Daresbury-based Advanced Process Control firm Perceptive Engineering has won the inaugural Merseyside Innovation Awards Prestige Award.

Introduced to mark the 21st anniversary of the awards, the Prestige Award looks to recognise businesses with a turnover of £1m-£25m who are investing in innovation and employment in the Liverpool City Region, on a larger scale than the main award contenders.

The first company chosen to receive this award was Perceptive Engineering.

The company delivers Advanced Process Control (APC) solutions to industry, using innovative combinations of Multi-Variate Statistical Process Monitoring and Model Predictive Control.

Perceptive uses big data and sophisticated modeling to ensure industrial processes – from pharmaceutical manufacturing to waste water treatment – not only work at their optimum level now, but can predict the impact of changes on future operation, then react to ensure the plants remain at their optimum operating point.

In waste water treatment, this results in energy savings of up to 35%, while still meeting or exceeding environmental quality targets.

Perceptive’s annual turnover is currently around £1.7m and it employs 22 people at Daresbury.

Receiving the award on behalf of the firm, principal engineer Matthew McEwan said:

“We are incredibly proud to be the first recipients of this award.

“To have started as a university spin-out in 2003, to be here now, receiving this award and working with local universities to provide opportunities for graduate engineers in this region is fantastic.

“We have an incredible talented team of engineers from all over the world and we could be based anywhere, but we chose to be based here because the North West and the Liverpool City Region is a great place for innovation and industry.”

Brian McCann, MIA founder and partner and director of MC Vanguard Corporate Finance said:

“Introducing the Prestige Award gave us an opportunity to recognise those firms locally that have gone beyond start-up and phase one and who are now making a significant contribution to the regional economy through investment and job creation.

“Perceptive Engineering is a great example of a business that is not just innovating, but continues to grow and create solutions.

“The Prestige Award highlights to the main award winners that this is not the end of their journey, but the beginning.  The more businesses we have that grow from start-up to more than £1m turnover the better for the Liverpool City Region economy and everyone within it.”

The main Merseyside Innovation Award this year was won by Knowsley-based Reach and Rescue for their carbon fibre telescopic rescue pole for emergency services.

To learn more about the Merseyside Innovation Awards visit www.merseysideinnovationawards.co.uk.