It started as a final-year student project and now employs 50 people, mostly in Bristol.

ECONOMIST: Tech clusters

The four year project, in the final stages of field trials in Holland and Belgium with elderly people, was awarded 7.8 million euros under the EU Seventh Framework Program.

FORBES: Hector: Robotic Assistance for the Elderly

This one item alone added over a year to the project timeline and significantly increased its final cost.

BBC: A rocket abroad - Soyuz in French Guiana

To the dismay of Republicans, he will not take a final decision until June next year about the feasibility of such a project.

ECONOMIST: Rockets overhead