X-RAY specialist Bede is poised to become a £20m to £30m business within the next few years, The Northern Echo can reveal.

The Durham company, which has sales of about £5m, suffered during the downturn in the semiconductor industry last year.

But the signs are that companies are about to loosen the investment purse strings.

A number of leading firms have languished to their cost behind market leader Intel during the past couple of years.

Neil Loxley, chief executive of Bede, said: "The industry is in a great deal of stress right now. They have watched the industry leader push ahead.

"At some point, the rest of the market will follow."

He believes they will soon clamour for the best technology possible to help produce the processors of the future.

Bede boasts market-leading x-ray equipment used in producing semiconductors.

Mr Loxley said: "The only thing that has held us back is the lack of spending in the industry.

"It has been a brutal market. The semiconductor market has never had a downturn like this in its history, which has taken everyone by surprise.

"Sometime in the next year, there is going to be a headlong rush into investment.

"We will do £5m this year and I would guess we would double that next year. Getting to £20m to £30m over the next three to four years is highly likely, that is what we have set this business up to do."

Bede employs 100 people, 65 of whom are based at the company's headquarters in Durham's Belmont Industrial Estate.

The projected increase in sales would raise staffing levels at Durham to 120.

It has an impressive roll call of companies on its books, including AMD, Texas Instruments, Motorola and IBM. Mr Loxley said: "You think of a semiconductor manufacturer and we have something there."

Bede, a business spun off from Durham University, raised £3.65m in July from a shares placing which will give it capital to exploit changes in the market.

It has created further opportunities in chemicals and pharmaceutical markets but its prime focus will remain with semiconductors.