A HIGH tech company has been born out of the world-leading Daresbury laboratory.

It will design and make equipment to work in ultra-high vacuum experiments.

The vacuua created are a millionth of a millionth as thick as the air around us.

These vacuua are used to test the material properties, free from the effect of a coating of water or carbon molecules.

The resulting research can pay a key role in developing better computer memories or making industrial processes greener, for example.

Ares Research Technology, the company making the equipment, developed out of CCLRC Daresbury Laboratory.

Company founder Dave Teehan was working at the lab when he came up with a new patent for the equipment.

He set up the company with help from the lab and the North West Development Agency.

Mr Teehan said: "There's a rapidly expanding global market for vacuum instruments.

"The company started operating on April 1 and it already has orders for £30,000 of equipment with quotations for business worth a further £120,000 submitted, so it's off to a flying start.

"But I'll be looking for the company to achieve a turnover of £500,000 in its second year and hope to have half-a-dozen staff by then.

"After that I to expand rapidly and go on to become the world's leading supplier for research instruments working at ultra and extremely high vacuum."