Fast-growing Inverurie company Zenith Oilfield Technology is celebrating after winning a prestigious prize at one of Scotland's largest business award ceremonies this week.

The technology development company scooped first prize in ‘Commitment to Innovative use of R&D’ at this year’s Northern Star Business Awards held at Aberdeen Exhibition and Conference Centre on Thursday, October 6.

More than 1,000 people attended the annual Aberdeen & Grampian Chamber of Commerce event, which was hosted by TV presenter Gaby Roslin, to recognise the success of a number of businesses, employees and campaigns in the north-east.

Zenith was shortlisted for two award categories: ‘Commitment to Innovative Use of R&D’ and ‘Rising Star’ which highlighted the skills of development engineer Mark Fisher for his work on a number of the company’s industry-leading projects.

In 2010, Zenith reinvested £1.2m in R&D, including the creation of the Special Technology Group; a dedicated team set up with the objective to drive forward groundbreaking research and development. This allowed the company to deliver game-changing tools to the artificial lift sector of the global oil and gas industry.

"It is a great achievement to be recognised for our innovation with a Northern Star Business Award. We’ve enjoyed significant international growth and this is down to continued investment in cutting edge research and development and in our people."

Greg Davie, Managing Director

With 85 staff, operating out of 30 countries, Zenith has increased its international sales by 60% in the last two years whilst creating a further 20 local jobs and supporting the community.

The company, which employs 55 people at its Inverurie headquarters, also received the Queen’s award for the second time this year for generating export sales which exceeded £75 million since start up in 2004.

Some of the trailblazing technology Zenith has developed includes ‘XT’, a system that monitors oil and gas well pressure and temperatures at up to 500 Celsius.

The company has also pioneered ‘Z-Sight’ – an intelligent well surveillance tool that gathers crucial information from wells and processes it providing key data to well management teams enabling optimal oil recovery.

Zenith’s growth can be attributed to the increased need for its technologies as the search for hydrocarbons intensifies in fields with heavy oil and more mature basins.

The majority of the company’s work comes from oil and gas operators and service companies working and producing in the Middle and Far East but has also achieved significant sales in North and South America, North and West Africa as well as the Far East.