A SCOTTISH manufacturing company is investing £2 million in plans to grow its workforce by 50 per cent so it can meet growing demand from customers.

Scotland Electronics (International) has purchased its Nova House headquarters in Forres, Moray, so it can add a 15,000 square feet extension.

That will almost double its existing floor space and allow it to add further manufacturing capacity.

The current site, which has been leased for the past five years, is the only manufacturing and testing facility of its kind in Scotland.

The business specialises in making "high precision and high performance" motion control systems which are designed to operate in tough environments.

Its products have a wide range of uses from oil and gas service tools to military radar through to aircraft landing gear and bomb disposal robots.

In defence its projects have included work on stealth submarines used by British Special Forces, rocket launcher controls and gun stabilisation systems for the Type 42 destroyer.

Its customers include the likes of European nuclear research organisation CERN, BAE Systems, Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman.

Managing director Mike Ramsay said Scotland Electronics is seeing an increasing demand for its services from customers operating in the oil and gas and defence sectors.

He said: "We have got just under 20,000 square feet [in Forres] and but we need further floor space to meet the requirements of our customers.

"Hence we need to start looking at an additional 15,000 square feet going on to the building.

"It is obviously difficult to do that if you are renting the building so we decided to purchase it."

Mr Ramsay hopes that work on the extension can begin in the second quarter of next year.

He said: "That meets with our schedule of requirements to our customers."

The expansion is being backed with funding of £669,000 from Highlands and Islands Enterprise as well as £772,000 from Bank of Scotland.

Mr Ramsay confirmed the company, which employs 40 and plans to add at least another 20 jobs over the next three years, is now represented in 35 countries around the world through a network of "hand-picked" sales agents.

That includes representatives in the United States, China, India, the Middle East and North Africa.

The company is also looking into partnerships and setting up further design and manufacturing sites in Houston in the United States and Bahrain as part of its international ambitions.

According to Mr Ramsay current turnover at Scotland Electronics is more than £5 million but he believes that can be rapidly increased to around £30m over the next three years.

He said the company had "a world class workforce producing world class products" and with the financial backing which has been secured he is confident of becoming a "medium sized enterprise".

David Oxley, HIE area manager in Moray, added: "I am very pleased we are able to support SEIL's accelerated growth plans.

"The company's investment will increase its turnover and international sales and create twenty good quality well paid Scottish jobs, right here in Moray.

"It will also enhance Scotland's reputation for having many thriving sectors, including engineering, and the contribution these make to the country's economy."

Henry Taylor, manufacturing relationship director at Bank of Scotland, said: "Having worked with SEIL for just under 20 years the Bank has seen how the business has continued to adapt to all industry challenges and how it has developed its high performance technology to meet the increasingly complex requirements of its diverse customer base."