Growing Bradford textile dyehouse computer controls specialist Beacon Controls has won a series of prestigious contracts which will help push its turnover to £5 million this year.

The firm, based at the Listerhills Science Park in Campus Road, has won a major contract with Northern Ireland firm Moygashel which is investing £5 million upgrading its dyeing and finishing plant.

The firm, based in Ballievey, Banbridge, County Down, has asked Beacon to design and install a new dyehouse automation system. The new equipment will allow the textile firm to produce better quality dyed linen and linen blends for the clothing and furniture markets.

The firm has also won a deal nearer home at Firth Carpets in Bailiff Bridge - now part of the US-based Interface Group which has a major factory in Shelf.

The carpet firm has taken delivery of a second autofoam system at its Clifton Mills factory.

The system, called an Autofoam Advanced Carpet Applicator, is being used to apply a moth-proofing agent to woven carpets.

One of the advantages of the system is that it is environmentally-friendly because it re-uses the foam-based agent it applies to the carpet.

In 1993 Firth bought similar machinery from Beacon which applied stain-resistent chemicals to it's tufted carpet range.

Beacon,which started in 1983, employing three people, now has 35 with eight of them in its United States office in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Beacon director Howard Gould said the company had grown over the past few years and its turnover had risen from £2 million in 1989 to £5 million this year.

He said: "As we have increased in size we have moved to larger sites on the Science Park."

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