A firm which helped build the Large Hadron Collider, has invested more than £500,000 in state-of-the-art equipment it believes will deliver double that in new sales.

HV Wooding, which employs 90 staff at its manufacturing facility in Hythe, has taken delivery of a new laser cutting machine to help it cope with increasing demand.

The firm, one of the UK's leading suppliers of specialist metal components, says the new gear - a Trumpf TruLaser 3030 - will help it ramp up the production of components used in electric vehicles.

Paul Allen, sales director at the firm, said: "Our existing laser machine was working 24 hours per day, so we needed an additional option to help us satisfy current demand and to give us capacity to target new opportunities.

“Customers are changing designs of rotors and stators - electric vehicle components - to increase performance and this investment gives us the ideal solution to offer quick turnaround prototypes without the cost of wire cutting.

“Over £200,000 of orders have already been placed, with the potential to add another £800,000 between now and the end of 2022.”

HV Wooding has seen a strong ten months, with turnover up £600,000 since the UK emerged from lockdown.

The firm has been established over 50 years with customers including the European Organisation for Nuclear Research (CERN), Mercedes and Schneider Electric.

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