A glamorous American TV presenter fell in love with a centre of excellence for Welsh food – and will be telling 56 million viewers all about it.

Travel expert Colleen Kelly was so enchanted by Bodnant Welsh Food in the Conwy Valley that she vowed to return and bring her parents with her next time.

According to Colleen, royal-loving American viewers would also be blown away by the fact that the centre was officially opened by the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall.

Colleen came on the visit to Bodnant to  record an episode of her popular show, Family travel, which is broadcast right across the United States on the Public Broadcast Network.

In addition, the programme featuring Bodnant Welsh Food will also be screened on the City Secrets show which has a potential audience of 3.5 million people in the Chicago area.

A full day of filming saw Colleen take in a cookery school class with celebrity Welsh food maestro, Dai Chef, Bodnant’s resident chef,  and his nine-year-old daughter Megan.

After tucking into a hearty Welsh breakfast, Colleen sampled the range of Welsh cheeses and local produce available in Bodnant’s farm shop.

She then dressed up in a protective suit to look at honey production at the Welsh National Bee Centre at Bodnant.

Colleen chose to film at Bodnant Welsh Food following an invitation by Visit Wales.

She said: “What a fabulous place! I get to visit lots of locations in my job both in America and around the world but I tell you, I’m bringing my parents on a vacation back here. They will love it!

“American travellers look for three main things, culture, countryside and heritage and Wales has got all that and much more. And the food here is simply to die for.

“The food on offer at Bodnant Welsh Food is truly amazing.

“Heritage is also important to American travellers and to see a plaque here at Bodnant Welsh Food commemorating a visit of Prince Charles and Camilla will be another big draw.”

Tricia Fusilero, President and Executive Producer of Chicago-based Travel Film Productions, who is also Colleen’s sister, said: “Family Travel will be broadcast on PBS in the autumn and will be repeated on PBS over the next two years. It will also go out on 24/7 City Secrets in the Chicago area, a programme presented our other sister, Catie Keogh.”

Tricia, who as a student studied at Cambridge for a year, added: “I’m fortunate to have visited Conwy once before during my student days so knew what to expect.

“However, the film crew and everyone connected with the production has been absolutely blown away by the location, food and hospitality we have experienced while filming here.”

Dai Chef, who also runs the Hayloft restaurant at Bodnant, said: “We have the finest food larder in the world right here on our doorstep and we need international visitors to know that.

“It was a pleasure to prepare a few simple, but tasty dishes, for Colleen to enjoy on camera using mainly local produce while Megan made one of her favourite dishes, Llaeth y Llan – toffee yoghurt trifle, which went down a real treat.”

Bodnant Welsh Food General Manager Gwyndaf Pritchard added: “It’s a fantastic opportunity to get the message across to a wider audience that we have the best regional food on offer anywhere in Europe.

“International visitors can come to enjoy our heritage and our food knowing there is a real warm Welsh welcome to be enjoyed too. I know Colleen and her film crew have been amazed at what they have seen here at Bodnant Welsh Food.”

Robert Lewis Jones, from Visit Wales, was delighted by the warm welcome for Colleen and her crew at Bodnant Welsh Food.

He said: “Family Travel with Colleen Kelly is the perfect vehicle to get our message across of just how wonderful Wales, and North Wales in particular, is in terms of a vacation destination.

“This travel show not only gives the viewer an impression of the amazing countryside around the Conwy Valley and the rest of North Wales, it also gives the audience an insight into the culture and, really importantly, the amazing food and local produce on offer to international visitors.”

A world-leading company from North Wales is celebrating its 25th anniversary with a £750,000 investment in its future.

Precision engineering firm Microtech specialises in making components used the manufacture of aluminium drinks cans in the UK and across the globe.

Microtech was founded at Bersham Enterprise Centre, near Wrexham, in 1989 and the high tech company now employs 17 people.

They not only survived but thrived during the recession thanks to the booming drinks can industry.

As a result, turnover has increased by between 10-15 per cent every year for the past few years and has now topped £1.1 million.

Managing Director Brent Evans paid tribute to Chartered Accountants and Registerd Auditors Coxeys for the role they have played in Microtech’s success story which has seen them diversify to also make products for the aerospace industry.

Mr Evans said: “It’s very important to us that we have access to the expertise available at Coxeys who have helped us grow in recent years. We always get good advice and good service which gives you peace of mind.

“It’s always good to know that Coxeys are watching our backs so to speak on the financial side. They’re a good professional company and we enjoy doing business with them.

“I joined the company four years ago and we have been having an exciting time with levels of investment going up with new machines and new software.

“We are very optimistic as we look forward because turnover has gone up year on year by 10-15 per cent a year over the past three or four years. It’s going well.”

Fellow directors Vaughan Hughes and Duncan Evans have been with the company from the outset.

The firm has invested £750,000 in new machinery to expand their capacity and increase the accuracy of what they do.

The new kit includes two computer controlled milling machines that ensure accuracy to within a few microns which are a thousandth of a millimetre.

Duncan Evans said: “We engineer components used in the manufacture and printing on billions and billions of beverage cans every year which can contain anything from cola to lager to tea.

“We make the parts that go into the machine like the bushes and parts of the track work that go into conveying the cans from one machine to another.

“The main area of our expertise is on the decorating side of the business and we make the mandrels the can sits on as its being printed.

“It’s a massive industry worldwide. In this country a big percentage of the cans being printed are sitting on our mandrels so if you’re drinking a can of cola or lager in the UK, the chances are it’s been made with components manufactured here in Wrexham.

“We are very busy at the moment, we’re always working overtime. In fact, it’s been buoyant throughout the recession.

“It’s been classed as a world-wide recession but drinks can manufacturing has been on the up in the Far East and China. They have been growing at an enormous rate over there. Countries like Brazil are an emerging market and there’s a lot of money being spent over there at the moment.

“Our machines are very accurate – we’re talking down to microns which are a thousandth of a millimetre. We’re manufacturing some rollers now where the maximum tolerance is five microns – it’s precision stuff, we do push the limits a bit.

“There are other parts of the industry that require some pretty straightforward engineering and we do that as well but we can turn our hands to the accurate stuff when required.

“There’s no way we could have achieved the turnover we doing now with the machines we used to have.”

As part of the firm’s 25th anniversary celebrations, they have set up a £1,750 fund and have urged local clubs and associations to apply for the prize money. The winner will get £1,000 with prizes of £500 and £250 up for grabs too.

They are also planning a charity evening to raise funds for the Alzheimer’s Society in memory of late colleague Colin Savage – the father of ex-footballer and broadcaster Robbie Savage – who had Pick’s Disease, which is a form of Alzheimer’s Disease.

Director Vaughan Hughes added: “It’s a big year for the firm and reaching our 25th anniversary is an achievement in this day and age.

“We have a lot of experience in a niche industry, we’re well thought of in that industry for supplying quality parts.

“It’s also helped that our main customer Unimaq on Wrexham Industrial Estate has grown during the same period, that’s been really satisfying as well.”

Anthony Lewis, a Director of Coxeys, is delighted to have been able to play a role in Microtech’s success

He said: “The business is a great success story and Microtech are going from strength to strength.

“They are a very progressive firm who don’t like to stand still – companies like this depend on innovation to continue to grow, it is their lifeblood.

“Microtech are great ambassadors for local business and industry. They are world leaders in their field.”