Dozens of jobs are being created at an engineering firm after it landed a £2.7 million order with electronics giant Siemens.

Staffordshire-based fabrication specialist Mec Com is taking on 25 new employees after securing the deal on the eve of its 15th birthday.

The firm will carry out final assembly and testing of protection and control relays after investing more than £500,000 in a dedicated cell.

The jobs will be created immediately to deliver the five-year project, including two team leaders, a quality engineer and a senior buyer.

The contract win was unveiled during a visit by Jeremy Lefroy MP to its 60,000 sq ft facility in Hixon last week.

Managing director Richard Bunce said the Siemens deal would have been lost to the UK but for the investment.

He said: “We’ve been actively targeting new business opportunities, where we can add value from the design stage right through to manufacture.

“This project was initially heading overseas, but we have been able to prove to our customer that we can offer greater flexibility, reduced lead times and world class quality.

“Naturally, we also have to be competitive and the UK now is. The order comes at perfect time for us, as we have just fitted out the new 20,000 sq ft building, adjacent to our existing unit. There’s still some capacity in there so we’ll be going after even more work.”

Mec Com, which employs 150 people across Europe, has seen its turnover rise from £5 million when it moved into private ownership in 2000 to a record £12.5 million this year.

Mr Bunce put this down to a commitment to investing in the latest machinery and in building a global supply network that includes a sister plant in Romania and manufacturing agreements in China.

It supplies to clients operating in food processing, machine tool, medical, power and distribution and rail.

Mr Bunce added: “Export levels are now nearly 40 per cent and our biggest market is Germany – something you would never have believed 10 years ago.

“We currently offer fabrication, light assembly, coil winding and general machining and are continually adding to the services we can provide our customers.

“There could be some more big news to come if we secure a major reshoring opportunity we are working on.”

Mr Lefroy, MP for Stafford, said: “I first visited Mec Com more than five years ago and have to congratulate Richard and his team on the progress they have made.

“It is especially pleasing that the firm’s largest export market is Germany and that companies are increasingly keeping work in the UK when it could be sent overseas.”

Mec Com is part of the Midlands Assembly Network (MAN), a collective of eight sub-contract manufacturers and a specialist design consultancy who work together to win work at home and overseas.

The group, which features Advanced Chemical Etching, Alucast, Barkley Plastics, Brandauer, Grove Design, Muller Holdings, PP Electrical Systems and SMT Developments, employs 700 people over 12 factories and this year will break through the £70 million combined turnover barrier.

MAN has also enlisted the support of the Warwick Manufacturing Group to help it develop new processes and technologies.