A DARWEN metal fabrication firm has announced a £500,000 expansion which will create 25 new jobs.

The WEC Group is to invest in the the latest powder coating division to set up a new arm of the company, based at the firm’s Junction Street headquarters, which will offer sub-contract powder coating services nationwide.

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Bosses at the firm say the WEC Powder Coating Division has been launched as a way of furthering the group’s ambitions of becoming a true ‘one-stop-shop’ and is an addition to the firm’s engineering services, which include fabrication, laser and waterjet cutting, CNC machining and sheet metalwork.

The £500,000 investment in the latest technology will allow the company to offer a high-end powder coating service to its extensive customer list across a wide range of industries, including rail, automotive, nuclear and aerospace.

Wayne Wild, commercial group director, said: “We are proud to be one of the very few companies in the UK that can offer our whole range of services in-house.

“The new powder coating division allows us to do everything under one roof, improving lead times and reducing transport costs. It also puts us in a strong position to establish additional partnerships with First Tiers and OEMs.

"We continue to invest in our workforce as we look to continue our growth. Job creation is important to us and the new division could potentially create a further 25 new jobs.”

WEC Group has further investments across the business in the pipeline, including a seven-metre bed waterjet cutting machine which is due to be commissioned in the middle of next year.

The WEC Group is one of the largest engineering and fabrication companies in the UK, with a turnover of more than £35 million and more than 400 employees in Darwen, Blackburn, Merseyside and Yorkshire.

WEC carries out fabrication work for industries ranging from rail to offshore oil and gas extraction.

Its manufacturing ranges from footbridges and bus frames, to log-fired stoves and street furniture, across 12 divisions and with operations in its home town of Darwen as well as Blackburn, Knowsley, on Merseyside, and Leeds.

The privately owned group, which is the largest subcontract engineering company in the North West, was founded in 1979 by business partners Steve Hartley and Ross Place.