18 Sep 2007
| By David Arminas |
| UK firm to nearly double its employees. |
| Blackburn, UK - Queen's Award winner Precision Polymer Engineering (PPE) is embarking on an ambitious three-year £5m expansion plan. The Blackburn-based firm wants to double the size of its purpose-built 3,500sq m (37,600 sq ft) factory with its class 7 clean-room facility, which it moved into in 2003. PPE, a maker of high-performance elastomer seals, was started in 1975 and by 1980 employed 29 people and had a turnover of £1m, of which 30% was from export sales. Turnover was £4m in 2000 and export accounted for half. Expansion means the workforce is expected to rise from the current 187 to 300 while turnover, now around £16m, is expected to double by 2010. Exports account for more than 80% of sales. “Material development will be our focus,†managing director Peter Cloney told PRW.com. “We are also careful to keep a balance between the three areas Americas, Europe and Asia, as well as within industries.†PPE clients are pharmaceutical plant and equipment makers, manufacturers of large diesel and gas turbines for marine and power generation, and increasingly in the defence and aerospace sectors. The Blackburn facility will be expanded by around 75% and a separate office block will include specialist training facilities for all employees. The materials testing laboratory will also be expanded, he said. “As a manufacturing operation in Blackburn which wants to stay in this country, we have to be at the forefront of technology and must invest extensively in our workforce to ensure we keep ahead of our global competitors.†The firm's Queen's Award for International Trade, presented in April, comes on top of its Queen's Award for Innovation in 2006. “To get one of these honours is unique,†said Cloney. “To win two is outstanding. I am convinced this is due to the commitment and focus of our entire workforce.†PPE has had assistance from the North West Development Agency. |
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