FIFTY new jobs are set to be created after the Welsh Government has pledged to invest £5.6 million into building a new factory for a business in Welshpool.

Invertek Drives, who recently won the overall Powys Business of the Year Award, designs and manufactures variable frequency drives, controlling motors in a variety of industrial and energy saving applications.

The company already brings around £5 million to the local economy, and employs 170 of their 190 employees at the Welshpool base on the Offa’s Dyke Business Park.

Charles Haspel, operations director at Invertek, is delighted with the support the independently owned company has received from the Government.

He said: “It is absolutely fabulous that the Welsh Government is showing this kind of support to our business.

“Their backing will help us develop the world leading technology and highly skilled workforce necessary to successfully compete on the world stage.”

Plans are currently being drawn up for planning permission, as the government proposes to construct a new 56,500 sq ft detached unit adjacent to Invertek Drives’ main production facility and headquarters, which is leased from the Welsh Government. 

The new factory will help the company meet the demand for its services, with ambition for a 50 per cent increase in turnover by 2018, when 30 new jobs will have been created, rising to 50 when production is up to full capacity.

Economy Minister Edwina Hart, who visited the company’s headquarters earlier this year, said: “Invertek Drives is an important employer in Welshpool and its expansion will have a significant impact on the local economy as it increases production to meet the growing global demand for its products and creates new, high skilled jobs over the next three years.”

Currently more than 90 per cent of the products made in Welshpool are exported to 80 countries worldwide, with subsidiary companies in Germany and Poland, and trading operations in Malaysia and Indonesia. Mr Haspel added that employing more local people and contributing to the local economy is crucial to the company.

He added: “To have local people involved and working with us is crucial, and this investment will add to that.”