The winner of the Innovation of the Year award winner is expecting 2018 to be a record year for exports.

Hail Weston-based Tensor plc, which specialises in the design and manufacture of security and access control systems was crowned the district’s leading innovator at last year’s Hunts Post Huntingdonshire Business Awards.

Since receiving the honour, the firm says its profile has been raised “considerably” in the area, both with members of the public and with businesses.

On the back of its success, the firm says it expects to see a record exports this year following growth in both the UK and overseas markets.

A spokesman said: “[Winning the award] raised our profile considerably in the local area with both the public and local businesses. It also was testament to, and praised, the fantastic work and efforts that everyone at Tensor puts in order for Tensor to continue to be a great business.”

The development of new software products, a range of new mobile apps, and successful sales campaigns have been highlights in 2018 for Tensor, with plans for further sales growth planned for the rest of the year and beyond.

In terms of challenges the firm faces in future, a struggle to find new, local apprentices has proved a “real concern”.

A spokesman for Tensor added that a “lack of school leavers taking up engineering” had also proven problematic, a situation it hoped would improve in the years ahead.

The judges said that Tensor’s state-of-the-art facial recognition technology set it apart from fellow finalists in the category, making it a worthy winner.

Entries for the 2018 Hunts Post Huntingdonshire Business Awards are now open, including for the Innovation of the Year category.

Judges will be looking to find out how the idea or product is innovative for its business or marketplace, and assess how the idea/product was formed and the stages the business went through to conceive, test and implement it.

The panel will also look for evidence of how the innovation has been proven by usage and supply comparable or measureable results.

To find out more about the category, or this year’s awards, which are taking place at the Burgess Hall, in St Ives, on November 2, log on to www.huntsbusinessawards.co.uk.