Aprivate medical insurance firm, a computer company that makes graphics for flight simulators and a manufacturer of waterproofing products all receive recognition for their export achievements.

Wadhurst-based Nikwax is the world leader in the manufacture of water-based, environmentally safe waterproofing products for footwear, clothing and equipment.

The company was founded in 1977 by keen rambler Nick Brown to sell his own waterproofing wax for leather walking boots which he developed when he was a student.

The company also makes a waterproofing product that can be applied in a washing machine.

Mr Brown said: "Thirty years ago there were no effective or durable waterproofing products on the market so I began experimenting and came up with a product that even today is hard to beat for waterproofing performance."

The company has seen an 86 per cent increase in exports over the past three years and now has markets in 35 countries. Sales in the UK have risen by 25 per cent. Turnover last year reached £2.2 million.

Mr Brown said: "This is a great achievement for the firm and I'm immensely proud of the entire team. Without their dedication and input it wouldn't have been possible."

High-tech Horsham company Evans & Sutherland is another export leader.

The award marks four years since the company became an independent supplier of commercial flight simulator graphics systems. In that short time E&S has grown from two employees in a backroom operation to more than 90 people and has a staggering 70 per cent share of the market.

E&S supplies the 3D computer graphics systems used in flight simulators to train commercial airline pilots around the world. Many of their customers are household names, including British Airways, American Airlines and Airbus Industries.

David Rushton, E&S commercial director, said: "We started with just the core design team determined to push our parent company's technology - simulation and advanced graphics - into the commercial flight training market, just as the company had done in military and space training programmes.

"Now just four years on, we've increased our turnover seven-fold and we've grown to a 60-strong team in Horsham, plus 30 employees in the U.S. who support our North American operations."

With a staff of 250 at its Brighton headquarters, BUPA International is the largest of the award winners from Sussex.

The company operates a 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year operation, providing health insurance products for 250,000 people in 180 countries. Its entire operation is export and it has seen business grow by a steady four per cent year on year.

The Brighton-based support team deals with everything from patients with the flu to someone with heart failure who needs to be evacuated and flown hundreds of miles for life saving treatment.

Company director Bill Ward said: "In Brighton we have a professional, confident and capable team who have all played a part in the growth of the company. They are our greatest asset."

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