Europe’s top collaborative robot company has been given permission to build a brand-new innovation centre in Newtown to attract the next generation of engineers and keep talented local people in mid Wales.

Reeco Automation has been given the thumbs up by Powys County Council to start building a large and modern building on a greenfield site next door to its headquarters on the Mochdre Industrial Estate to "put Wales back on the map for engineering”.

Reeco told the council that the new building would anticipate employing 15 new staff with an additional 20 to 25 jobs in the coming years.

The Powys business, which was founded by Llewelyn Rees in 2016, has provided automated solutions to some of the biggest brands in the world including Unilever, BMW, Ford and Bentley.

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"Reeco wishes to put Wales back on the map for engineering, there are talented individuals within the area and need to bring them into work and show them the opportunities are here and they do not need to look at going to cities to get work, it is possible to stay in your local area and achieve your career goals," a planning statement to the council said.

"The innovation centre will really give Reeco the capabilities to take on more staff, currently they struggle with space even with the new extension to Unit 45.

"They are reluctant to take on too much work as we don’t have the space at Unit 45 to build the products and in turn this could pause the growth if they can’t commit to more work due to space and staff."

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The 'cobot' firm said the new innovation centre will allow them to have colleges, universities, and schools in to provide demonstrations on their products, offer training in many areas from control panel building for electrical engineers to having students learn how to program robots.

Reeco added that the tech company can have apprentice open days for anyone not in college or out of working looking to join the industry which is something they want to grow within the new innovation centre.

Powys County Council said they did not receive public representations or objections.