Scotland's first ever 'Business to College' honours recognised the support further education centres provide helping businesses to develop.

As well as winning the Innovation category along with Ineos Manufacturing Scotland Ltd, they were highly commended in the Workforce Development category for their work with Alstom Train Care.

There were further accolades as Forth Valley was named College of the Year in recognition of the exemplary training it offers to industry.

The innovation award recognised the link up with Ineos through the company-sponsored Engineers of the Future training programme – a five-year Masters degree course combining practical skills with academic training.

William Kane, Ineos youth development manager, said: "For us there was recognition of the value to the company of recruiting work-ready graduates. We needed a training solution that would meet the business needs of the company and fulfil the academic requirements for participants to progress to graduate level.

"Teaming up with Forth Valley College, in partnership with Heriot-Watt University, has been very successful. We now have a unique five-year programme which develops candidates' practical skills, professional and managerial knowledge, resulting in a Masters degree."

The college's training provision for Alstom Train Care was also praised. The programme ensured the workforce at the company's Glasgow maintenance depot was equipped to deal with the rapidly-changing technology of new generation trains.

Bernie Boyce, Alstom's employee relations manager, said: "High speed trains are equipped with electronic systems and computer technology to control features such as the amount of tilt, so we had to ensure our staff had the appropriate skills.

"Working with Forth Valley College to train our assessors, who then carry out assessment of both Modern Apprentices and Mature Apprentices, and the general workforce, has resulted in delivering a highly specialised training package."

Dr Wendy Livingstone, Forth Valley's associate principal for business and innovation, is delighted at the public recognition of the training and support it offers.

She said: "The college is highly committed to listening to the needs of the organisations we work with and taking a training approach which fulfils these requirements and helps businesses develop and grow. The awards are testament to the excellent partnerships we've developed with our business clients."

The awards are part of a campaign to raise awareness of the business support available from Scotland's 43 colleges and are backed by the Federation of Small Businesses in Scotland.

Chris Travis, chief executive of Scotland's colleges, said: "The quality and quantity of nominations we received were very high and provided our judges with the unenviable task of picking winners for each of the categories.

"This demonstrates the high level and wide variety of skills available to businesses across the sector, and we look forward to working with the business community in the future."