A sheet metal specialist is planning to almost double its turnover after making one of the biggest investments in its history.

Birmingham Prototypes, which was founded by Mick Adams in 2004, has spent £1.2 million on a 5,000 sq ft extension of its Worcestershire factory and installed a new state-of-the-art laser cutter.

Claimed to be one of the first of its type to be installed in the UK, the machine gives the company the ability to offer a full turnkey service for automotive and aerospace customers looking for prototype components and low volume production.

The firm said it believed annual sales would grow by £2 million as a result of this new capacity, with three new people added to the 16-strong workforce and more recruits planned for later in the year.

"We have a long history of producing parts that require 5-axis laser cutting but, with increased scheduling and quality issues associated with sub-contracting out the process, we realised the time was right to bring the full manufacturing process in-house," said Mr Adams.

"This gives us greater control, the ability to turnaround customer requests quicker, not to mention new capacity to go after new work...vital if we are looking to grow over the next five years."

Redditch-based Birmingham Prototypes has specialised in tackling complex customer requirements for prototype or low volume parts and Mr Adams said automotive and aerospace were the company's two main markets.

"The laser gives us a new service that we didn't offer before, giving our customers a full turnkey solution for outsourcing prototype and low-volume production sheet metal engineering," he added.