Work on the final phase of a £1 million-plus development at a Keighley company is nearing completion.

Keighley Laboratories has installed a new heat-treatment facility at its South Street base. The state-of-the art furnace has been commissioned and is now undergoing production trials. And ancillary process equipment, including post-treatment washers for removing any surface contaminants, is being integrated into the system.

The facility – housed in a 5,000 sq ft purpose-built department – will enable the company to meet more sophisticated surface engineering demands for its existing customers in the railway, mining, oil, gas and general engineering sectors, while opening up new applications in the aviation, nuclear power and renewable energy markets.

Michael Emmott, divisional commercial director with Keighley Labs, said: “We will have a new vertical pit facility up and running in the spring at which point we shall have among the best, most up-to-date low temperature, low distortion resources in the independent heat treatment sector – with the very latest process control software.

“We’ve had a lot of interest already from customers wanting to send jobs, but we wanted to conduct sufficient trial runs in order to obtain repetitive results, which will ensure meeting the quality and precision standards that the industry expects of Keighley Laboratories.”

The firm is hoping to gain top-level accreditation for its new department.

Keighley Labs managing director Debbie Mellor said: “With some of the most modern furnace equipment and process control technology outside the captive heat treatment sector, this enables us to compete with independent contractors throughout Europe.

“We will be able to regulate the precise parameters for processes to suit exact customer specifications, allowing us to provide a service that is second to none.”