A WORLD of Buzz welcomed The Lord-Lieutenant of West Sussex Susan Pyper who presented the company with a prestigious Queen’s Award for Enterprise.

The Goring-based business– which includes three distinct companies, World of Books, World of Rare Books and Ziffit - is one of only 100 UK businesses receiving the award for outstanding contribution to International Trade.

The Lord-Lieutenant of West Sussex is Her Majesty’s personal representative in the county.

She was met with a warm welcome from Stephen Boobyer, CEO of A World of Buzz and other staff at the company’s headquarters..

Guests also included Conservative MP Sir Peter Bottomley, Lionel Barnard, Chairman of West Sussex County Council, and Alex Harman, Mayor of Worthing.

The group, which also opened a custom-fitted warehouse in Chichester at the start of the year, has seen significant growth across all three companies thanks largely to international development.

After a short tour of the warehouse and offices, the award was presented by The Lord-Lieutenant and Deputy Lieutenant for the County of West Sussex Susan Pyper and Denise Patterson.

Mrs Pyper said: “I had no idea of the scale of the operation that you run here in Goring, and it is so impressive.

“I am so happy and privileged to present this Queen’s Award for Enterprise to you today. Many companies large and small apply and very few are selected to receive this hugely prestigious award.”

Accepting the award, which consists of a Citation and commemorative crystal bowl bearing the Queen’s Award emblem, Stephen Boobyer, CEO of A World of Buzz said: “The Queen’s Award for Enterprise is a huge accolade and I am incredibly proud of the team for receiving such prestigious recognition in the international trade category.

“When we started this business back in 2008, our ambition was to become the largest seller of used books in the world.

“We are now well on track to achieving this and I look forward to driving significant growth and expansion both within the UK and internationally in the years to come.”

The Queen’s Awards have been announced this year for outstanding business achievement in the fields of International Trade, Innovation, Sustainable Development and Promoting Opportunity Through Social Mobility.

Winners of The Queen’s Awards also receive an invitation to attend a special reception at Buckingham Palace

World of Books Ltd, World of Rare Books Ltd and Ziffit.com are privately owned companies within the World of Buzz Group.

World of Books is a Sussex based company that sells quality used books at competitive prices to millions of online customers worldwide each year.

Established by a group of dedicated book lovers, over the past 10 years World of Books has seen its inventory grow from 1,000 books to over two million in stock.

Through its nationwide book collection and recycling service World of Books purchase surplus books from charity shops throughout the UK generating valuable and much needed income for these charitable causes.

World of Books are pioneers in the re-use and recycling of unwanted books, preventing about 70 million books from going into landfill each year, equivalent to saving over 375,000 trees.

World of Rare Books specialises in rare, antiquarian and vintage books, including first editions of all genres.

www.ziffit.comZiffit is a free and easy to use website to sell unwanted books, CDs, DVDs, Blu-rays and games for cash.

Up to half-a-million items a month have been sold on the site since it launched in 2013.