A family-run firm has won an £11m contract to produce military medals.

Worcestershire Medal Service (WMS) in Birmingham will make every military medal, award and badge except the Victoria Cross under the two-year deal.

The contract, worth about 40,000 medals a year according to the business, will secure jobs for its 50-strong workforce in the Jewellery Quarter.

WMS, which started with £120 worth of stock in 1988, beat The Royal Mint to secure the deal.

The Victoria Cross is made by the London jewellers, Hancocks.WMS has already made the Operation Shader medal, the operational service medal for Iraq and Syria.

The first of these were handed out last week to British personnel.

To read the complete article, see:
Birmingham family firm wins £11m military medals deal(https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-birmingham-44970111)

The Company was founded in 1988 to provide an excellent service at an affordable price. Our aim from the outset was to provide the highest quality medals emblems and related items, together with a first class medal mounting service.

With a knowledge of the subject which now spans over forty years, our Managing Director began the company working from home and began sourcing miniature medals, taking time to check quality of the various manufacturers at the time and selecting the best available using the expert eye of a medal collector to ensure the truest striking of the design along with quality of finish.

The business expanded with the acquisition of a similar business, supplying full size replica medals. Our first steps into manufacturing began by contracting Gladman & Norman to undertake a range of medals in full size along with some miniatures produced in sterling silver and traditional enamels.

In December 2004 the purchase of Gladman & Norman was concluded, and the decision taken to continue operating the manufacturing side of the business under this name, which had been started in 1910. Gladman & Norman are best known for designing and manufacturing the Elizabeth Cross as well as the Royal Red Cross.

Following the purchase we began producing a full range of miniatures, correcting some of the products that had been available that were not true to specification. The Efficiency Decoration (Territorial) being the first that we produced to the correct size (half of the full size award) rather than the small badge that had been available to this point.

Using the latest technology to produce dies ensures we now hold an unrivalled range of dies that run from Waterloo to the latest medal for the NATO mission in Libya.

In 2008 we were delighted to be granted a Royal Warrant as Medallists to Her Majesty The Queen. In the same year we began our supplies to St James's Palace of OBE's and MBE's.

Today we manufacture a wider range of state insignia in the UK to that of any other single manufacturer supplying various grades of The Order of The Bath, The Order of St Michael & St George, The Royal Victorian Order, The Order of The British Empire, Companions of Honour, Distinguished Service Order, Knights Bachelor, The British Empire Medal and The Imperial Service Medal.

To visit the firm's web site, see:
https://www.worcmedals.com/