BALLINGRY business Ivan Wood and Sons collected two prestigious gongs at the Scottish Knowledge Exchange 2017 Awards.

Peel Tech, the innovative filtration system developed by Malcolm Wood and his team at the Navity Farm base, won the Innovation of the Year Award with part of the Ivan Wood team, Lee-Anne McGee, won the Building Skills Through Knowledge Exchange category.

Malcolm Wood does admit to having a 'eureka moment' in the middle of the night which came up with the unique affordable starch filtration system which can help chip shop businesses.

New legislation preventing fast food outlets from disposing of food and starch waste in public drains prompted Malcolm to make the move and he is first to admit it has been a try, try and try again process.

He said: "I had this idea but it took a bit of trial and error to get it working perfectly and since then we have been able to develop other aspects of what it can do.

"This was a magnificent day for us and is shows how far the Pearl Tech system has come in a relatively short space of time."

The judges commented on noting the significant innovation behind the product in meeting environmental and regulatory needs while demonstrating a clear commercial opportunity in the UK and overseas.

Meanwhile a Knowledge Transfer Partnership Associate from Abertay University who worked with Ivan Wood and Sons to improve the Peel Tech filtration system triumphed in the Building Skills through Knowledge Exchange category.

Lee-Anne McGee redesigned and validated the filtration system, reducing waste materials and generating sales within the UK and Europe.

Lee-Anne implemented a Food Quality Management System, which resulted in significant cost savings to both the company wages and packaging. She also impressed the judges by developing a high quality vegetable stock from the recovered starch to be sold as a new product to the food service industry.

Lee-Anne said: "I have really enjoyed being able to work on this project and help Malcolm develop his idea and am looking forward to the other stages of the Peel Tech idea."

Scottish Government Minister for Business, Innovation and Energy praised Malcolm and Lee-Anne: "This has been a truly innovate project between business and academia and such is the strength of partnerships formed the disciplines are crucial for improving productivity and playing a vital role in shaping Scotland's future."