PM Group plc has invested £3 million in new headquarters in Shipley which could see its staffing levels double.

The business, which floated on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) last April, is set to move into its new Canal Road premises at the beginning of March.

PM Group, which designs and manufactures weighing systems for bulk haulage and waste management industries, will have three times more space at the new site than the business's existing premises on Wakefield Road and Carroll Street.

Work on the building - Airedale House, which was previously owned by Haddow Holdings - began last October.

Geoff Mountain, chief executive of the group, said: "The site should be completed at the end of February and we are scheduled to move in during the first week in March.

"We will be moving all 80 staff over to the site.

"We are very excited by the prospect of moving to the new premises and of our continued rapid growth.

"We've moved three times during the last ten years. This new site is exactly what we've been looking for as it affords us room for further expansion."

The firm will initially occupy three of the building's five floors, with the two spare floors ready for expansion.

Mr Mountain added: "We expect, over the next few years, that our staffing levels with rise to around 150. The new building can fit the extra staff, has car parking for 150 cars and is also opposite Frizinghall Station, so it has great transport links."

PM Group reported an operating profits increase of 99 per cent in its maiden results as a public company last September.

The firm announced a leap in operating profits from £528,000 in 2001 to £1 million for the year ending June 30, 2002.

The company also reported a 35 per cent rise in turnover, up to £5.8 million.

The Group's admission to AIM raised £3.9 million, £900,000 more than was expected.

Mr Mountain added: "We are on-budget and extremely comfortable with our continued growth and expansion and we are very pleased that the move means we are staying in Bradford. We want to continue employing more people and hope these can be taken on locally."

PM Group, which has a variety of new products in development, was established in 1985 by Geoff Mountain and David Pitts to supply imported on-board vehicle weighing systems to the UK tipper market. The Group includes: PM Onboard; PM Electronics; Fleet Weighing Services; PME France and PM Benelux

The firm believes future environmental legislation in the waste management markets will help its sales in the UK and overseas.