Unprecedented UK demand for impartial quality automation audits and consultancy has resulted in CenFRA, Europe's first centre for food robotics and automation, receiving a further million pounds investment.

The Doncaster-based business will use the additional money to fund its engineering audit team through the recruitment of additional experienced food engineers. Part of the funding will also be used for providing additional research and development facilities and the financing of increased academic links, to support even more collaborative projects.

The has been a high number of requests for audits since CenFRA's new facility was launched in last May with enquiries from as far away as South East and Scotland.

Automation audits are normally free within the Northern Way (Yorkshire, North East and North West), CenFRA has been very pleased with the number of food companies outside the North of England who are more than willing to pay a fee for its automation auditing services.

Chairman Michael Taylor said: "CenFRA is delighted to have secured this additional money to fund further front end investment. One of the biggest benefits of the extra funding is that it will allow us to not only meet our primary business plan objectives but also allow us to engage with a far wider base both in terms of customers, suppliers and academia."

Mr Taylor also suggested that the gestation period between companies expressing an interest and then investing in robotics may be an extended by a number of months, due to capital investment issues or businesses needing to decide on the amount of automation required.

In a further bid to give local businesses a boost, CenFRA is also offering its newly refurbished state of the art meeting room to delegates at credit crunching rates.

More than 90 per cent of companies said CenFRA has already serviced through technology audits continue to be actively engaged with the centre, it has a base of more than 100 companies, some of whom went through an audit process when the centre was established a little over 12 months ago.

The sizeable one million pounds investment has been made by Yorkshire Forward, who are behind the establishment of the company. The work of CenFRA fits neatly with the aim of the regional development agency, which is using where possible existing instruments to help businesses weather the economic storm and to provide a strong platform for future regional growth.