St Leonards company which plays 'an important role in the development of local industry' opens new factory

A factory employing more than 100 people in the local area has opened in St Leonards.

Kurt J. Lesker Company’s new facility, situated in Churchfields Industrial Estate, includes a state-of-the-art manufacturing plant, producing high-tech vacuum components used all over the world in bsemiconductor manufacturing, aerospace, renewable energy and many other leading-edge technologies.

Grand opening ceremony of the new Austin House facility by Nigel Sinden.placeholder image
Grand opening ceremony of the new Austin House facility by Nigel Sinden.

Councillor Nigel Sinden was invited to officially open the building for the company.

During his opening speech, he said: “The Kurt J. Lesker Company, a major player in the European high-tech world of science, has played an important role in the development of local industry in the East Sussex area and provided a continually increasing flow of jobs and prosperity to our Town.

"It gives me great pleasure to open this factory which I hope will continue to be a beacon of success in our Borough.”

“The company said it is committed to the Hastings area because of the region’s long history of supporting the vacuum technology industry, the local knowledge base and the surrounding support network of suppliers.

Simon Mansbridge commented: “We are all very excited and proud to have our new modern EMEIA headquarters at Churchfields Industrial Estate as this facility enables us to expand our business further.

"The Hastings area is a great place to have a business in and we will continue to grow our company and employ local people.”

The company has reported to have doubled its revenue in the last seven years and navigated through the Covid-19 pandemic without redundancies, even employing new people as the business grew.

People are still being recruited for manufacturing and office-based roles.

For more information, visit the company’s website.

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