FIFTY new jobs will be created thanks to a Hereford company’s expansion.

Engineering company KGD Industrial Services has developed a purpose-built facility on a five-acre site at Hereford Enterprise Zone thanks to a £4m investment.

The move will see the company's turnover rise to £20m over the next five years.

The new development at Skylon Park consists of a research and development centre; an assembly, testing, shot-blasting and painting plant; and new offices.

The company was founded by Ken Davies in 1982 and employs 120 people.

Mr Davies said: “We have expanded consistently since 1982 but that has meant we are being asked to build bigger and bigger packages and we need more space.

"Skylon Park has given us a blank canvas to build exactly what we need, including workspace with 12 metres of headroom and overhead crane capacity of 120 tonnes.

“Some of our existing customers have already given us more – and bigger work – as a result of the development because they can see that we are now equipped to deal with much heavier systems."

KGD, which specialises in the design and manufacture of packaged process plant, equipment and pressure vessels for the oil and gas, petrochemical, power generation and food industries, will also retain its existing site at Rotherwas.

Mr Davies added: “The new development means we will be able to expand over the next five years, taking on an extra 50 people and getting our annual turnover up to the £20million mark.”

The 18-month project had been made easier by the streamlined planning process in place at the enterprise zone, Mr Davies said.

He added: “Working with the enterprise zone has been like a breath of fresh air.

"They could not have been more supportive and have been able to give us answers quickly to any problems at every stage of the work.

"That has enabled us to get to this point in half the time it might otherwise have taken.”

KGD’s customer base includes Heineken, Special Metals Wiggin and Lucozade Ribena Suntory in this country and global industrial companies Linde, Dresser-Rand, GEA Westfalia Separator, Siemens and Ansaldo.