Sheppey firm Checkmate has been bought by American company Pure Safety Group (PSG).

The business, which will keep its name under the deal, is based in New Road, Sheerness, and specialises in safety, harness and lifting products.

All 100 employees and its production facilities and offices will remain in the UK.

Paul Auston, who founded the firm in 1979, will remain as a consultant to the business.

And his son Oliver, who has been Checkmate’s chief executive since 2006, will manage the company’s integration with PSG, as well as the UK operations.

He will become chief innovation officer for PSG, leading product research, design and development across the companies.

Based in Houston, the acquisition is PSG’s third in the past 12 months after it purchased two other firms in August last year.

Oliver said: “We were looking for a partner that would allow us to bring our products and design innovation to more users globally, to save more lives, while retaining the strong employee culture that has made our success possible.”

He added: “As a family we’ve made this decision for the benefit of our employees and the local economy.

“This is a show of confidence in our business and the people we have in it and they should all be very proud of themselves.

“What we’re saying is the brand of Checkmate has now become a bigger international brand and we’ll therefore go on to be recognised internationally.”

The firm will immediately ramp up production to meet the needs of the global market as part of PSG.

Chief executive officer of PSG, Brad Gates, was delighted with the deal. He said: “Checkmate is recognized as an innovator in the height safety industry, with a 40-year history of design breakthroughs and 70 patents granted or pending.

“It brings a significant, impressive pipeline of impending new products into our growing proprietary portfolio that we offer customers in several industries, including construction, general industry, oil and gas, energy and utilities.”