AN electronics company which started in a loft a decade ago has taken on 12 staff after moving premises.

Parmley Technologies, which specialises in the design, manufacture and supply of printed circuit boards (PCBs) for use in military and industrial vehicles, has moved into premises on the Orion Business Park, in Newcastle.

It comes after the company won a £1.5m contract to supply electronic parts for tanks to the US military.

The 12,000sq ft premises allows the company to house a dedicated design facility and printed circuit board assembly area which previously had to be undertaken off-site.

Managing director Derek Parmley started the business from his loft in 1999 and in the past year has increased the workforce from 13 employees to 25.

The latest 12 employees have been taken on across a range of roles including test engineers, PCB and production engineers.

Mr Parmley plans to expand the workforce over the coming months by taking on a further five recruits.

He said: “The new premises are bespoke to our requirements and provide excellent facilities for design and production as well as housing our specialist equipment.

“It’s a great feeling to have a permanent base from which the company can expand even further.

“The business has grown rapidly over the past two years and we are now in a position to go after bigger and more valuable contracts.

“Fortunately, the defence engineering field remains economically strong and, with an excellent team behind me, I hope to continue to grow the business even further this year.”