A HI-TECH engineering firm making parts for the automotive and aerospace industries says it has experienced an "explosion of growth" since moving into a new £6 million factory in Derby.
Composites firm EPM: Technology said it had landed three major contracts in recent months, following its move from Draycott to a 60,000 sq ft purpose-built site in Raynesway.
Revealing details for the first time, managing director Graham Mulholland said the value of the new contracts, over the next five years, was likely to exceed £17 million.
As a result, the company – which makes parts for a number of Formula One cars – is now looking to increase its workforce by almost a third.
Mr Mulholland said: "We've got around 100 employees and that needs to become 130 as quickly, but under control, as possible.
"The move was not without its challenges.
"But we dusted ourselves down and we had an incredibly strong exhibition in November at the NEC in Birmingham, where we were run absolutely ragged.
"On the that back of that, we've really pushed on as a business. The new building has done its job in that it has attracted new business that we wouldn't have got if we had not moved here.
"We've had an explosion of growth."
For confidentiality reasons, Mr Mulholland was not able to name the companies from which it has landed contracts.
However, he could say the first contract was with a German manufacturer and was for 25,000 parts a year.
This will create 10 jobs and will be worth about £1.2million a year.
The second contract will see the company enter the "brave new world of aerospace" where it will make a "rotating part of an aircraft".
The contract will be worth £7-8 million to the company over the next five years, Mr Mulholland said.
And the third contract, worth £800,000 a year, will see the firm make parts for a vehicle being developed for a new race category called LMP3.
Mr Mulholland said it was an exciting time for the company, which started in 1996.
He said: "We've just had the strongest December we've ever had as a business.
"We've outperformed all previous Decembers by 35-40%. Our numbers for January are going to be incredible as well. We're pulling trees up.
"When we were at Draycott, our skips were emptied every three weeks. Here they are emptied every three days.
"We've been forced to move very quickly on our feet.
"I've been getting e-mails with quotes for parts all the way through to 10.45pm.
"We've now got Formula 1, IndyCar, LMP1, LMP2, LMP3 and GT3 all in the building. We've never had that before.
"We are now finding ourselves exporting to Italy, America and Germany. It's happening so quickly."
