THE image conjured by the word "mill" could be of a picturesque scene of a windmill spinning in the breeze alongside a field of swaying corn or perhaps a pre-Industrial Revolution watermill, its wheel turned by the waters of an idling stream.

These pioneering bygones of renewable energy may no longer be of much industrial use in the UK, but there is a North-East company that is revolutionising modern milling techniques and more than doing its bit for the environment.

However, the milling method currently being mastered by International Innovative Technologies (IIT) started out merely as a means to an end that rapidly developed into core business for the Team Valley-based operation.

The company has completely modernised the milling process, developing a new machine (the M-Series) that has dragged milling into the 21st century not only making it more efficient, but also cleaning up the traditionally filthy process.

IIT adopted a scientific approach that led to the creation of a super-efficient mill that has reduced downtime for parts replacement to an hour rather than weeks, it can grind material down to pre-required levels and they have produced a state of the art "classifier" which can sort through the milled material efficiently and effectively.

Word of mouth on the product spread so quickly that within weeks of finishing their first mill IIT had a queue of potential clients at their door wanting to put the new technology to the test.

Managing Director George Ord and Chairman Tom Wilkinson embarked on their project to design and create a new type of mill in support of another IIT technology development they call fuel enrichment, which involves finely milled powder used for improving coal power station efficiency. However, it did not take long for him to realise he was breaking new ground, quite literally, with IITs first prototype milling machine.

They closed the North East Innovation Centre, which developed and produced new technology for regional industry, after funding for the organisation dried up. Mr Ord and Mr Wilkinson always intended to work together again, but it was a moment of inspiration that was to shape their future.

"Tom and I have worked together for years and we decided that we wanted to start a new project that would exploit a niche in the market, but also had environmental benefits to industry," said Mr Ord, 53 of Stanley. "Were not environmentalists by any stretch, but we recognised the importance of designing something that was efficient and could deliver genuine ecological value and we also wanted to be tier one, we werent going to be in anyones pocket.

"We had this idea for a fuel enrichment product, but to reach that end we had need to mill a very hard material down to fine powder. We had a look at what was available and none seemed sustainable so we just thought well, well build one ourselves, not having any idea at the time what that would entail.

"This was technology that had not changed in decades. It was a dirty process and one that had not moved forward a great deal since it was established. Our thought was to create a vertical mill that used gravity and centrifugal force to push material through it rather than air and we went from there really."

IIT attracted a small amount of start-up funding in 2005 and within a year the M-Series vertical mill had been created and was milling material at 10 kilowatt hours per tonne compared to the 80 kilowatt hours per tonne that traditional machines used.

The Boardroom at IIT has a shelf covered with small glass jars. In these containers are the raw materials that have been ground down by the IIT mill and next to them sit jars filled with the powder they end up as.

Taking down a selection of these containers and placing them on the table George said: "These are limestone fines that are of no value and too small to be of any real use and previously would have gone to landfill at considerable cost or been stockpiled, but we can mill this down to a powder that can replace a percentage of expensive cement powder in concrete mix and save money."

He added: "We also have glass reinforced plastic, or fibreglass as its commonly referred to. We were approached by a company which had to dispose of large amounts of offcuts in landfill, which was both costly and detrimental to the environment.

"By milling this waste product we produced a powder that could be recycled as raw material and fed back into the manufacturing process. in fact, the company bought our first mill for its production plant as it not only saved them a great deal of money it also enabled them to market their product with an industry USP that it was made from recycled material."

Each jar is evidence of an examination passed by the mill and George admits a little excitement each time a new test presents itself.

"There is a scale for minerals of one to 10, 10 being a diamond, the hardest material you can get," he said. "Silicon Carbide rates nine and a half and we can grind it down to the consistency of flour, this is a material that is used to coat wire to cut through marble in quarries so that gives you an idea of how hard it is.

"Bags of material keep turning up from companies from all over the world and we have the ability to not only mill it, but to mill it to their specific requirements and then analyse it in our lab."

IIT has grown considerably since George and Tom started the project in 2005. It now employs 25 people, has partnerships with Newcastle and Leeds Universities and boasts a full M-Series mill set up at its Team Valley base as well as a combustion test facility and material analysis laboratory.

The company became the first firm in the UK to raise money from an Islamic bond, a move which could herald more firms taking advantage of untapped funds in Asia and the Middle East.

To help the company develop and take to market new technologies, IIT raised $10m through the UKs first-ever sukuk. The sukuk is a way of allowing institutions to invest in companies without breaching Shariah principles.

"Were dealing with enquiries from all over the world from businesses interested in purchasing mills and wanting to test products in our machine," said George.

"We recently sold a system to a Swiss company and have taken orders from India and the US, and there is a huge amount of interest in our products in South Africa, China and Australia."

Five milling set-ups, which cost between £200,000 to £500,000, have already been sold by IIT, but as word spreads about the product they are receiving enquiries every day.

The global attention for the product is a far cry from the relatively humble beginnings of IIT back in 2006 and is very exciting for both George Ord and Tom Wilkinson whose professional relationship stretches back more than 25 years to when they worked for tin printing press manufacturer Crabtree in Gateshead.

Both remain incredibly proud of their North East roots having started their careers in the region working in industry - George at former tank builders Vickers in Newcastle and Tom at industrial gas suppliers BOC in Gateshead.

George believes passionately that other firms in the region could develop further by exploiting lucrative export markets and carrying the regions industrial expertise overseas.

He added: "I strongly believe that more should be done to support our manufacturers and help them develop further.

"IIT is a genuine North-East success story and it would be great to see more regional businesses out there in the global marketplace.

"In the North-East we have the manufacturing and engineering expertise and we should be out there selling that knowledge and our products to the rest of the world."