Skip to navigation Skip to content

Hutton innovation and excellence recognised at 2016 Perthshire Chamber of Commerce Awards

James Hutton Institute honoured at Star Awards (courtesy)
“The accolades really belong to our staff, whose ingenuity, application and endeavour are key to our research and to its recognition at home and abroad.

The inventiveness and effort of staff at the James Hutton Institute were recognised with a score of awards - including the top prize - at the Perthshire Chamber of Commerce Business Star Awards, held at the Crieff Hydro with over 300 guests from around Perthshire in attendance.

The Institute's research on pulses was presented with the Blackadders Excellence in Business Innovation Award, followed by the Stagecoach Contribution to Sustainability Award given to our “Magic Margins”, finishing off with the Business of the Year Award.

Professor Colin Campbell, Chief Executive of the James Hutton Institute, said: “We are delighted the Institute has been recognised with all three awards by the Perthshire Chamber of Commerce.

“The accolades really belong to our staff, whose ingenuity, application and endeavour are key to our research and to its recognition at home and abroad. Their inputs drive our work for sustainable use of land and natural resources.

“We are also delighted to support the Tay Cities Deal, which we hope will reinforce Tayside’s position as a region of knowledge for the benefit of Scotland, and a genuine and exciting opportunity to make Tayside a leading global centre for food and agriculture.”

Dr Pete Iannetta accepted the Blackadders Business Innovation Award presented to the Institute for its research on pulses and associated uses in high-value products. Innovative products and end-uses arising from this strand of research have this year reached commercial production in the form of beer, baked goods and salmon food.

Similarly, Euan Caldwell, Head of Farm, Field and Glasshouses, picked up the Stagecoach Contribution to Sustainability Award given to the Institute’s ‘magic margins’. The margins are a solution to the problem of soil erosion, caused by heavier rainfall on sloping fields. The margins are now integrated into the Institute's farming system, as part of its LEAF (Linking Environment And Farming) principles.

The Food & Drink Producer of the Year Award, sponsored by the James Hutton Institute for the fifth year running, was presented by Professor Derek Stewart to Strathearn Distillery.

On presenting the award, Professor Stewart commented: “The breadth of innovation, imagination and high-quality produce on offer in Perth and Kinross continues to amaze me.

“As a scientist working in an Institute with strong elements of food and drink innovation and sustainability is it heartening that we can work with small to large companies embodying and employing this ethos too.”

Press and media enquiries: 

Bernardo Rodriguez-Salcedo, Media Manager, Tel: +44 (0)1224 395089 (direct line), +44 (0)344 928 5428 (switchboard) or +44 (0)7791 193918 (mobile).


Printed from /news/hutton-innovation-and-excellence-recognised-2016-perthshire-chamber-commerce-awards on 28/03/24 04:23:51 PM

The James Hutton Research Institute is the result of the merger in April 2011 of MLURI and SCRI. This merger formed a new powerhouse for research into food, land use, and climate change.