Customers keep coming back to Keighley Laboratories, which has built up a strong reputation for its heat treatment and laboratory-testing expertise during its 90 years of operation.

Many of its current industrial customers from across the UK and overseas have been loyal for 40 years or more.

But the company, while celebrating its special anniversary, is not harping back or resting on its laurels. Instead, the focus is firmly on the future.

Keighley Laboratories, headed by managing director Debbie Mellor, has recently invested £100,000 in 21st century laboratory technology as part of a major modernisation and development programme.

It is also looking to invest another £500,000 in expanding its South Street site to enable it to develop new services.

The firm, originally launched in 1920 as a consortium of firms in Bradford and Leeds, is a UK leader in the analysis, testing and heat treatment of metals. The new investment has been made to upgrade its laboratory test house to meet more exacting customer requirements.

This move is part of a modernisation programme that will include new buildings and facilities to put the company at the cutting edge of heat treatment and metallurgical sub-contract work.

Investment in the laboratory has introduced new hi-tech equipment that enables manual to semi-automated sample preparation for handling the latest generation of super alloys and powerful metallurgical microscopes for examining the microstructure of specimens.

It will enable evaluation of the effect of the latest drilling and machining techniques on high-grade components, such as advanced turbine blades used in power plants and jet engines.

Other capital investment includes a new CNC lathe for manufacturing sample pieces, an X-ray fluorescence analyser, a non-destructive digital ferrite meter, and complete refurbishment of the test house.

The proposed new building will house heat treatment for hardening, tempering and stress-relieving and metallurgical testing services.

Keighley Laboratories is looking to widen the range of customers for its advanced chemical analysis facility, where its team of analytical chemists has more than 150 years’ combined experience.

Chemical analysis involves determining the elemental constituents of a wide range of materials, including cast iron, steel and stainless steel, aluminium, copper, nickel and titanium alloys, weld metals and non-metallic compounds such as foundry sand.

The laboratory uses state-of-the-art equipment and qualitative depth profile analysis to check that submitted samples meet a required specification for quality assurance purposes, as well as identifying any material coatings and metallurgical treatments.

As well as analysing samples from engineering companies, foundries, the aerospace industry, galvanisers and platers and importers, Keighley Laboratories also applies engineering principles to unknown components.

This enables parts of existing machinery to be identified and replicated where documentation is lost, mixed stock to be reclassified when certification is missing, or corroded parts to be replaced with like-for-like material.

Forensic analysis of failed components, health and safety investigations and insurance claims are carried out by the firm’s problem and failure investigation service.

Chief chemist John Whittaker said: “It is relatively unusual for an independent metallurgical services company to offer this level of experience and equipment. We offer a prompt turnaround and a highly personal service, and because we don’t manufacture anything ourselves, there are no confidentiality or conflict-of-interest issues.”

Specimens range in size from a minute speck of material to solid components of virtually any size.

John said: “Basically, if a sample can be delivered or posted to Keighley, we can accept commissions from anywhere in the world and analyse virtually any metal or metal-related material.

“With manufacturers and suppliers working to ever-tighter technical specifications and quality control high on the agenda in the engineering industry, it’s an independent service that is in growing demand.”

Debbie Mellor recently became the only woman officer of industry body the Contract Heat Treatment Association, having been elected to its management committee and becoming a director. The association represents companies providing sub-contract heat treatment services.

She said: “Becoming a member of the management committee helps raise the profile of my company, enables me to network and share intelligence with industry counterparts, and lets me play a role in representing and promoting the metallurgical sector.”