AN innovative firm set up by a Prestwick mum has landed a £6000 boost after winning a major award for budding entrepreneurs.

Childminder Fiona Gowing came up with the idea for her Bitzbags business - a revolutionary clear-up system for kids toys - last year and now has design rights for her product in 29 countries across Europe.

Supported by Entrepreneurial Spark, the world’s largest business Hatchery, her firm won the Acceler-8 gong at the Entrepreneuring Awards in Glasgow last week.

Mum-of-two Fiona, who previously worked as an occupational therapist, devised her Bitzbags design while her son Ben was off school ill and left piles of Lego bricks lying all over the house.

“I needed a way to clear up the Lego quickly and store it safely,” she said. “And I came up with Bitzbags, basically a playmat which converts into a drawstring-free storage system.” The drawstring-free aspect is the key feature of her design, making it safe for use around even the youngest children.

Delighted Fiona received her award from TV personality Carol Smillie at the awards ceremony.

Other Ayrshire companies that had success at the awards in were: White Rabbit Skincare who received £4000 for the Hatchery #GoDo award, Romper Royale won the the Nest #GoDo and the Pitching competition, a total of £6000, and I Do Licious won the Chiclet Choice Award, worth £2000.

Gordon Merrylees, head of entrepreneurship at Royal Bank of Scotland, said: “The standard of today’s pitches demonstrated Scotland’s enormous entrepreneurial talent.

“The Entrepreneuring Awards are a tremendous and fitting celebration of the work of Entrepreneurial Spark, the superb collaboration across the local ecosystems and the hard-working entrepreneurs within its accelerators as they achieve their growth potential and ambitions as the programme expands across the UK.” Gary Deans, of KPMG Enterprise, which also supports Entrepreneurial Spark and its Chiclets, said: “The pitching element of the Entrepreneuring Awards ensures that the winners are invariably well prepared for the challenges ahead.” Jim Duffy, chief executive of Entrepreneurial Spark, said: “My congratulations to all the winners across our Hatcheries – I’m sure this will spur them on to even greater things.”