An expanding American owned engineering company has taken premises on the Barnston Estate in Farndon near Chester.

Associated Toolmakers Ltd is the new anchor tenant at Monument Place, a 5.5-acre business park on the outskirts of the village.

The company, which is owned by Big 3 Precision, a US listed firm who specialise in tooling for the plastics industry which are used in a wide variety of sectors, has signed a contract for 16,000sq ft of space at the business park and is investing over £510k in the move.

David Chiddy, Managing Director of Associated Toolmakers, which was established in 1995 in Wrexham and acquired by Big 3 Precision in July 2019, said: "We have been looking for the perfect space to locate and grow the business for a while and we found it at Monument Place Business Park.

"The move will allow us to treble our current space and to futureproof the business.

"We are actively recruiting for new people to join us and over the coming 12 months we plan to expand our workforce from 8 to 18 engineers.

"Our team are excited about coming to work in such a lovely place with a local gym and coffee shop next door, good local pubs just down the road and a stunning rural setting.

"We have customers travelling to us from all around the world to see the products we make and we’re looking forward to showing them our new base."

One of Cheshire's oldest family estates, The Barnston estate consists of 1,800 acres in and around the villages of Farndon, Churton and Hapsford in rural Cheshire.

Estate Manager Edward Barnston said: "We’re delighted to welcome Associated Toolmakers to the business park and we’re looking forward to watching the business grow over the coming years."