Food Processing Faraday is pleased to announce that it has been awarded further funding from the Food and Drink iNet to continue the highly successful East Midlands based engineering innovation programme.

Championing Innovation between the Engineering and Food Sectors (ChIEFS) is part of the vision of creating a vibrant skilled community of food and engineering companies, bringing together researchers, inventors and designers to work alongside food producers and engineers to work collaboratively to solve problems.

The funding is granted from the East Midlands Development Agency (emda), with part of the financing coming from the European Regional Development Fund. This means the consortium led by the Faraday and made up of the Food and Drink Forum and Optimat Ltd can continue to deliver services to the sector, crucially helping it improve its profitability. 

"This programme of support does what it says on the tin" says the Faraday's Head of Programme Management Ian Blakemore "it's proven and we look forward to building on the success of the previous project". 

Project Manager David Walklate comments "We are pleased to be able to continue the momentum built up within the region, which is enabling new technologies to be developed and used by the food sector, and we really believe that this project can put many more East Midlands engineering businesses on the world stage". 

Coming at a time of much uncertainty around public sector funding, this news is a positive boost to businesses in the region, and ultimately the UK. New iNet Director Andrew Butterwick comments that "this project is an important part of the services the iNet offers to food and drink businesses in the region. By working with the ChIEFS team forward thinking companies can 'de-risk' the innovation process by accessing knowledge, funding and expert assistance"