essential.

Mike, aged 52, said: "We have one employee, Gary Wink, who deals mainly with the estate and they always ask for same engineer back every time so he gets to go up quite often".

"There are several events over the year that Royal Warrant holders are invited to and one of them is the ball at Balmoral so it’s my turn to go to that.

"There are another half dozen or so warrant holders in Aberdeenshire because of having Balmoral here so we do know some of the others involved."

Although the official badge may enhance the social lives of some holders, there are many events that Mike cannot practically consider attending.

Mike can look forward to future potential royal meetings as the Queen herself is a regular at the local agricultural show in Mike’s home town of Turriff.

The two-day event is the one of the largest of its type in Scotland and Mike remembers Her Majesty’s visit last year.

He said: "She flew in by helicopter and was driven around most of it in her Range Rover but insisted in getting out to look at some of the livestock. She really is quite an outdoors kind of person."

Mike, who has been at Balgownie for 31 years, lives in Turriff with his wife and 19-year-old daughter and is looking forward to the official four-foot high royal crest that will arrive in the next few weeks to be installed on the building.

In the meantime, a smaller indoor version allows the firm to advertise their Royal connections and the warrant will be valid for the next five years, after which it may or may not be renewed.

In order to be bestowed the honour in the first place, a supplier has to have been providing goods to the royal family for five years at least and there are approximately 800 holders in the country.

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News » Royal approval for trailer firm