Gateshead firm celebrates King’s Award

A North East manufacturer has earned royal recognition after developing an award-winning water testing platform used around the world.

Gateshead-based Palintest has received a King’s Award for Enterprise in the Innovation category for its Kemio water testing system, designed and patented at the company’s Team Valley headquarters.

Launched in 2019 following three years of in-house research and development, Kemio is now used in more than 30 countries across sectors including utilities, healthcare and food production.

Delivering water testing results in around 60 seconds, the technology removes the need for specialist training, glassware or chemical reagents.

Kemio has been deployed by a UK water utility serving 3.8 million people, public health authorities in Canada and hospital wastewater monitoring projects in China during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Since its launch, the innovation has helped drive revenue growth and expand the company’s international reach, with Palintest now employing 128 people in Gateshead.

Managing director Georgina Perkins said: "Winning the King's Award for Enterprise is a real honour. 

“Research and development and the wider Palintest team have worked hard to achieve this standard, it’s well-recognised, and it carries genuine prestige. 

“It tells customers and partners around the world that Kemio is a proven British innovation. 

“We'll carry that with pride.”

Founded in 1975, Palintest has manufactured electrochemical measurement technology in the North East since the early 2000s and forms part of Halma Plc.

The King’s Award follows a previous Queen’s Award for International Trade received by the business in 2013 and provides a five-year mark of recognition for innovation and commercial success.

Research and development manager Kevin McDermott, who led the development programme, added: “Kemio is a Gateshead success story – developed entirely in the North East and now trusted worldwide in safety‑critical applications. 

“Above all, it stands as a major achievement for Palintest’s engineering and scientific teams, whose skill, dedication, and collaboration made it possible.”

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