Royal seal for mobile phone firm

We may never know if the Queen uses the national anthem for a ringtone or text messages the royal offspring, but we know where she buys her mobile phones - a Royal Warrant has been granted to Carphone Warehouse.

The prized warrant, which comes into force from 1 January and is approved until 2006, recognises the company as "the sole and direct supplier of mobile communications to the Royal Household for the last five years".

The Carphone Warehouse becomes the first listed mobile phone company to secure the distinction and the company is redesigning its stationery and literature to feature the Queen's crest and the esteemed "by appointment to her Majesty the Queen".

Carphone's chief executive and chairman Charles Dunstone, who built the firm from scratch into Europe's largest mobile retailer in 12 years, described the warrant as a "great honour".

Royal warrants have been regarded as a mark of excellence since the first was awarded in 1155.

Only 800 companies hold the warrants, which are awarded by the four most senior members of the royal family.

City & Business