Ocean Signal was officially honoured for achieving a King’s Award for Enterprise at a high-profile royal reception hosted by His Majesty The King at St James’s Palace on Wednesday (8thJuly).
Ocean Signal’s Chief Technical Officer and founding member Simon Nolan represented the Margate company at the evening celebration, where King Charles III personally congratulated industry leaders and pioneers from across the UK.
His Majesty was joined by senior royals at the event, including Her Royal Highness Princess Anne, The Princess Royal, who is President of the RYA. Ocean Signal, a leading manufacturer of life-saving equipment for the maritime, outdoor, defence and aviation markets, was awarded a King’s Award for Enterprise 2026 in the Innovation category, an honour regarded as one of the highest official business accolades in the world.
The Margate company achieved the honour for its groundbreaking rescueME PLB3 Personal Locator Beacon – the world’s first PLB to merge 406MHz and AIS (Automatic Identification System) capability.
Simon Nolan, who is one of the world’s leading experts in radar enhancement technology, said: “Receiving the King’s Award for Enterprise in Innovation is a tremendous honour for our team. The rescueME PLB3 reflects years of engineering focus on improving survival outcomes through faster, more reliable distress alerting. This recognition is a testament to the dedication of our people in Margate and our commitment to advancing life-saving technology.”
The PLB3, which was also named the overall winner of the METSTRADE DAME Design Awards in 2022, redefines what is possible in personal safety technology by integrating global satellite alerts, local AIS positioning, confirmation through RLS (Return Link Service), and mobile connectivity, improving speed and accuracy of rescues and providing vital reassurance to survivors across the commercial and leisure sectors.
The prestigious King’s Award provides powerful recognition of Ocean Signal’s commitment to saving more lives and its continued leadership in the development of next-generation safety devices which set new standards in the industry.
