It was difficult for him (and especially his wife) to keep it a secret until the award was confirmed with the New Years Honours but now it's official and this respected member of Britain's maritime industrial community can look forward to receiving the well-deserved gong. He says the award 'for services to the defence industry' honours all Giro Engineering's dedicated and loyal workforce past and present.

Giro Engineering Ltd design and manufacture 'Duoline' sheathed diesel injection pipes and systems, primarily for the marine industry. Since the Royal Navy first became interested in the product in 1982, Giro systems have been fitted to most if not all vessels in the British Naval fleet.

Giro products are in service with the US Coast Guard, the US Navy, the Australian Navy, and on passenger and merchant ships throughout the world.

Giro systems are supplied as original equipment on the engines of many major manufacturers, and the company is now making significant inroads with some of China's diesel engine manufacturers. OEM and bespoke replacement/retrofit systems are all manufactured to ISO9001 quality standards.

Paull Williams co-founded Giro Engineering with Stan Cain in August 1980 after a stock exchange dawn raid on the Petrocon Group (parent of their then employer CCL Shipcare) which led to CCL being closed.

Williams and Cain purchased the bare bones (and most importantly, the order book and patents) from CCL, which had been in the early stages of developing and marketing fuel delivery systems which the new partners continued to perfect. Stan Cain retired as MD in 1990 and sadly died shortly afterwards.

Giro Engineering is currently bursting at the seams of its Southampton factory, as the imminent July 2003 mandate of SOLAS Regulation 15 mitigates against recessionary forces elsewhere. IMO SOLAS Regulation 15 requires all vessels over 500 tonnes to have all external high-pressure fuel delivery lines protected with a jacketed system capable of containing fuel from a high-pressure line failure.

Giro Engineering moves confidently forward with the workforce now numbering 31. The enlightened management style of Giro directors Paull Williams and Chris Galley sees all staff receive an open ended invitation to undertake company funded training in any field of personal interest.

Giro continues its firm commitment towards training by running its own apprentice scheme.

On this basis, two ex-Giro apprentices now hold First Class degrees in Mechanical Engineering and one of the Giro senior managers has just achieved a BSc Open University degree in Mechanical Engineering with Business Administration. Perhaps Giro Engineering's next MBE may already be at work for the company.

MJ Information No: 16601