A Derbyshire engineering group which specialises in helping manufacturers improve production through technology has grown its workforce by 20% due to rising demand for its services.

Carfulan Group, which is made up of four companies – OGPUK, SYS Systems, ZOLLER UK and VICIVISION UK, has bolstered its workforce in order to strengthen its offering to UK manufacturers.

The recruitment drive, which has resulted in workforce numbers passing the 50 mark at the Foston-based firm, is part of a five-year business plan.

The biggest beneficiary is ZOLLER UK, a specialist in intuitive tool pre-setting, inspection and management solutions.

Rob Wait and James Fell have joined the sales team, while Karl Ledwith and Simon Smart bring their expertise to the service and customer support department.

Meanwhile, 3D-printing expert SYS Systems has welcomed technical sales engineer Tom Purvis-Hislop and applications engineer Tom Martin, with group management accountant Lucie Brown and digital marketing specialist Chris Lockwood completing the line-up.

According to Chris Fulton, managing director of Carfulan Group, the business is experiencing high demand for its manufacturing technologies as the sector fights back against the impact of Covid-19.

He said: “Our new five-year business plan takes us up to 2025 and our people are critical to its success.

“We’ve made a significant investment up front to get the right people through the door and fully up to speed, so that by the end of the period we’re confident we’ll have a field-leading team right across the group.

“We’ve been looking to find the right people to grow the ZOLLER UK sales department for some time, so it’s great to have two experienced guys from the machine tool world coming on board to help us kick on.

“The recruitment drive isn’t stopping here – if we continue to be successful we are keen to grow further, across all of our companies.

“We realise that these are challenging times for the manufacturing industry, but the demand for our world-class products and services remains.

“We need people out there to meet that demand and, by getting talented and motivated individuals in the right places, we know we will come out the other side a lot stronger.”

The Carfulan Group is also in the middle of identifying its next batch of apprentices, who will work alongside its team of experienced engineering professionals to support customers in real-world scenarios.

Those successfully completing the three-year engineering apprenticeship programme can expect to be offered a permanent role within the group’s sales, service or applications teams.