A TINY team in Highworth that provides keg-monitoring tech to breweries around the world has won a Queen's Award for Enterprise.

Rotech's four employees celebrated receiving the national honour with their friends and family, the Lord Leftenant of Wiltshire and the Mayor of Swindon at a ceremony in Arkell's.

The company develops an electric keg monitoring line that allows breweries to track what is happening inside every barrel of beer while it's being washed, disinfected, gassed and filled.

Operations director Chris Thwaites set the business up with managing director Justin Walshe in 1988 and they now supply 250 customers in 62 countries.

Mr Thwaites said: "Justin's determination to improve the system over the years has brought us to where we are now as a world leader.

"We started doing keg tests with Guiness years ago and that got us known in the brewery industry, then it just built steadily from there.

"There are agents working on our behalf in other countries, otherwise this operation wouldn't be possible.

"To receive this award is incredible, though I felt confident because we don't really have much competition in what we do. I don't know what the future will bring, we take each day as it comes."

Their innovative system developed from the business' base in Blackworth Industrial Estate is used regularly by Heineken, Carlsberg, Molson-Coors, and AB-InBev as well as many independents in the USA, South America, China, Africa and Europe.

It ensures that the beer being brewed is in good condition right up until it's packaged and distributed.

Mr Walshe said: "We would have been quite happy just being shortlisted so to win was really out of the blue and amazing. For a tiny outfit like us, it's brilliant to have the mayor and Lord Leftenant there. We never expected our business to grow this much when we started, it's very rewarding.

"There are around 5,000 breweries big enough to use what we supply and we help hundreds at the moment so we want to grow to supply all of them."

Mayor Kevin Parry said: "This award is like an MBE so it's great that it has gone to a small company that's conquered the world because of its hard work and innovation."