Home testing kits which allow farmers to diagnose crop diseases have earned York-based Forsite Diagnostics a £2,000 prize.

CATHERINE BRUCE finds out what the future has in store for the business.

THE first commercial company to sprout from a top research lab near York is looking to build worldwide success from its "pregnancy tests for potatoes".

Forsite Diagnostics, which is currently part of the Sand Hutton-based Central Science Laboratory, an executive agency for Department For The Environment And Rural Affairs (Defra), is eager to branch out beyond its Government-funded roots.

Its plans for the future earned the company the Peoples' Prize at this year's Venturefest event, a £2,000 cash injection to help the business develop.

Forsite produces a range of simple kits, which work in a similar way to home pregnancy tests, to diagnose plant diseases. The tests are popular within the agricultural industry as they are cheaper and quicker than sending samples off to be tested in laboratories.

Once Forsite gathers enough private investment, it will become CSL's first ever spin-off company, but the team plans to maintain strong links with the laboratory and remain within the Sand Hutton site.

Managing director Chris Danks said becoming a private company would allow Forsite to expand and become more commercially viable.

At the moment, a six-strong team research, develop, manufacture and distribute the tests themselves. But over the next two years, the number of staff at Forsite is likely to more than double to 15 and the manufacturing side of the company will expand to create a wider range of tests.

Chris, 32, said: "We will be in control of the kits we are developing, selling and manufacturing. All our kits at the moment are to do with plant health. But we have ten prototypes for kits that we would like to turn into real products."

The prototypes include kits for identifying toxins in food and veterinary diseases. In the future, the company could develop a test which will allow people with nut allergies to check if a product is completely free from nuts.

At Venturefest, held earlier this month at York Racecourse, Chris gave a ten-minute presentation on Forsite's plans to an audience made up of members of York's business community. The audience then voted for the company they thought was most likely to reach its commercial goals.

"To win the Peoples' Prize was brilliant. It showed us we are doing something people believe in," he said.

Since Venturefest, Chris has already been approached by several interested investors.

CSL started researching and developing the testing kits in 1996. But it was not until 2001 that the team decided their technology should be opened up to a wider audience.

Chris, who has worked for CSL for the last nine years, said: "At that time there were no sales staff, we were just selling to people we knew. The team we now call Forsite began in April last year."

Now Chris believes the future is bright for Forsite.

"The need for tests is massive. People want to test themselves, they don't want to be reliant on experts and big facilities they can't afford," he said. "We have proven the technology. We are now looking to make the most of it."

l Don't miss tomorrow's Business Press for more on Venturefest.

Updated: 12:14 Monday, February 23, 2004