A specialist engineering company is set to boost its 65-strong workforce, including offering apprenticeships, after investing more than £1 million in new premises with state-of-the-art technology close to its Keighley headquarters.

Construction work is now underway on Keighley Laboratories’ new 5,000 sq ft heat treatment processes building, on South Street.

The company is a leader in the analysis, testing and heat treatment of metals.

After a detailed topographical survey, site clearance and levelling, the steelwork is being erected and the building is due for completion in February with the installation of mechanical and electrical services scheduled for completion by the summer.

The new unit will house furnaces, controls and ancillary equipment for new and complimentary processes, augmenting Keighley Labs’ existing range of heat treatment services.

The new processes are expected to enable Keighley Labs to work on products such as gears, crankshafts and valve parts, shafts, cylinders, railway braking systems, pump components and pipeline fittings.

Managing director Debbie Mellor said: “We are effectively in the first stage of moving forward again as a company, by making a sizeable investment in new facilities and positioning ourselves with some of the best resources in the industry.

“In this new building, we shall have modern furnace equipment and the most sophisticated process controls, enabling us to regulate precisely the parameters to suit clients’ exact specifications.

“We shall offer a service that is second-to-none, from a single site at the heart of the engineering and aviation supply industry.”

Adjacent to Keighley Laboratories' induction hardening department the new building is being constructed on the site of the demolished maintenance premises.

It is being clad in grey-blue coated steel wall and roofing sheets to match adjacent buildings.

The site architects for the development are 2H Architecture of Leeds, the main contractor is Triton Construction of Liversedge and the mechanical and electrical services are provided by Dualtec of Keighley.

Brendan Harrison. co-founder of 2H, said: “Given the heat output from the furnaces, we have taken these thermal installation requirements into account when designing the building envelope.

“We are working to current building regulations for walls, flooring and roof plus 20 per cent to ensure optimum energy efficiency for the new building and reduce running costs.” The interior will accommodate the heat treatment furnaces, programmable controllers, degreasing equipment and post-process wash units, with a main side entrance to suit the proposed workflow.

Keighley Laboratories, originally launched in 1920 as a consortium of Bradford and Leeds firms, has invested heavily in its facilities in recent years, including £100,000 in upgrading its laboratory technology.