Building begins as Welshpool factory vows 50 jobs

Invertek Drives in Welshpool has started construction on its new 5,500-square-metre factory which will allow the business to produce more than 40,000 drives per year. The company designs, manufactures and markets electronic variable frequency drives for controlling electric motors.

Operations director, Charles Haspel, said: “Invertek Drives’ growth is driven by innovation supported by world class manufacturing facilities.

“This expansion is required to increase production capacity and to facilitate continual improvement throughout our materials, production and distribution operations.”

The building work marks another milestone for the Mid Wales company which has recently reached the landmark of selling one million variable drives globally.

The project has been funded by the Welsh Government to create the additional space needed to expand the operations, increase efficiencies and meet the growing global demand for its services.

Mr Haspel added: “Invertek Drives produces highly innovative, easy-to-use variable frequency drives that save energy in domestic and industrial applications.

“This new factory will help us to continue developing the world-leading technology and highly skilled workforce necessary to successfully compete on the world stage.”

The new detached unit will be based on Offa’s Dyke Business Park adjacent to Invertek Drives’ main production facility and headquarters.

The company was formed in 1998 and employs around 170 people in its state-of-the-art unit on the business park.

Every piece of machinery needs some form of control mechanism to regulate the power supply, and Invertek Drives manufactures them for machines of all types and sizes.

More than 90 per cent of what Invertek Drives manufactures is exported all over the world.

Montgomeryshire MP, Glyn Davies said that the company was one of Wales’ biggest success stories.

Mr Davies said: “Invertek Drives is one of Wales’s most successful businesses, born and firmly rooted in Montgomeryshire.

“It has grown from being a local start-up business into a worldwide, world-renowned exporter employing people in Welshpool and around the world.

“I have known Invertek Drives throughout its existence, and have been fortunate enough to have been invited to discuss progress on several occasions over the years. It is a truly astonishing success story.

“Mid Wales is extremely fortunate to have such an innovative, and hugely successful employer committed to its roots in Montgomeryshire.”

Visit www.invertekdrives.com for more details.