A WATER firm has retained its Royal endorsement for the standard of its service.

Northumbrian Water Limited (NWL) has received a second successive Queen’s Award for Enterprise.

The honour highlights companies deemed outstanding in their field, with NWL praised for delivering high standards of drinking water and waste water treatment.

The firm, which supplies 2.6 million customers in the region, was previously handed the title in 2008, with the award held for five years.

Bosses say the company was one of eight businesses in the North-East to gain the accreditation and the only one in the region to be hailed for sustainable development.

They added the firm, which provides services for 1.8 million customers in the South-East as Essex and Suffolk Water in the South, was one of only three in that region to achieve the award for sustainable development.

Judges awarded NWL the honour after praising its innovative work, which included turning sewage sludge into energy at waste water treatment works on Teesside and Tyneside and using ice to clean large water pipes across the region.

Heidi Mottram OBE, NWL’s chief executive, said: “We are incredibly proud to receive this award for the second time and to have this royal endorsement continuously for a decade.

“Everyone in the company has played an important part in our success.

“This recognition reflects our determination to become the best water and waste water company in the UK and our continued effort and commitment to protect and improve the environment, support local communities, contribute to the economy, be innovative and to the well being of our people.”

The Queen’s Award comes after NWL was hailed by The Ethisphere Institute after winning a string of titles at the Utility Week Achievement Awards.

Other North-East Queen’s Award successes include Inov-8 Limited, which designs and makes running shoes at its headquarters in Crook, County Durham, and Middlesbrough-born Ann Stonehouse, who has inspired women across the region to set up their own firms.

Ikon Geopressure, in Durham City, Middlesbrough’s Cordex Instruments and Tyneside’s Integrated Display Systems and Thomas Miller Claims Management were rewarded with awards for international trade.

Stockton's Catalytic Technologies, which supplies the food and drinks packaging industry, was named in the innovation category.

Energy industry cable maker JDR Cable Systems, in Hartlepool, was recognised for helping to boost UK exports.